Our very best wishes go to Gerald Scarfe today as he celebrates his birthday. Gerald, of course, is a graphic artist with a long history with the Floyd, from the 1974 tour programme caricature, through to his most famous work on The Wall, and beyond that, working with Roger Waters on his Pros and Cons project. Many happy returns to Gerald on this very special day from all of us here at Brain Damage. 

For those who haven't seen it, Gerald's superb "The Making of Pink Floyd: The Wall" is the authorized, definitive book about the Wall project and includes new commentaries from the surviving members of Pink Floyd: Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason, together with the director of the film, Sir Alan Parker. Roger Waters has written the foreword. The album imagery, stage performances and film were created in close collaboration with Gerald Scarfe, and his massive archive includes original storyboards, animation cells, concept drawings, models and other three-dimensional material together with photographs of the creation and staging of the live performances and the filming of The Wall. It even covers the 2010-2013 tour. Our review and full ordering details can be found here.

The accompanying photo of Gerald Scarfe and Roger Waters in Scarfe's studio, shows them going through material for the Wall book [click the thumbnail to view it in more detail]. It's a lovely, personal look at work on the book, and was taken by Jane Scarfe (Asher), and was provided to Brain Damage as an online exclusive around the time the book was coming out.

Last year, Gerald brought out another couple of (excellent) books. Long Drawn Out Trip tells his life story in detail for the first time. With captivating, often thrilling stories, he takes us back to his wartime childhood and the terrible curse of asthma, through his days as an advertising draughtsman, to his field reporting in Vietnam and the giddy highs of rock 'n' roll. He also reveals the process of cartooning - and the ways that certain subjects have reacted to his visions of them. Along the way he has been car-jacked in Derry, dined with royals, and thoroughly upset Mrs Mary Whitehouse. It is a very personal, wickedly funny and caustically insightful account of an artist's life at the forefront of contemporary culture and society. 

You can order Gerald's Long Drawn Out Trip book now through the following direct links: Amazon UK, Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Spain and Amazon Italy.

Long Drawn Out Trip was followed by another book, designed to complement it - Scarfe: Sixty Years of Being Rude, an incredible looking, fully illustrated retrospective art book. This 576 page book isn't cheap, although is well worth considering for enthusiasts of his work. Here are the direct links: Amazon UK, Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Spain and Amazon Italy.

However, if you really want to treat yourself, there are a couple of very special, exclusive editions available at ScarfeBook.com. Both editions from that website contain a signed print, and the Artist’s Edition also includes an original piece of Scarfe's unique artwork!