I’m an accidental illustrator…
This loose, linear strand of my work was once the workings-out of my design practice. Before that, it came from a love of bande dessinée illustration.
I studied at a time of specialisation, when you could be a designer or an illustrator but not both; before sketch illustration was a thing; before portfolio careers were a thing.
But times change, contexts change, creativity is adaptable... and here’s a thing: after decades in professional practice, we know who we are, we know what we love and we’re braver about trying stuff out. So I get to do some fascinating work and here, on National Illustration Day, are four very different projects from my illustration life:
I’ve distilled performance for adventurous perfume house 4160 Tuesdays in a project combining live sketching with illustration.
I’ve combined large-scale sketching with chat, collecting stories and thoughts for Cody Dock at its London Festival of Architecture and Open House / Totally Thames events.
I’ve listened through drawing, reportage sketching in hand-bound pamphlets (one a hilariously-huge concertina) at 26 Wordstock, a Bloomsbury Festival event.
And humanitarian standards NGO Sphere has used my sketch illustration to help explain things, on marketing materials and a theory of change.
There’s a lot of crossover between my strands of work: live sketching with custom formats; combined illustration and design; sketching used for thinking and investigation. I come at my work with a curious mind, so I’m always open to ideas.
