Three days off; three train journeys; two places; countless colours. My colour trip – a plan to wander guided by places with colour stories – was scuppered by the pandemic. But thanks to a suggestion by creative collaborator Narcis Sauleda, I’m reviving it in bits. On a week off in Scotland … Read More
This year, there’s a new rhythm to the week. My studio days are Monday to Thursday; the fifth day of the working week is Free-range Friday, earmarked for personal work and exploration. So what goes on, on these days resolutely away from a desk? Well, like the best sort of … Read More
A recce. On foot. With a sketchbook. Surely not, when the brief is to produce a simple sketch map and we have search engines? Well, it’s not as overdone as it seems… There’s good practice – I can’t use an image for illustration reference that may be in copyright. And there’s … Read More
Rubbish sketchbooks – a surprise hit in a trio of activities for Cody Dock’s Lea Way Celebration, part of Open House and Totally Thames… Made from waste and originally an approachable add-on to a sketch walk (nobody need worry about doing a bad drawing on materials destined for recycling) they … Read More
Design and illustration are often portrayed as desk work, and good service as being available on-demand. So in what’s both Creativity and Wellbeing Week and Mental Health Awareness Week, I’ve been thinking about the value of a screen break. The best design tutors I’ve taught with have a lot to … Read More
Studio Snack is a five minute food podcast about design. A collaborative project with fellow designer and neighbour Narcis Sauleda, it’s a creative playground of research, experimentation and ideas. Each episode has some nerdery, an experiment and what it all tells us about our design practice. This month, for the … Read More
This year, by way of a Christmas greeting, I decided to sketch London places with Christmassy names and make them into a little book. The project turned out to be more complex, and more interesting, than I’d thought… The sketchwalk is made of several smaller sketchwalks, after meetings, between errands … Read More
Behind the scenes My preparatory work for Breather, my piece for 26 Inspirations, part of the Bloomsbury Festival, started with several sketchwalks. I know the route well but it was considerably bendier than it was in my imagination of a linear drawing… And then there was rain. Biro is wonderfully … Read More
The point of playtime… Away from my desk, I grow things, I draw things growing – and sometimes I join it up, turning growing things into things to draw with. I’ve saved petals from French marigold dead-headings. For a while, I’ve been using the basic method of hot water and salt … Read More
Learning stuff as I work makes me ridiculously happy… It’s been a joy to be asked to sketch at Surge Co-op’s event River Walk, River Talk, River Study, a walk, talk and litter pick along the Channelsea River followed by an invertebrate survey with ecologist and invertebrate specialist Russell Miller. … Read More