Drawn things

I have always loved drawing.

I studied graphic design and illustration at art college, and early on, a wonderful tutor by the name of Glennis Brierley instilled in me a habit of always having a sketchbook on the go. I try to carry one with me if possible, so I tend towards books usually no bigger than A5 so I can fit it into my work bag. It doesn’t have to be a posh brand, though companies such as Fieldnotes, Moleskine and Leuchtturm do make some wonderful ones. It just has to have nice blank pages for me to scribble all over!

My sketchbooks are usually a chaotic mess of sketches and notes, which is how they should be. Sketchbooks are not a place for ordered thought. Or is that just me?

Pages from one of my sketchbooks.

Inspiration

I grew up loving comics.

It was all about Marvel and 2000AD. Star Wars Weekly, Robohunter and Halo Jones. Later, Deadline Magazine would introduce me to a less mainstream world of independent comics and comic book artists. Tank Girl, Wired World, Hugo Tate amongst many more.

I love the work of artists such Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud, Juan Gimenez and Olivier Vatine. Their attention to detail combined with such lightness of touch always amazes me.

Process

No matter what branch of my work I always prefer to start on paper. Graphic design and web design projects always start out with pencil sketches. I like to work out arrangements in this medium before moving on to working on my computer. I also find it helps get me away from the screen, where I spend so much of my working day.

I’ve yet to find a digital tool that can mimic the marks I can make with a pencil.

Clockwise from left: Jane Austin in Space, Guy The Gorilla, Deep One.

Tools

Expensive pens and pencils are not essential, but I do like to indulge in Palomino blackwing pencils, Rotring pens and Letraset Promarkers for colouring.

T-shirts

When I have time, I like to design t-shirts. I have produced t-shirt designs for clients, but you can also check out some of the t-shirts I have designed – and buy them – by Visiting my Rebubble Profile.

T-shirt designs “Space Elves”, “Singles Club” and “Devil’s Reef Diving Club”, available via Redbubble.

Commissions

If you’d like me to produce an illustration for you – be it a print, or t-shirt design or something else, please do get in touch – I am always happy to either have a chat over the phone or meet and have an informal discussion over a brew. 🙂