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Vintage cameras

I have grown rather attached to old cameras as of late and have acquired a few recently whilst looking in charity shops and vintage fairs... such beautiful objects with real weight and substance. Here is our collection so far, more to follow i'm sure and they do work so will use some at some point too!
Painted these one evening inspired by beetroot juice (what first one is painted in) rest done using watercolours.

Dabbling in Watercolour

I've had a travel watercolour set for a while now but always been a bit unsure how to work with it, but after meeting fellow urban sketcher Lion Ren he really inspired me to get a decent waterbrush and start adding colour to my work. So here are some of my first pieces so far. Back at school I could never really get watercolours and went straight to oils but I now really appreciate them for the sheer speed and versatility. I will continue to experiment and see how I get on!

Long Live Southbank Anniversary Jam – Forty Years Later… 1 Year On

This weekend just gone I went along to this legendary skate spot to see the community jam to celebrate one year of the 'Long Live Southbank' campaign. It was a wonderful sunny day and the place was buzzing with hundreds of people seeing some great skateboarding and BMXing.

If you don't know of the campaign to save the Undercroft from redevelopment please see their website to learn more about the place and it's rich history: http://www.llsb.com/

I made these in-situ drawings during the day to capture the moment and met several people interested in what I was doing. The highlight being a Chinese chap who stood with me for at least 20 mins whilst I drew the skateboard graveyard from the Hungerford Bridge, he was fascinated by my detailed drawing of broken skateboards and said "you are beautiful" I think he was talking about the drawing however!

Broken skateboards on the skateboard graveyard

A walk to the garden centre

Really sunny today, so we took a walk to the nearby Alexandra Palace garden centre for a cup of tea on their roof terrace. We soaked up lots of sun whilst a nearby old couple fell asleep and birds circled us looking for crumbs!

Business cards

After nearly 10 years of having business cards with 'Graphic Designer' written on them, I made the step of getting some done with something else I do on them... I wasn't sure to have them all hand drawn or not, but i'm glad I did – anything to get away from choosing a typeface and staring at a computer for too long! I selected three illustrations that cover different subjects that I like to draw, so I feel they are a good representation of me and my style. Really happy with them - can't wait to give them out!

The neighbour's cats

Our garden here in Muswell Hill is visited by many cats. Over the last year or so we have got to know their personalities and the pecking order! They all seem to love our long grass garden.

At the top of the pile is Felix, a large ginger cat who roams the gardens seeing off any intruding cat. I have never hear him miaow - he just uses his bulk and attitude to scare other rivals! His partner in crime is Ashley, a grey grumpy tom cat who walks around with Felix, he is more vocal and sounds like he is talking gibberish when he gets angry. Next is Molly and Milly they are our neighbours two Dorset blues. They have very short hair, huge ears and long limbs. They enjoy chasing insects in the long grass and are quite keen tree climbers! Their nemesis is a mystery black and white female cat who regularly has stand offs in the garden with them and the bigger cats. She has also brought down a pigeon! The other three cats, a light ginger Felix look-a-like, a nice looking tabby and a white cat with a black spot are all passers by. I have been meaning to draw them all for a while - so here we are, in coloured paper and paint!

Mo Farah eighth in his London Marathon debut

The London marathon was inspiring stuff yesterday, great weather for it. Much respect to those who took part, especially our Mo!

Taking the tube home…

I've had a busy last few weeks hence the lack of posts on here, apologies for that. It's not that I haven't been drawing, because I have everyday. I will catch up with my posts this week and share some of the projects I have been working on, so watch this space!

The highlight of the Brits 2014

Goes to Pharrell's hat! Follow it here at: @pharrellhat

St Paul's Cathedral from Tate Modern

Had a wander at lunch today and decided to do a drawing of the view across the Thames from the Tate Modern. After 15-20mins of drawing alone I was suddenly surrounded by a group of Italian students who were looking over my shoulder. I asked one what she thought and she said "bellissimo!" after they took a few photos of my efforts I finished up and said goodbye - was an interesting experience!

Some old drawings from my sketchbooks

Recently whilst organising my bookshelves I rediscovered some old drawings in my old Art School sketchbooks, thought I would share on here and remind myself that I loved drawing long before I picked up a mouse and started a career in design. I have many happy memories of going out on drawing days in Norwich whilst at Norwich School of Art & Design doing my foundation. The two skylines were drawn from the Castle Mall gardens, where I used to skateboard at back when I was in my late teens. The crane on the the top drawing would be from the building of the Forum. The hand sketch is from the same book from 2000, how time flies!

A visit to the printers

Back in October last year I had to get some prints done at a local printers for a presentation at work. I had to wait 15mins and I didn't have my sketchbook with me, so I managed to find a spare bit of a A4 and their pen on a chain on the reception desk to complete the drawing below of the large digital printer along with all the other pieces of equipment scattered about. Lesson to be learned: never forget your sketchbook!

Sleeping man on the tube who liked my book

Got on the tube home the other night with 'Sketch Your World' by James Hobbs in my hand and the elderly chap sitting opposite me tapped me and showed me the graphic novel he was reading – looked pretty cool, he was clearly a drawing fan... As the journey went on he nodded off, and as standing passengers cleared I suddenly thought 'I should draw him!' so I pulled out my sketchbook and hurriedly sketched him in the final 5 minutes of my journey with the intention of showing him before I got off. He was still asleep at my stop so I left him to it, if I see him again I will show it to him!

Header illustration for 'The diary of a Roller Derby Rookie' blog

Header design I have just done for for my sister's Roller Derby Blog, which chronicles her adventures in Roller Derby. The roller skate is based on the pair she wears!
wildhoneybrawd.blogspot.co.uk

Alternative version

Illustrations for the Designhouse review of 2013 newspaper

In the run up to Christmas I had been working on a statistical review of 2013 for the design consultancy Designhouse where I work as a designer. Along with typesetting and laying out the pages, I had the opportunity to illustrate several of these statistics with drawings I had carried out in my sketchbooks and others I made specifically. It was great to get some of my work out there and printed, so thanks to Designhouse for letting me use them! The paper finally turned up today and we are all really happy with it, photos to follow…

Urban Sketchers Covent Garden sketchcrawl

Had a really good day on Sunday meeting up with these guys at a new coffee shop called Timberyard in Covent Garden, that currently has a exhibition of Urban Sketchers sketchbooks. After a few coffees and catch ups we visited the beautiful Neal's Yard of Neal's Yard Remedies fame for some drawing. After my legs started to go numb I headed to the nearest coffee shop with everyone else to warm up! We then finished at the National gallery, where I just had to do a sketch of Trafalgar Square. Another very inspiring day - bring on the next one!

Photo by Nathan Brenville from the Urban Sketchers London Blog (i'm the one looking uncomfortable cross legged on the floor)

Drawing on the line

I have a real addiction to drawing on the tube... so many great subjects to draw, I love the variety of characters, outfits and types of people. I have been spotted a few times, some people mind, some people smile, either way it's always fun. Here are a few pages from my sketchbooks. One day I intend to make a huge poster or a little magazine of all of these (I do about 2-3 pages most days) so watch this space!