rough ink and pencil sketch (chopped off a bit at top and bottom by the scanner)

colour test

It’s not supposed to be about the tools. But sometimes it really is all about the tools. Today, I picked up a pen I bought a few months ago but haven’t used much and everything clicked. It just works so well with the way I naturally draw. Instead of fighting to adjust my gestures to accommodate my pen, I forgot all about the instrument I was holding and just drew.

more work in progress drawings and a tiny slice of the studio – the rest of it is covered in paper.

Reference photographs – I shoot a lot of them. These are a some of the many I took last summer for the book, while I was on holiday.

Toy boats in the Grand Bassin, le Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris

Blue boats in Stromness, Orkney Island

Orkney Yoles in Stromness Harbour, Orkney Island

Tall ship in the River Dart, Dartmouth