When using public transport, hold on to anything, as you’ll get no warning when that bus or train will suddenly stop. I was coming back with heavy luggage after spending the Christmas holidays in Birmingham, when I had to board a packed bus at Euston station during the rush-hour to return […]
iPhone
Yes, carrying a giant teddy bear is normal, and no, I’m not looking. Of course, I shouldn’t react to someone carrying a large soft toy, but something like that does attract attention. I did my best to be British and sober about it; I ignored it and looked away. This drawing […]
Standing room only on a train and I get a view of someone’s scalp. It’s a beautiful world. Thursday evening on a packed train towards Herne Hill. I hold onto the handrail with my left hand and draw with great difficulty with only my right. Unusually, because of this hand […]
On the Tube, sometimes my view can be blocked by someone’s bum, newspaper or crotch. This claustrophobic scene is an indication of how overcrowded this metropolis gets sometimes. Sketched quickly on a Tube journey, much of the details of this interesting view was drawn afterwards when I returned home. Medium: Digital drawing […]
Winter has arrived in London. Coats and scarves are now essential until July! Sketched during the rush hour, over the course of a week I drew most of this on my subsequent journeys on the Tube. Medium: Digital drawing on iPhone Date drawn: 4th – 12th November 2013
After a long day at work, it’s nice to be heading home. A journey home on the new carriages on the Metropolitan line. Modern and clean – I can’t complain. Medium: Digital drawing on iPhone Date drawn: 31st October – 3rd October 2013 A video of the drawing being created:
It gets even more crowded at Victoria station. On a northbound Tube on the Victoria line during the morning rush hour there are seats available at Brixton, but after Stockwell – no chance. There’s space to stand comfortably until Victoria, when additional passengers squeeze in tightly. The scene I sketch is […]
No seats, no windows and standing next to the toilets. First Capital Connect trains make me feel so special in the mornings. I try to use the Tube as I normally get a seat, but today I chose the train and experienced the situation I like to avoid: standing all […]
I know what you’re feeling like, I’m tired too. On a train from Birmingham New Street station to Euston, during the journey I drew a man resting. Medium: Digital drawing on iPhone Date drawn: 21st October 2013
The wrong prices always go up: Energy prices soar 10.6% I normally try and avoid picking up the ubiquitous free papers, but during my journey home on a Thursday evening I began reading the headlines from someone else’s newspaper. There was no good news and that is why I normally […]
This is not a time for fruit and veg. I normally eat healthily at breakfast time, but that day I was starting a secondment at work – a sideways promotion – so I felt an unhealthy and heavy 6-inch Subway breakfast sandwich filled with processed meat and eggs was deserved. There was […]
Popcorn, good enough for breakfast. It must have been 9am when I managed to get to the bus stop as the first part of my journey to work. I always wish I could get to work earlier, but there’s lots to do in the morning at home and I doubt […]
It can get very hot on the Tube, so always carry water – and a facecloth. It was on a Tuesday evening rush hour on the Victoria line after I finished work when, from Oxford Circus to Stockwell, opposite me sat a postman regularly mopping sweat from his face. I […]
Things to do on a bus: Draw, apply make-up and file one’s nails. Taking the number 196 bus from Herne Hill to Brixton, I sat at the back of the top deck, there I was able to observe a lot of different activities. One woman in front of me on […]
I experienced food envy on my way home. Is there any etiquette to follow when eating on the Tube? One fellow passenger focused solely on his evening meal, without making eye contact with anyone or anything else. He had bitten his food to leave a perfect cross section of his […]
Can I do more than top-up my Oystercard, gamble or buy a newspaper here? The interior of Herne Hill station is not beautiful, but it has previously supplied subjects to draw such as a public payphone. I sketched this as I was waiting for a train to go into central London, when […]
Black is the main colour of umbrellas. It has been a wet end to the summer. It was a Friday evening, I had finished work and I was making my way down to Oxford Circus station when it rained heavily. A lot of people walking carelessly with pointy umbrellas too […]
One passenger has solved the problem of where to hang a coat when using the Tube. The Tube carriage I sat in on Thursday evening was fairly empty. People stand out more and you get clear views of everyone during such times. I couldn’t miss the man who had brought […]
I have no use for other people’s rubbish. Waiting at the bus stop to get to work, I spotted a few abandoned pieces: A tatty mattress and slightly rusty bath tub. It took a while to draw this, nearly two weeks, as I drew much of this on my commutes, […]
A clear-desk policy doesn’t apply at home. I like to keep my desk tidy, both at home and work. What you don’t see in this drawing of my desk at home is the pile of unread books to the right; there is just the suggestion of the small pile of […]