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 […]
public transport
125 posts
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 […]
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 […]
Is there more to life than this? I hope so. I was on the Tube, on the way home from a brief date. What better way to take my mind away from my thoughts than to draw someone who looked absolutely exhausted. Was he a doctor? He got off at […]
Read the sign, love! The sign is there, but people don’t read. This passenger was very tired and was asleep for the whole time I was on the train home. Medium: Digital drawing on iPhone Date drawn: 12th August 2013
I’ve never thought make-up could be entertaining. On a commute during a Thursday morning rush hour I was entertained for a few minutes watching someone apply make-up. It’s a skill to be able to apply cosmetics like lipstick either during stops at station or, more impressively, while the train is […]
A bit of colour is welcome on the Tube. The bright colours people were wearing on my commute to work were a welcome sight to greet me on the first day back after a long relaxing weekend. This scene lasted from Brixton until Victoria four stops later, when some of […]
A selfie. Sometimes, the Tube can be underused, and I experience the lonely luxury of having a whole carriage to myself. Saturday afternoon on my way to catch a Reading-bound train from Paddington was one such occassion, there was no-one else to draw but myself. Medium: Digital drawing on iPhone Date […]
Londoners can be polite and friendly. The morning rush hour didn’t mean manners were forgotten, a pregnant woman was offered seats by several people, including myself. I do hear sad stories about heavily-pregnant women being left to stand on hot and long tube journeys, but not this time. London IS […]
Thankfully, it was purely a visual, not an olfactory experience. During the summer, more body parts are on show, and people appear to lose the ability to dress modestly. Medium: Digital drawing on iPhone Date drawn: 13th July 2013
Was he a celebrity in disguise? Probably not. It was a sunny morning, but are sunglasses still necessary when using one of the deep lines of the underground network? He wasn’t blind. Medium: Digital drawing on iPhone Date drawn: 9th – 10th July 2013
iPhone drawing London’s weather is unpredictable, though it is generally best to expect cold, cloudy or damp conditions. Everyone is in t-shirts (or less) once the sun comes out! These two guys looked very tired.
iPhone drawing Getting on board Brixton, I usually get a seat, even during the morning rush hour. This time I had to stand, but it meant I could see what people were reading or what they were doing on their iPads. A lady was making a to-do-list for a trip […]
iPhone drawing Looking after kids must be hard. I don’t have any, so I can be glad that these ‘angels’ weren’t mine. What a mess.
iPhone drawing On my way home on a wet day, meaning a wet train carriage, made even more disgusting when I saw a man picking his nose and eating whatever he found.
iPhone drawing I was on my way home, boarded a packed bus and I thought I was lucky when I spotted an empty seat. The guy sitting next to that seat was a powerful reason why no one wanted to sit there. The smell of fried food and ketchup was rather […]
iPad drawing It was time to wash my sheets and also the mattress cover. It reminded me of the imperfect condition of what I sleep on and ignited questions I tried to suppress: What is the history of the bed in my furnished, rented room? Who slept on it before? […]
iPhone drawing I spotted another pair of red trousers, this time on my morning commute, when a man stopped on the platform to tie his shoelaces.
iPhone drawing Birmingham News Street station is undergoing a massive rebuilding programme. I was standing in the part of the station that still retained a fragment of its 19th-century predecessor. In amongst the ever decreasing amount of stained concrete from the 1960s, at the end of platforms 2 and 1 are brick arches […]