Bio
Ever since I was a child of five I’ve been fascinated by looking at the world from above. I loved model villages and model railways, and my favourite place in the world was Beckonscot, a model village created in 1929 near Beaconsfield Buckinghamshire, a magical miniature world. There is no doubt that this was my first and enduring inspiration behind my map-making.
After leaving Bath Academy of Art I went through a few avenues of illustration before I entirely focused on map illustration. I felt I really had found my true passion, and in a way it fulfils a deep psychological need of knowing where I’m going. I like a ‘beginning’ and I like a destination! One little boy asked me once whether I had ever drawn a map to Heaven, maybe that will be my last map!
I’m asked to explore and illustrate locations from all over the world, my client base reflects that, and extends from London across to the United States and Eastern Europe. I illustrate using traditional drawing methods, my trusty rotring pens are my constant companions and my passion lies in the actual mark making of pen on paper. I use a computer for colouring and creating digital files. Prior to 2007 I used watercolour, you can see some of these pieces in the gallery.
Commissioning
Each project I take on is treated individually. My fees and time schedules are bespoke to that individual project, and they reflect the handcraft of my work, the research needed and the experience I bring to it.
To provide a quote I will need to know the size, complexity, purpose and audience.
The stages of a project are as follows:
Stage 1. Collation of reference and provision of the pencil outline to demonstrate projection and content for approval.
Stage 2. On approval of pencil outline, I will create an ink line drawing for approval.
Stage 3. On approval of line drawing, I will digitally colour the final illustration which will ultimately be supplied as a high res PSD file.