How long does a picture take to draw?
I do a lot of markets and this is probably the question I get asked the most... and it’ll be no surprise that it varies greatly on the subject I’m drawing. Obviously a white washed building will take less time to draw than one with a million bricks. But as a rule of thumb, an A4 original takes approximately 20 hours. Or 28 cups of tea.
What tools do you use?
All my pictures are hand drawn so really it's just pen and paper. Sometimes I use a bit of pencil and occasionally some letraset marker for colour work. But only if it's a Friday in October.
How do you choose your subject matter?
I've always liked to focus on the less obvious locations. Pubs, newsagents, barber shops... everyday locations fascinate me as much (and actually much more) than spectacular landmarks as they are where our lives are actually lived.
What's with the star?
I started drawing it into each night sky soon after I hit upon this drawing style. I like the atmosphere of buildings at night, they feel edgier to me, more alive somehow. The star quickly became a signature mark of a building in High Town…
And why ‘Low Moon Over High Town’ exactly?
Or ‘High Noon Over Low Tide’ as my dad once referred to it. I wanted the collection to have its own name and, as the drawings are set at night and my original pieces were of Heaton (original name, High Town) then, for better or worse, I decided to call the collection something, erm, memorable. Thanks Dad.