Always learning

So, what have I been up to lately?

For starters, I’ve wrapped up my first picture book project with Penguin Random House - A Little Slugger’s Guide to the Unwritten Rules of Baseball and Life by Patrick Renna. It’s a fun guide packed with practical advice and humor about baseball (and life), complete with a customizable dedication page. It was challenging at times being my first fully illustrated book, but I’m really proud of how it turned out. The book comes out in February 2024, so keep an eye out for it! In addition to that, I’ve been busy with a nice little regular job for AIA alongside Studio Miko, chatted to the folks at Logic + Rhythm about my process, and tackled a few editorial briefs along the way.

↑ A little colour rough I made for the book. I hope you like baseball.

Starting a club

But these past few months have been more focused on personal ventures.

In the last six months, I’ve been craving a more consistent sketchbook practice and a sense of community with local creatives in Devon. With the help of my friends Liz Tregaskis and Molly Saunders, we formed a club called Sketchbook Sessions. It’s a monthly meet-up where anyone can drop by, grab a drink and some food, and draw with like-minded creatives.

Having this dedicated time has allowed me to revisit analogue drawing and create art purely for enjoyment – something I had almost forgotten. It’s also been wonderful meeting other local artists and makers.

If you’re in the area and fancy joining us, we run monthly sessions (every third Tuesday), from 5:30 pm to 8 pm at Sacred Grounds. If you can’t make the next one, there will be plenty of opportunities to join us in the future. You can also sign up for the newsletter and follow the Instagram page for updates.

Heading to the big smoke

You’ll also find me at In Motion London 2024 in a couple of weeks. I’m not giving a demo or talk – I just wanted to get some fresh inspiration from some other creatives and hear about their creative practices. It’s easy to get caught up in your world so I try to make a conscious effort to get out (especially out of sleepy ol’ Devon).

Upgrading my two wheels

And lastly, on a different note, I’ve learnt to ride a motorcycle. While it’s not directly related to my illustration work, it’s nice to broaden my skills and try new things as it can always feed back into my work.