Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance
In my Shackleton sketchbooks, I create observational drawings and studies inspired by the 1919 film South by Frank Hurley and the diaries of the Endurance expedition crew. Focusing on the ship, the shifting Antarctic ice, and the surrounding polar landscape, my work explores themes of exploration, survival, and resilience. Combining quick sketches, detailed studies, and notes from historical accounts, these sketchbooks form a rich visual record of Shackleton’s journey, making them ideal for historical illustration, non-fiction storytelling, and educational projects about polar exploration and heroic expeditions.
The Drawer of Unsettling Things
This ongoing sketchbook project explores ghostly figures, haunted houses, and unusual objects through illustration, mixed media, and fiction storytelling. Combining drawings, textures, and found materials, it creates a space where imagination, heritage, and hidden narratives come together, capturing the mysterious and intriguing for visual research and narrative-driven projects.
Flora & Fauna
My flora sketches begin in my own garden, where I observe ferns, grasses, and everyday plants, focusing on their forms, patterns, and seasonal changes. For fauna, I draw animals from visits to wildlife parks and zoos, studying their posture, movement, and distinctive features. Combining these approaches, I create a body of work that spans science and nature illustration, botanical illustration, and observational studies, suitable for both fiction and non-fiction storytelling. This collection celebrates the familiar and the unusual, providing detailed visual records from a variety of environments.
People & Place
My sketches of people are drawn from the places I spend time—local orchestras, theatre, markets, toddler playgroups, and home environments. Working quickly, I focus on gesture, movement, and social interaction, using expressive lines to capture how people occupy space and engage with their surroundings. These observational drawings document character, atmosphere, and everyday life, supporting figurative illustration and character development for stories in both fiction and non-fiction projects.
Museum Collections
In my sketchbooks, I record objects I encounter in museums, from everyday items to unusual artifacts, noting their shapes, textures, and details. These observational studies form the foundation for illustration, storytelling, and character development, allowing me to explore the social history, heritage, and hidden narratives behind each object. By transforming objects into stories and personalities, my work supports narrative-driven projects in both fiction and non-fiction, as well as research-based visual storytelling in the studio.
