I've always felt strongly there's something just beyond reach, beyond words that want to take shape. The images come to me through my pen - I can see no images in my mind before drawing, I can just FEEL them as something that wants to be given form. Giving them life and shape is always a wonderful, sometimes frustrating process of discovery. How to describe a feeling, make it real for others?

I often have no words for what I'm drawing before I do either. And sometimes it takes a long time for the words to appear, for me to understand the meaning behind the images.

The process can appear chaotic and erratic, with the focus being on me tapping into my feelings and shutting down all distractions until the creative process is finished.

Then I'm left with organizing and understanding the art afterwards, seeing where it fits and belongs, what's the message that comes with it.

So look at me writing these things down as an attempt to organize dreams and fleeting glimpses of something just beyond reach!

People have asked me to talk about my characters more, but the truth is, I don't really view them as individuals with stories. They work as symbols of power and currents that move as all, giving them form, revealing a new perspective, a new way of being. Telling a story that is really about us, the world and bringing new things into exsistance through our creativity.

I am fascinated by character design and story driven art, and for a long time I tried to draw things like that too. In the end though, I realised what really interests me are not individual stories and much as the things that seem to unite and link us all, characters that really describe something that can be found in all of us, shining a light on a certain way of being, seeing or doing.

Tools of the Trade

I love the way making art is a really tactile experience. The way all the senses are engaged in the act of creation when using traditional mediums. The feel of the pen on paper, the way brushes and pens react to slightest changes of pressure, angle and direction just make the act of creating an experience to tantalize all the senses.

I love the way I can sink into a trance, a state where I'm just concentrate on each movement I make, creating the drawing or painting one stroke at a time.

Getting an idea or a starting point on paper has always felt like the hard part! I have next to no ability to visualise things in my mind, so I have no ideas that come to me in visual form. Just feelings. And it always feels like such a huge leap, trying to transform a feeling into a picture.

Sometimes, things or ideas in my mind are more like something I can touch, or feel as 3 dimensional objects, like I'm building the form in my mind with my hands.

I've realised that art making is a pretty uncontrolled experience for me, and I have to embrace not knowing where I'm going or how things will end up, or what my drawing is really about to truly get into that creative flow, tap deeper and make things that seem meaningful to me.

Repeating a process exactly seems to be a limitation I can't really work with, so I end up trying new things and varying what I do quite often, it seems to keep the creative spark alive.

My most favoured tool is the dip pen, I just love drawing with it! There's something so satisfying about the way it responds to the touch, and how delicate movements and pressure all change the outcome. And the variety available in nibs means there's always something new to try out!

Besides the dip pen, I like playing around with fountain pens and other ink pens when sketching, as it's not really that handy to hold an open ink bottle on your lap!

The add onto the inks, I adore mixed media. I love always trying new tools and combinations. Acrylic inks, watercolors, colored pencils, pastel pencils, gouache, the list goes on! I think a lot of artists suffer from the impulse of wanting to try every new tool they see, and I'm no different! I just like trying them all out together, at once!

The see my drawing process in action, check out my videos on youtube or instagram.