Daughter and I have just arrived home from another flying visit to Tokyo. As I was only in town for a couple of weeks it was a very busy time squeezing as much into each day as I could, most days spent zipping from one side of the city to the other. That’s the way I like it though, Tokyo is a city in constant movement, it’s a place to stay busy and on the move, a roaring metropolis. But it’s also a place of fascination and beauty, filled with oases to dip into for much needed

…..doodle. #doodle #sketchbook

So yes, last weekend I was off on the train for a couple of hours, as promised I was drawing all the way. However due to the constraints of reserved seat allocation and tightly tiered seat layouts, many Eastern region trains don’t offer themselves easily to sketch the other passengers. (That is a grumble, yes!) On the outward journey this is as much as I was able to see: On the return I virtually had the carriage to myself, so again, no sketching from life. However, at times

Some of the quick life sketches I drew on crowded trains in Tokyo last summer. I find drawing on busy commuter trains exhilarating. You never know whether your view is going to be blocked as the carriage fills with people, or whether the subject is going to shift position, get off at the next stop, or notice they’re being drawn and feel uncomfortable. The trick is not to draw the person in front of you but one sitting further down the carriage. You draw rapidly and surreptiti

Don’t you know how stars are made? #sketch #sketchbook

Right now I’m getting stuck into another picture book commission, more on which shortly. In the meantime here’s a recent sketchbook doodle. #sketch #sketchbook

Something a little scary for Halloween! #sketch #sketchbook

Binary Stars. #sketch #sketchbook

A bit of feline fun. #sketch #sketchbook

Flower Girl. #sketch #sketchbook

Definitely not fuel efficient or eco-friendly. #sketch #sketchbook

Solitary sojourn. #sketch #sketchbook

Canine Corpulence #sketch #sketchbook

Which is the best way up, this way? …or this way? #sketch #sketchbook

God of Confusion #sketch #sketchbook

sometimes the smallest of doodles… #sketch #sketchbook

Circumstances prevented me from posting sketches this last weekend, but here’s something for today though! #sketch #sketchbook

Princess on a Scooter #sketch #sketchbook

Heroic Tree. #sketch #sketchbook

A spot of self-indulgency, though I suppose all these drawings are self-indulgent really! Anyway, it was something to dab at while watching TV. I first went to Japan because I was interested in Ukiyo-e, perhaps this indicates a little of that old fascination. #sketch #sketchbook