How it all started
It was back in 2012 when I started my journey in pencil art – I was in my mid 20s and had just moved back to Chelmsford after finishing university.
Once settled back at home it was good to reconnect with my Granddad, who was also a creative and a passionate artist.
He knew that I was keen on sketching and asked if I'd like to work on a project for him - he had an old photograph of his granddad that he thought would be nice for me to draw as a pencil portrait. The photo had been taken from somewhere around the 1920s - it was small, grainy and creased, but just about clear enough for me to be able to work with.
After mapping it out on the page, there were many hours of trial and error - I found myself going back and forth adjusting the proportions, ammending the shading and making tweaks to the details, but I was eventually able to get it to look the way I wanted.
Although challenging, it was a significant project to work on as it enabled me to familiarise myself with the basics and build my confidence with using tonal pencils.
It was a nice moment when I finally handed it over and Granddad was really pleased with it - I took it as a good place to kick start my journey into drawing as I had learned a lot from experimenting with the methods and techniques, which gave me the inspiration to create more work.
We sadly lost him a couple of years later, however at 90 years old he had a good long run - he lived a life filled with merriment, friendships and long walks along the beach.
We were certainly very similar with our relaxed and laid back approach to life, and I feel that my creative flare comes from him so I'm proud to keep it running in the family.
During this time I signed up to volunteer at a local rehab centre, as it was an area I was looking to gain some experience in.
I stayed in touch with one of the residents there who went on to do really well with his recovery from alcohol addiction. During a social him and his girlfriend were asking me about the drawing work I was doing, and as I was looking to get some practice and work on my skills we agreed that I could put something together for them.
I took what I learned from the previous project and used a similar method, and also experimented a bit further with different types of tools and materials.
After seeing how happy they were with it, it motivated me to keep going with more work - it seemed I had something unique to offer, so I decided I would do a few more for people and then look into doing commissions further down the line.
Following the positive feedback I had from the first projects I did, I decided to do a few more as gifts for people on occasions such as birthdays and Christmas time.
This served as an integral part of the journey in developing my skills as an artist - aswell as getting the practice I needed, I also spent time researching online and reading books in order to try out new tips and ideas. After each piece I made a note of what works and was eventually able to streamline my own process. I ended up with some nice work to give away and people were really happy with the gifts, which then led to getting recommendations and commissioned work.
Building on this foundation, I continued to fine-tune my process and began building a portfolio - transitioning to selling them as prints felt like a natural progression, and as I expanded my collection I embraced opportunities to trade with local markets, events, and online platforms to reach a wider audience.
