Three Men’s Heads on a Tube Train

I love to draw on trains because people are so often lost in theeir own world and stay relatively still and don’t notice you drawing them. It also attracts attention from other travellers and I believe that artists should be seen doing art in public. They used to so why isn’t it fashionable any more? I did these drawings last week when I visited London. The man above had one of those very long faces with nobbly bits either side of his mouth. I should know what they are because I study anatomy avidly, but I can’t remember. D’Oh!

Here’s husb,  lost in his own world, gazing up at the ceiling of the train. I love drawing faces from this angle. It isn’t very flattering to draw right up someone’s nose, but it’s a great view.

This older man was reading throughout the journey and had a wonderfully crumpled face that was really interesting to draw. He also had a cool tie made up of little framed drawings of an owl surrounded by text, set against a stripey shirt. It’s not easy drawing on the Tube because of the movement, but I like the wobblier line it gives me and I also like a challenge.

We saw the Gerhard Richter exhibition at Tate Modern and Grayson Perry at the British Museum. Both excellent but Perry’s was, for me, the more interesting. I love his quirkiness and outrageous sense of humour along with his absolute commitment to the ‘craft’ of art. The drawings are done in Faber Castell Pitt pens into an A6 ‘Artbox’ recycled leather-bound sketchbook.