Even More Lahore

Lahore is probably the craziest city I’ve ever been in, makes London and New York look provincial. The traffic is relentless but I was up early on Sunday morning and I sat in the hotel foyer, looking out of the window at silence. No traffic, no people, no mayhem. So I had a quick scribble.Continue reading “Even More Lahore”

More From Lahore

Here’s a little sketch I did in Lahore at the weekend. We’d gone to visit the old part of the city and ended up at Cooco’s Den, a famous restaurant in the red light district. It’s at the top of an old brothel and is decorated with masses of carvings, old and new, stained glassContinue reading “More From Lahore”

Punjab Sunset

The drive back from Crazy Lahore was completely different to the torrential rain, hail and thunder we’d endured on the way down. The calm, sunny afternoon over the plains gave way to a beautiful sunset as we approached the mountains on the final leg of our journey back to Pindi. I sketched these quickly, justContinue reading “Punjab Sunset”

Rain. Hail. Thunder. Picnic.

Travelling down to Lahore from Rawalpindi on my birthday, we hit a huge storm, so heavy that we had to stop on the motorway verge so we had our picnic of egg sandwiches and crisps in the car while the torrential rain and hail – yes hail in Pakistan – thundered down on the roofContinue reading “Rain. Hail. Thunder. Picnic.”

Whistlestop tour of Lahore

I was going to continue the story of the Punjab thunderstorm this evening but we’re exhausted from a whistlestop tour of Lahore today in the heat. So here are the next 2 drawings in the series. We’d just reached the end of the mountain bit of the road and the light started to change, soContinue reading “Whistlestop tour of Lahore”

Birthday Adventure, Pakistan

We set out from Rawalpindi this morning to travel to Lahore for my birthday. As we drove through the gently rolling hills, I started speed sketching impressions of the lovely landscape with my little Khadi sketchbook and Daler Rowney soft pastels (artist quality). We dropped down steep hills that seemed to go on for miles,Continue reading “Birthday Adventure, Pakistan”

The Aftermath!

The day after our epic all-nighter, editioning 12 drypoint plates between three artists, Zaira Ahmad Zaka, Hannah F Lawson and myself. Here’s the studio afterwards – trashed. We have a big clear up job ahead. But first, setting up the exhibition at the Satrang Gallery in Islamabad. After a shower, we went over to theContinue reading “The Aftermath!”

Heads and Heat

I’m in Pakistan at the start of a residency in the Zaira Zaka print studio, working with artists Hannah Lawson from the UK and Zaira Ahmad from Pakistan. More artists will join us later. We went to the Taxilan ruins yesterday, a Buddhist shrine a couple of hours drive away. The weather was lovely; weContinue reading “Heads and Heat”

Messi Moggy

My first blog post in Pakistan just had to be a kitteh. This is Messi who is named after Lionel Messi, the Argentinian footballer who plays for Barcelona. Messi lives in the house where I’m staying. There is also a printmaking studio with accommodation attached for the artists in residence. Yesterday was spent recovering fromContinue reading “Messi Moggy”

They Moved

I’m scribbling in a sandwich shop in Kuwait Airport on my way to Pakistan. I homed in on these two chaps having a snack nearby using a free Markers app on my Samsung Galaxy Note 8. It’s always a risk when you sketch in public that your subject might move. This place does a crackingContinue reading “They Moved”