Live Illustration update

A lot is going on in the arts and research space right now, at least that's my experience from the recent events I've been creating live illustration at.

Live Scribing (Live illustration, Visual minutes, Graphic recording, sketch-noting, whatever you want to call it), has had me all over the county, and on my own doorstep. It's been fascinating to see the variety of events I've been invited to scribe at; from London to Nottingham, Chester to Wolverhampton, Salford, Birmingham and my doorstep of Old Trafford. #livescribing

'Our Creative Lives' is an initiative by Trafford Council to bring the arts into local communities. This took place at the amazing OT Creative Space and is part of Trafford's overall cultural strategy.

Over 2 sessions there were some really lively discussions on how to connect creativity with the community, and some really exciting ideas they had too.

Live Illustration Availability Enquiries:

Scribing for a law firm on the Thames in London (left) and for Rochdale Touchstone 'Side' Festival (right)

Links:

Francis House Rainbow Road Trail

Finally able to show off this ace project I got involved in earlier this year, as map illustrator, and running a map-making workshop for the Francis House Rainbow Road trail.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, a bit of background. Back in late 2025 Sophie Macaulay at GRIT asked if I'd be interested in being the map illustrator of the trail that would go up around Didsbury in Greater Manchester. Of course, said yes, and together with Francis House Childrens Hospice, ceramics artists Alison Waters and Sarah Pink, the 'Men in Sheds' and help from a few others, the project came together beautifully, and launched this week at Didsbury Festival.

Details;

Sophie from GRIT and Sinead from Francis House designed the trail, while ceramists Alison & Sarah Stockport ran tile-making workshops with the children (you can see more of that here). Once the trail was decided and tiles fired and painted, I then started on the map illustration. Here's the finished piece, above.

Making maps for fun!

I also ran a map-making workshop with a group of amazing kids from the home. The aim was fun, making giant maps of houses, streets, treasure maps, which then turned into trains, monsters, sailing ships and wherever their imagination took them. A big thanks to Simon and Alex from 53Two for letting us use there wheelchair accessible space, which was perfect for what we needed.

And a website too.

I also created a simple updatable WordPress website for the project, as a more detailed online resource for the trail that folks could pull up on their phone, and a place where the hospice could add their stories and photos of the project. You can see that here.

This project is another good example of how I try to position 'Rocket Steps' working on creative projects that have face-to-face engagement and a level of social impact too. There's more to come :)

More information;

Facilitation and illustration

A project with Energy Neighbours, working with communities for positive change.

Energy Neighbours booklet cover

In early 2026, I connected with arts organisation Creative Scene to chat about a project called 'Energy Neighbours'. This is an incentive to combat the rising cost of living by raising awareness of energy usage and share useful ways to help families manage budgets and keep costs down.

I met with the ladies from Brighton Street Community Centre in Hechmondswyke, Kirklees, helped facilitate discussions, listening to concerns around energy prices and how to save money on bills. After a couple of chatty workshops, recording outcomes and some strong opinions, and with the amazing help of Clare, Rabia and Habiban, the next task was to convert this into a creative resource.

The illustration gauntlet was unwittingly thrown down by Clare when she showed me a wonderfully illustrated booklet by artist Len Grant, of whom I'm a fan. "Can you do something like this?", I was asked. Challenge most definitely accepted!

As a social engagement artist and illustrator, creating visuals that engage and communicate effectively is absolutely what Rocket Steps is about, and this was a joy to work on and bring to life.

Making the script from the discussions and deciding on image choices for the illustrations is done with a mindset of both facilitation and art direction. The words and content are those of the community group. I'm the messenger. With the help of the Energy Neighbours team, the booklet was converted into Urdu to reach as wide an audience as possible.

In April 2026 there was a launch event at the community centre with an amazing desi breakfast by the ladies' community group. Many thanks to the Energy Neighbours team, Brighton Street community group and Nancy at Creative Scene for bringing me in on this project.

You can see more examples here of projects where I've gone into communities, helped facilitate discussion groups, and collaborated to make creative work that spreads an important message.

Links:
Energy Neighbours
Creative Scene
Kirklees Third Sector Leaders
We are Brigantia

At the launch with Nancy Barratt from Creative Scene.

This booklet was made using Clip Studio Pro and Affinity Studio.

Design for Education - Ward 67

In early 2026, I met Skai Townsend through GRIT Art Studio, where I'm based.

Skai was producing a wonderfully spooky play set in an old hospital, which serves as an educational piece for teenagers who spend a lot of time in hospital. She needed some illustration, booklet design, and we even got a webpage up to help support and promote the production.

For the illustration, I got photos of the actors and a copy of the script, which was plenty to provide the illustrations needed. I then made as many images as I could with the budget allocation, designed the booklet and created one page website resource, getting the domain and hosting sorted too.

The play, Ward 67, written by Sam Jamil, is currently touring schools in the North West. You can check out the website here.

This is a great example of a project where I can cover a few bases at the same time efficiently; illustration, print design, website, domain name and hosting. I've been what's called a 'Creative Generalist' for quite a while, moving between disciplines to get the job done, and while I feel increasingly there are clients out there might believe that wanting this might mean using a handful of services, or blowing the budget, it's really just about knowing where to go and which freelancer to use.

Multi-disciplined designers are out there, and I've worked with a few. As the creative industry becomes more competitive, I foresee there will be more 'multi-skilled' designers on the scene, as the work necessitates.

Live Scribing Social Values

I was hired to live scribe social values at 'A Greener, Healthier Salford' for an organisation focused on equality and sustainability in cities and communities.

As someone who lived in Salford for seven years, I've seen the prosperity and the challenges the city faces, and understand how very different a place it is from its neighbour, Manchester.

There was a lot to digest and translate, and I think understanding the people and the challenges helped me capture the key messages for the organisations and charities who were present, to have their voices heard and recorded. The Mayor of Salford was in attendance

Little did I know this would be a warm-up for a bigger project involving Salford's bid to become a Unicef Child-Friendly City, but more on that in a later post.

Links:
Fairer, Greener, Healthier Salford
The Lowry at MediacityUK
Salford City Council
Mayor of Salford
More Live Scribing

Illustration Update

In 2024, I was approached by Theatre Clywd to produce a poster illustration for their upcoming production of Cinderella.

This wasn't your average production of Cinderella; it was very rock and roll and great fun to work on with the team from the theatre. They had a really clear idea of what they wanted, but were also open to suggestions. There were a couple of revisions until we arrived at the right composition, see the early sketch below.

The main aim was to keep the colours bright and put plenty of energy into the scene, while keeping it easy to read visually, and I think we really nailed that.

Start your new project

Early sketch:

This poster illustration artwork was created in Clip Studio Pro and Affinity Designer on a Wacom cintiq

Links:

Theatre Clywd
Illustration

Start your new project

John is available for illustration commissions and works directly with clients. Get in touch to find out about rates, usage and how to get the most from an illustration commission.

Character Design

A selection of character design work from books and publicity.

Character designs offer benefits in areas like literature, marketing, entertainment, and education. Character illustrations are great at conveying messages, emotions, and narratives. They can transcend language barriers and resonate with diverse audiences, making complex ideas more accessible and engaging.

They can help brand identity. Memorable characters become mascots that consumers associate with products or services, fostering brand recognition and loyalty.
Well-crafted character illustrations evoke emotions and forge connections with audiences. Whether it's through relatable facial expressions, body language, or relatable scenarios, characters can elicit empathy, laughter, or excitement, strengthening the bond between the audience and the content.

Characters are central to storytelling, and illustrations bring them to life in vivid detail. They provide visual cues about a character's personality, background, and motivations, enriching the narrative experience and immersing readers or viewers in the story world.

Character illustrations can be adapted across various media and platforms, including books, animations, merchandise, social media, and websites. Their versatility allows them to be repurposed for different purposes while maintaining consistency in branding and messaging.

In educational settings, character illustrations make learning more engaging and enjoyable, especially for younger learners. They can simplify complex concepts, act as visual aids in textbooks, or serve as interactive avatars in educational games and apps, enhancing comprehension and retention.

Links:
More illustration
A history of Cheadle Hulme School

Inspired by Cyan Lines

Get in touch here

Cyan Lines - Connecting 100 miles of nature in Greater Manchester

I've always wanted to walk the full length of the Irwell River in my home city. From Old Trafford, through Manchester and Salford. So I was inspired recently to attend a full room at Factory International for the launch of CyanLines. It's a bold goal to make the canals of Greater Manchester accessible, connecting the green and blue spaces together. 100 miles of nature walk in 10 years.

It's a pretty audacious idea, and would need a lot of cash, but I was inspired enough to live-scribe it, and also needed to run out my new drawing tablet.

Looking for a live scribe (live artist) for your event? Get in touch.

Start your new project

Links:

The Cyan Lines project
Bruntwood
Urban Splash
Andy Burham

Layout artist

Example of layout artwork from various projects;

Graphic Medicine - comic strips that educate

Ever heard the term Graphic Medicine?

It's not a drawing of a bottle of cough syrup, it's more helpful than that. As described on Graphicmedicine.org it's where healthcare and science meet comics.

It's a term that's been around for almost twenty years, referring to how the visual language of comics can explain complex issues or offer a light-hearted on a serious subject. There's an annual conference too, where professionals discuss how best it can be used.

Here are some illustrations excerpts from a comic strip I did recently, on the subject of scientific samples. I worked with the author on a script that was provided and added the humour where it would fit best. I'm happy with the results, and clean line is my preferred style.

More about Graphic Medicine.

Unlike standard pamphlets or medical texts, illustrated narratives make complex ideas clear and memorable.

For healthcare and med comms organisations, it provides a way to communicate with empathy. A comic steip or visual narrative can highlight patient voices and build stronger trust between providers and communities. Educators and medical professionals also benefit: illustrated stories make sensitive topics easier to discuss, and aid conversations and learning.

For patients, custom illustrations can transform intimidating medical info into something more approachable, helping them feel supported by seeing their own experiences reflected in visual form.

Links:

John's Illustration

Distance 5th Anniversary Edition

Did you know this week is the fifth anniversary of the UK lockdown?

Crikey, eh?

They were some dark times, crazy times, and some might argue the changes that happened then are still being felt today. To mark the occasion, my graphic novel, DISTANCE, is now available on Amazon for the first time.

Did you run out of toilet roll? Did you social distance in a group of more than 6 people? Did we ever find out if was a scotch egg a substantial meal?

I drew this social commentary in comic book form at the time, as it happened from March 2020 to Jan 2022 and this is the first time the complete version has been available in print.

The title is a play on words about social distance and running, but as time went on it was about perspective too, getting distance from those extraordinary events. May you live in interesting times. Indeed.

Buy now on Amazon

5 Years ago...

Previously Distance has only been available via Kickstarter, where it was successfully funded over 2 volumes, and from me directly at conventions and art fairs. This 'UK Lockdown anniversary' edition contains the entire run, including additional material.

A couple of pages were also shown at the HOME open exhibition in 2022.

Back 2020, I started drawing a comic strip diary. I had no real plan, just creating it one page at a time documenting the ups and downs of life during the pandemic. As time went on it became about how to stay positive, exploring the weird, dark, crazy world we've all experienced dealing with living through such bizarre times. Like most people it made me reflect on life, be super vigilant and make new decisions about the future - whatever that might look like.

Comics are a great way to share experiences, and it was a great way to connect with people at a time when I couldn't touch, hug or meet up with friends.

Book Cover Illustration

Need a book cover design? As a freelance book cover illustrator I can help with that. it's not always humour, though these covers generate the most interest when opening my portfolio. I can work direct with an author or publisher and I'm (at the time of writing) not represented by an agent, so I can offer value for money too.

Here are some examples of previous books I've worked on. I also do interior artwork, and the examples below have 10 black-and-white interior illustrations too, but you'll need to check them yourself to see that! All my book artwork is created traditionally and digitally by hand.

Got questions?

Start your new project

Final Cover - Officer Crabtree's Fronch Phrasebook.

Here's a recent book cover illustration for 'Football's Tallest Tales' by Bryan Gibson.

Getting the cover right is important. In this case, nailing the humour and tone the author is after. Illustration is problem solving too. You'll see in this artwork in the background, on one side is the crowd is cheering, while the other is fed up as the ball whistles past the distracted keeper.

We could have had the fans in colour but after discussion, it was decided to keep them in shades of grey. Why? Well, imagine if one side was red and the other blue. It's important to make the book appealing to everyone, so if one colour was the losing team, that could put off a potential reader who supports a team that wears that colour. Make sense? These are the things I consider when doing illustration work.

For this book, I created illustrations for the cover and inside panels - but to see those you'll need to get the book!

Available from Waterside press

If you need a freelance book cover illustrator, get in touch for a chat;

Finally able to show off this ace project I got involved in earlier this year, as map illustrator, and running a map-making workshop for the Francis House Rainbow Road trail.

Making maps for fun!

And a website too.

A project with Energy Neighbours, working with communities for positive change.

In early 2026, I met Skai Townsend through GRIT Art Studio, where I'm based.

Skai was producing a wonderfully spooky play set in an old hospital, which serves as an educational piece for teenagers who spend a lot of time in hospital. She needed some illustration, booklet design, and we even got a webpage up to help support and promote the production.

I was hired to live scribe social values at 'A Greener, Healthier Salford' for an organisation focused on equality and sustainability in cities and communities.

In 2024, I was approached by Theatre Clywd to produce a poster illustration for their upcoming production of Cinderella.

Get a quote

Cyan Lines - Connecting 100 miles of nature in Greater Manchester

Ever heard the term Graphic Medicine?

It's not a drawing of a bottle of cough syrup, it's more helpful than that. As described on Graphicmedicine.org it's where healthcare and science meet comics.

Did you know this week is the fifth anniversary of the UK lockdown?

5 Years ago...