Off the back of a busy March and conversations at the Festival of Enterprise, I thought I'd share a little bit about the diversity of enquiries I've had for live scribing.
It's still a lesser-known thing for events, and since the beginning of the year, it's been quite interesting who I've been invited into a room with to create live illustration. #livescribing
This Month I've been in London, Nottingham, Salford and Chester for live illustration.
Links:
Updated Jan 2-26.
It's capturing an event as it happens with engaging, dynamic and colourful visuals. More than that, it's a great way to engage, educate audiences and support team learning.
Live scribing is;
Live art is a great way to create more engagement, helping teams or attendees retain information once an event has taken place. As you may know, 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual.
With the live art I create for clients, all artwork is owned by the clients once it has been created, and can be reused however they like. Often on office walls or social media.
Clients include:
Large format paper
and marker pens.
Very flexible for most events.
Digital pen tablet
connected to a stage
screen or projector.
Connecting virtually
to an online meeting.
Above are photos from a diverse range of events; a nursing lecture, a team building day and a conference on tech research at Newcastle University for the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
Live scribing is used for a wide range of events, and I'm always happy to suggest ideas on how best it can be used. If you think it might be useful for your event but are not sure how, I'm always happy to chat and offer suggestions.
Some photos from an event at Z-arts & MADE in Old Trafford. 'Exploring The Creative Potential for Manchester to become a UNICEF Child-Friendly City'.
Other images from live art events;
Previous clients I've created live art for include;
photos by Lizzie Henshaw / NIHR
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
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.
Links:
Here are a couple of slices of the work I did last week for the Side by Side in Rochdale, a new Festival of culture and the arts.
I couldn't make all of it, but I was in on the feedback session, and there was an incredible buzz. A session called 'No Such Thing' where people were invited to have conversations with folks they didn't know sounded right up my networking street.
My diary is slowly filling up for live art and portraits in November/December, but I still have space in Sept/Oct for folks in the events space looking for something a bit different.
Links:
Rochdale Council
Touchstones Rochdale
Side by Side Festival
Live Scribing
I've been drawing events (sketch noting is a word for it) for over six years now, and there's always something new to learn. Taking on conversations from a discussion with more than one voice can be tricky, especially on a passionate topic such as reducing child poverty.
Working with the North East Combined Authority sketch noting over two days, it was fascinating and emotional hearing just how much the lack of good provisions can affect families. Of course, I'm just the messenger, taking a sensitive subject and doing it justice as best I can, to record and display the findings of the sessions. Sometimes slides have more colour, for these sessions, sensitivity and speed were key.
Here are some of the slides.
If you're interested in the technical side of sketch noting with digital live scribing, I'm not a ipad person. I use a Windows Surface Pro, and sometimes a 15" Huion Kamvas too. Whatever gets the job done and is quickest.
Links:
This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting an art session at the opening of Stockport Stockroom, a new cultural centre and art hub in the city centre. It's a revitalisation of the library too.
Many of the locals I chatted too said it was much needed and very welcome. The revitalization of Stockport has been ongoing for the last few years, and they really know what they are doing by bringing a creative community space to the centre of the town, top work there.
The council kitted the space out with easels and paint pens, and within a few minutes of getting started folks were appearing, keen to get stuck and make marks.
The space was designed by Dave Sedgwick from StudioDBD, and reminded my very much of SeeSaw and HOME in Manchester.
When I'm in creative spaces like this I ask myself a question: would I get my sketch pad out here? If that's something I can do comfortably, without feeling odd of like I'm being watched, that that space passes the test. Moreso with something like my Surface, that I draw on all the time (my windows iPad - I'm not an apple person).
In other news I've also been invited to join the advisory board at GRIT (who recommended me for this gig - thanks guys). It's a bit of a humble brag, but I'm incredibly honoured to be asked as they go from strength to strength.
Links
Updated March 2025
Rough and ready quick drawings getting ideas down on paper. A lot of my output involves making scamp artwork. For production companies and collaborations with other creative agencies who need to generate visuals quickly.
Scamps are very similar to storyboards or mock-ups. They help frame an idea, giving an art director or advertiser something to see that can help 'proof' a good idea, pushing it to the next stage, or decide if they aren't quite working, to help find the right direction.
They're an important early part of the creative process where speed and clarity are more important than the quality of the image.
Note: I often work under NDA's (non-disclosure agreements). That means the work is not for public display, on websites or social media. Scamps are often only for private use and owned by the company they are created for. The examples on this page are from real projects, and I've been permitted to share them. Just in case you're production company looking for a scamps artist and are worried about privacy.
Scamp artwork examples
These examples are from various projects I've worked on with leading production houses around the UK. From TV adverts to product design, it's often about facilitation, taking other people's ideas and converting them into images without being precious.
As you'll see in these examples, even at the early stage colour can be introduced a little, which often helps align with branding when presenting to clients. I've worked under direction with an art director to help achieve their vision, and I can offer ideas too.
Scamps happen at the very beginning of the process, and can on occasion stressful when they are created alongside conversations - that can go in different directions, but they don't have to be.
I have a background in comic art and improv comedy, and studied sequential art and communication design as a student. Learning the shorthand for storytelling and attention-grabbing that comics use so often really helps when it comes to composing images. Scamps can get messy quickly, and less is often more when it comes to choosing images for a presentation.
Get in touch for more info and rates.
Links:
I prefer the term speed portrait artist to caricaturist. Here's a sample of my speed portrait work, capturing the likenesses of guests at events in my own clean-line graphical style. These photos were taken at various events, from awards ceremonies in Liverpool to Art Battle Manchester and other venues around the UK.
Speed portraits are about getting a likeness quickly, and I enjoy chatting to 'sitters' for the 5/7 minutes we spend together. It's not just about the art, it's about capturing a moment, putting them at ease and making them feel special.
Getting an event artist is a great way to give attendees something permanent they can take away as a souvenir. Weddings, conferences, conventions, etc. It's a quick win at any event. I'm available to book by half-day (evening) or a full day. All materials are provided.
I've got a performance background (in improv comedy), and use humour to help ease any nerves of those who want to sit and be drawn but are a bit apprehensive about it. In my experience, once the first brave few have been drawn, others are quickly drawn to ...bring drawn.
FAQ.
Q. How many people can I draw in an hour?
A. This can vary. A room full of bald-headed chaps would take less time than a room full big hair-do's and beards. Some faces have more lines than others. What can do is make sure everyone who is drawn feels like they've had a special moment.
Q. Do you work in colour?
A. My signature style is black and white, mainly to save time.
Q. Do you do draw pets?
A. I've done a few pet events but they are very tricky as pets tend not to sit still for long. Working from photos isn't the same as a live subject.
Q. Do you work from photos?
A. I can work from photos, however at events my guidance is that 'live' folks, those in the room, come first. a photo portrait can be created anytime, but at a live event the experience is best had by the folks in the room.
'People watching' is a bunch of faces, drawn at various events I attended last year, including the Edinburgh Festival and Wigan market. Super quick inked sketches of people as they walk by.
They are based on the speed portrait work I do at events, trying to capture real people quickly. In this case, it's folks who walk past, interesting characters in real places just going about their business. Once they've walked past, I'm left with what I saw and my sense of humour.
It's a fun exercise and I'm really glad I made the effort to enter this year. You can see the Home Open exhibition until the end of March 2024
Graphic recording, capturing talks given by the guests there was a lot to digest. A lot of focus was on well-being and health, and I'm pretty sure the firefighting service isn't alone in having this as a priority to discuss. It was their 25th year and they had a lot to celebrate. My favourite talk was on sleep by Dr Sophie Bostock, as after 2 days of drawing solid I was quite ready for a power nap!
Graphic recording, live scribing, live art, whatever name it is given here are some more samples of artwork created at live events.
To find out more about getting live art an event please get in touch.
Links
A full day of capturing an event, as is happened. Live drawing, graphic recording, it has many names, is the process where an artist (me!) draws quickly to capture an event as it happens. This is often talks, discussions and Q&A's, visually representing the themes and subjects that are spoken about. Like taking minutes, but much more fun.
It's a great way to document an event and create marketing and publicity material that can be used after the event to share and remind attendees. Also it's great for social media.
For this kind of work I'm available by the hour, or full day. Get in touch for info on prices.