Simon's Scribbles

There are three big influences in the way I draw, and two of the three are probably fairly unconventional.  As a child I loved ghost stories, and in fact anything related to the paranormal and supernatural.  I think I may have borrowed the local library's small collection of the books dedicated to this more than any of the other card holders.  The one that had the biggest impact was the Usborne Haunted Houses book, in fact their whole series.  I eventually bought myself a copy of the Haunted Houses book (using some WH Smith vouchers I received one Christmas) and though now taped up and dogeared it still sits within arms reach of my writing and drawing desks.  The "Tongueless Lady of Glamis" and the "Canibalised Sailor" both stick in my mind as much now as they always did.  Then there was the shortlived "Scream" Comic.  I loved the pictures in this series, I don't remember it running for long, but it is still my favourite. Then there is MC Escher.  I got a copy of "The Works of MC Escher", probably when I was about 13, I think it was the surreal nature of many of his works that drew me in, but the striking black and white is clearly what stuck.  

So now, when I get the opportunity I scribble, mostly with pen and pencil and rarely in colour at all.  I do it largely to let my brain rest, especially if its running away and needs keeping in check.  I tend to draw the things I enjoy and so as you can probably imagine there is a hint of the supernatural, but there is also a vast amount of the natural too.