I usually end up drawing the reflections in the windows if I’m traveling by train at night. Last night I decided to draw only what I could see outside over half an hour on one page.

I visited Brighton yesterday and went to see the Ragamala exhibition at Brighton Museum. “This collaborative exhibition show with Dulwich Picture Gallery is based around 24 key ragamala paintings owned by collector, Claudio Moscatelli. His love of these Indian miniatures originated from a visit to the Victoria & Albert Museum when he first moved to England from Italy.”

This is a very enchanting exhibition of miniature artworks. You are handed a magnifying glass as you enter so that you can truly appreciate their intricate detail.

I was particularly interested in the narrative behind each painting. They are very carefully composed using lots of different elements but the use of negative space and limited palette stops the images from becoming hard to read or too busy.

I really recommend seeing this exhibition if you are in Brighton between now and 8th January 2012.

I took some students from AUCB to Poole on Wednesday to collect drawings along the Cockle Trail there. The Cockle Trail is a route around the older part of Poole that highlights the town’s history. It was a great way to get to know a part of Poole really well, and I enjoyed joining my students and doing some sketches myself.

I keep sketchbooks quite religiously – I try and keep one on me at all times to record fleeting thoughts or ideas, to fill a gap in time or to record something I’ve seen. To write down new story ideas…I also use them as a way of trying new things out and learning through drawing. I’ve always thought that its important to keep drawing whether you are working on specific projects or not. Its important to keep drawing for yourself. So you can develop you way of working and push yourself. I have to draw or write something every day otherwise I don’t feel myself.

I’ve always been quite secretive about the contents of my sketchbooks but a good friend and fellow illustrator encouraged me to share them more this week.

So heres a few pages from my most recent sketchbook.