I grew up in Cumbria, England. It’s a beautiful place, but as anyone who’s ever grown up ‘in the sticks’ knows – you have to amuse yourself. When not outdoors making dens and tree-houses, Junk Modelling was a common pastime for my friends and I…
Much of the inspiration came from solving a problem or making something with a function – and this is still what motivates me in my professional work. I guess everyone works to their strengths in one way or another, and although my sketching is pretty lousy, I usually try to explain my ideas physically with quick models.
Being a poor draughtsman, I really admire what Spencer Nugent has done with Sketch-A-Day.com for beginners and professionals alike, in sharing how he creates his sketches. It really allows people to see the subtlety of how he ‘approaches’ the drawing. Often you pick up things he probably does instinctively – and you might miss it if he had to explain it. I felt inspired to do the same with modelling, so floated the idea at IDEO’s Make-A-Thon, where it got an enthusiastic reception. This website is still very much work in progress, so please let me know what bits work and what doesn’t. Thanks and Happy Modelling!