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InspirationIllustration

How drawing can help us appreciate the little things in life

Illustrator and author Matilda Tristram is not only a very talented woman, but a very inspiring one, too. A few years ago she released the heartbreakingly honest comic Probably Nothing, a tome that detailed how she was diagnosed with cancer when pregnant with her first baby; a tale that is clearly both awful and terrifying, but one she manages to inject some rather dark humour into.

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Six coloured sketch portraits of different women's faces drawn in Matilda Tristram's loose, energetic style with various coloured pencils and pens

Her new book, which is launching in August with Leaping Hare Press, can perhaps be seen as something of a sequel, and compels and teaches us how to fall in love with (and draw) the little things that we encounter every day.

It's both a visual diary presenting some sweet, energetic sketches and a guide to drawing itself: each page offers her valuable insights on abstract things, like how to see the world anew by drawing it, as well as more technical aspects of drawing like which pens and pencils to use for different tasks and how best to use colour. It's like one of those ubiquitous colouring books, but better.

Matilda Tristram's collection of colourful sketches including a potted plant, purple bicycle, straw hat, sunglasses, potted flowers, shop front, ice cream, figure, building, cactus, industrial landscape, sunset, mirror, upside-down figure and tree-lined p
Two bicycles drawn in pen and watercolour, one black with drop handlebars and one magenta with flat handlebars
Grid of nine hand-drawn botanical illustrations including seed pods, acorns, thistles, berries and leaves in coloured pencil and ink
Matilda Tristram's sketches including a breadbasket, pencil holder with flowers, and hands drawing, demonstrating everyday subjects and drawing techniques
Six coloured sketches of everyday food packaging including crisp packets, biscuit packets and a glass, drawn in Matilda Tristram's energetic illustrative style
Matilda Tristram's illustrations showing two potted plants with colourful leaves and two decorative tile-patterned window designs in blue and purple
Six blue-ink sketches of hands in various positions and gestures on a cream background
Matilda Tristram's sketched illustration of drawing materials including coloured pens, pencils and an eraser, labelled Materials/21
Cover and inside pages of Matilda Tristram's My Year in Small Drawings, showing illustrated vignettes of everyday objects and scenes with handwritten text
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