BEHIND THE WORDS & PICTURES
Hello, I’m Phil.
Writer, illustrator, graphic designer, occasional songwriter and collector of notebooks.
I make books, pictures and, sometimes, music. My work grows out of small moments and longer memories: childhood misadventures, unfamiliar places, conversations, faith and the things you notice along the way.
Sometimes those ideas become essays. Sometimes they become stories. And sometimes they stay in a notebook a little longer.
“All I’ve ever been any good at is making paper pretty. It’s what I’ve always done, and it’s good to have at least one skill!”
A FEW CHAPTERS ALONG THE WAY
A three-month trip.
A much longer story.
I’m originally from the UK, but life and work have taken me through the Caribbean, South Asia and Central Asia. In 2011, I went to Nepal for three months. I ended up staying for ten years.
My first book, A {Phool} in Nepal, grew out of photographs from those first three months. Since then, words and pictures have found different ways of coming together in my work.
I completed a master’s degree in graphic design in 2019. While studying, I developed the illustration style that became The Twelve Days of Christmas and The Lokta Illustrated Bible: bold shapes built up digitally with the colours and textures of Nepali lokta paper.
During lockdown in the UK in 2020, I began work on Creation. My latest book, The Left-Hander’s Survival Guide, takes a different approach, pairing personal essays with pen-and-ink drawings. It explores the small adjustments involved in growing up left-handed—and what they can teach us about finding our own way.
SOME STORIES ARE CLOSER TO HOME
Meet Bailey.
Not every story begins in a faraway place. Some begin with a familiar face sitting beside you.
Bailey’s Balloon is one of the illustrated stories I’m working on. The words are taking shape, with the illustrations still to come. There are early sketches, notes and plenty of ideas to share as it develops.
I’d like this website to be a place for that part of the process too: the rough drawings, the pages of crossed-out words and the moments when something finally starts to work.
Follow along on InstagramSTILL MAKING PAPER PRETTY
There’s usually another notebook.
When I’m not writing or illustrating, I continue to design, make music with friends and collect ideas that may—or may not—eventually become stories.
I write with a fountain pen. I still wear my watch on my right wrist. And there’s always another book waiting to be finished.