A few weeks ago I got a Facebook message asking if I'd send some of my skyline prints in to ITV's This Morning.  A phone call later, and we were all set - I just had to post the stuff down to London and it'd be featured on the TV!

I did a bit of background research and decided to send in a framed Brighton Skyline (which is where Holly Willoughby is from) and a Leeds Skyline - which is where Phillip Schofield's daughter graduated from earlier this year.  I added a load more cards and bits and pieces, parceled it up and off it went.

I had no idea what day it'd be shown, if at all, but on the Saturday I got a message to let me know that my skylines would be part of a "Gift Guide for Her" on Monday's programme.  I was still a bit apprehensive, so much could go wrong... and of course it could be pulled at any moment.  I'd hedged my bets and placed big orders for archival paper, frames, printer inks and packaging... but I still didn't want to get too carried away!

Monday 4th December rolled round; I had both Hayley and Katy in to help me as it was pretty busy anyway, and we got on with all the orders - until just after 12, when the "gift guide" segment was aired... we stopped with a coffee to watch it with bated breath!

And there it was!  My Brighton Skyline!  Live on ITV!  Wow, I have to be honest, I was a bit speechless.  Hearing someone say your name on TV is really weird!  Then my phone went mad... so many messages and comments, I was completely overwhelmed!

I kept checking my emails, and sure enough a reasonable number of orders started pinging in.  Somehow, This Morning hadn't given out a link for my Etsy shopfront as agreed, so viewers were Googling my name - and orders were split between my Etsy and NOTHS shops... then I realised that I was also getting lots of orders on my own (very much half-finished) website...

As I'd never finished uploading products onto my website, I've never officially launched it.  It was transactional, but until that point I'd only had a handful of low value orders through it.  A few emergency messages to my friend Claire, and I'd managed to understand enough HTML coding to make the website print functional delivery notes - with address labels in the right place.  Something I'd been meaning to do, but never got round to - ah well, at least it's done now!

It was a manic afternoon and evening, packing orders and answering emails, running mostly on caffeine and adrenaline... oh, and the chocolate that my lovely friend Nat popped round with.  The mayhem continued for a good few days, and has hugely boosted my sales - that Monday gave me the highest turnover of any one day to date; and now, two weeks into December, I've nearly beaten the whole of my turnover for December 2016.  Considering how terrifyingly quiet October and November were for me, I'm delighted - and more than a little relieved.

A hundred or so print orders in a day is a completely different kettle of fish to 500+ orders of Valentine's cards that I get each day in early February; with so many different options for size, framing and personalisation it's a lot more work.  But we've managed fine, with a few early mornings, a few late nights and a lot of coffee.  I'm so grateful to Katy and Hayley for keeping me sane throughout - and our endless games of "Tell Me..." - more about that another time!

Brighton is now my most popular skyline, having sold over 50 as a direct result of the This Morning feature - closely followed by London, Leeds, Belfast and Edinburgh.

So, thank so much for all the messages, emails, enquiries and, of course, orders - if I haven't got back to you yet I'm sorry - and if you're waiting on an order I promise it is on it's way!  And huge thanks to Vikki and all at This Morning, it's great to see you featuring small businesses, it makes such a difference to us.  It's proper Christmas-busy here now, and I am so happy.  And exhausted.  But mainly really happy.

This week I received a very special and long-awaited parcel... my 2018 calendars, the final version, all lovely and crisp back from my printers.

This year I decided to choose twelve of my skyline illustrations, tweak them a little to make them that bit more seasonally appropriate, and turn them into a colourful calendar.

Featuring romantic Chester in February to September's new term in Oxford, and a whole rainbow of colours, here's a calendar celebrating the seasonality and diversity of cityscapes the length and breadth of the United Kingdom.

Each cityscape illustration has something added to it - from Cardiff's spring daffodils to crispy autumnal leaves in Liverpool.  It's a mini challenge to spot the seasonal addition to each illustration.

Great as a gift - dare I mention Christmas yet - or even for your own kitchen or study; I am really delighted with how this year's calendar has turned out - and I hope it proves popular too!

Copying is crap, there’s no two ways about it.  Seeing something that you created – that came out of your head – pop up on your Facebook feed, in an Instagram story, or in a private message from a friend or customer.  Yes, a word might’ve been changed, a layout tweaked slightly, but essentially there it is, your own creation, bastardised and ready to make money for someone else.  I genuinely get a physical reaction when I see it - I shiver and go all cold.
 
Nothing is truly original – it’s a simple fact.  Humans have been around for some six million years.  There have been over 100 billion human beings in that time.  Even if each one only ever had one creative idea in their whole lives, there’s bound to be some considerable overlap there.
 
We’re also now living in an age where we’re exposed to loads of different ideas – if the average person spends around two hours a day on social media that’s a heck of a lot of things we will see and – sometimes inadvertently – be inspired by.
 
I’d say that 99% of people in the world are good, honest souls, who would never intentionally copy anyone.  I will stand by that completely.  My initial reaction whenever anyone says “this is a copy of your work” is to question myself – “have you seen this before, did you inadvertently copy it?”.
 
I’ve been alerted to goodness knows how many Dinosaur Alphabets.  I didn’t invent dinosaurs - or alphabets - and although I didn’t find any others online when I completed mine, it’s definitely not to say I was the first person to draw one.  There are loads of other folk out there doing them and it’s no problem if it’s genuinely their own work.  I actually love seeing other people’s take on different alphabets.  I’m a proper alphabet nerd.
 
Over the weekend I saw a good friend of mine attacked on Social Media because she had created a design, which – by her own admission, when confronted with the original – was very similar to another local artist.  She’d definitely not copied it; it was a genuine coincidence.  She was really upset by the vitriol and abuse directed towards her by the “original” artist, and a group of her friends.  It was pretty distasteful, nasty name-calling - and totally unproductive.  At the end of the day, why the heck would anyone publicly share a work in progress if they’d willfully copied someone?
 
Which draws me to the main point of what I feel about copying – it’s not the being copied, it’s the way that you deal with it that really counts.
 
Coincidences happen.  And people will have the same ideas, at the same time.  Artists will also draw similar subjects – food, alphabets, skylines.  That’s been going on for centuries.  That’s not copying.  Heck, I’ve been accused of it myself – so I know how utterly distressing it can be if an unfounded accusation is made.
 
But when you see someone copy the exact wording and layout of a bestselling card design, you know damn well that it’s a copy.  So my general strategy in this instance is to deal with it quickly, privately and discreetly.  I think that causing a big fuss on social media just isn’t very dignified, and it’s going to cause ultimate distress for all concerned.

It’s also very telling, how someone who has copied you responds.  Some are very gracious and remove the product in question immediately.  I have, however, had a number of copiers argue with me “well I re-drew the cheeses, so it’s not a copy”, or “someone asked me to copy it” or – my favourite - “I’m just a sole trader trying to make a living”, are just a few that spring to mind.  Great, thanks for that guys, maybe just think of your own ideas in future, huh?
 
I have seen blatant copies of my designs in several high street stores – which really really hacks me off.  But if I am honest I don’t have the time or energy to pursue a lengthy and stressful campaign against the big boys.  I’d rather spend my precious time drawing new things, cos, well, that’s what I like doing.
 
I’m also not going to name and shame, it’s just not me.  I don’t want these ratbags to get any more publicity than they already have.  But even I have limits, and there are certain high street stores I keep a close eye on, especially round Valentine’s Day.  But I’m not going to be consumed by negativity.  My time’s more important than that - and I hate the drama and outrage that comes with it all.
 
So, copying.  In conclusion.  It’s not flattering, its downright bloody rude, and it’s stealing.  But, I have the capacity to come up with new ideas – out of my actual brain – so basically, I win.

For the past six months I’ve had a complete obsession with drawing UK skylines.  I’ve drawn all sorts of places – from the obvious (London, Glasgow) to the more unusual (the Wirral, Carlisle).  I’ve just completed my thirtieth – a slightly more personal illustration of Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle, which is the area in which I’ve had my studio for the past three years.
 
I’ve absolutely loved drawing every one of them – and the process I’ve developed really satisfies the logical way I like to work.  With very few exceptions, each skyline had developed as the result of a collaboration of different ideas – all via social media.  I simply pose the question “what landmarks make your city special?” and let Facebook and Instagram responses guide me to the most notable, iconic, memorable landmarks – both classic and contemporary.  From Hull’s white phone boxes to Nottingham’s Sky Mirror, nothing is too small or too insignificant – and if enough people mention it then I include it in the final illustration.

I generally work on a tally list and pick the 8-10 most popular things – although I must admit there are a few times where I’ve picked out things that I really fancy drawing, even if they’re not that popular!  Completely by chance, every single shortlist has included enough tall, short, big and little landmarks to make up a visually appealing composition.
 
The really lovely thing – and something that I didn’t anticipate happening – is that I am now a whole load more knowledgeable about UK cities.  I can be sitting watching TV and know exactly where a programme is set before anyone has even spoken a word!  I have a little list in my head of places I really want to visit too.  Cardiff’s Animal Wall is at the very top.

I’m frequently asked “why’ve you bothered drawing such a small city?” and my answer is simple – if you look at how many skylines there are of big, touristy places like London or Liverpool you are spoilt for choice.  I love drawing smaller, more obscure places.  Leicester is one of my biggest sellers, and Leeds is really popular too – in part, I am sure, because there are a lot less illustrations of these places!
 
My favourite?  Well, that has to be Liverpool.  The most emotionally draining was Oxford – a city where I lived for a short time after graduating, and a city where I properly fell in love for the first time.  It was like walking down memory lane… a somewhat bittersweet experience.  Lancaster held some strong memories for me too, but for some reason this was much easier for me to draw.

I absolutely love anything that adds a bit of character - so a donkey on the beach in Blackpool, a little Herdwick sheep in the Lake District or a little Viking sauntering along the street in York, all add to the interest for myself and - hopefully - for the viewer too!

Adding my skylines to wedding invites was a no-brainer – I have an existing Liverpool skyline illustration (which I drew years and years ago) which has always been really popular on wedding stationery, so to expand on this and offer invites with any skyline made perfect sense.  I can even work on a little bespoke illustration of a wedding venue and drop this into the skyline for an extra personal touch.  My Personalised Graduation Skylines and Cards have been really popular over the past month or so too.
 
And, what’s next… well, on the list is Durham, Bath, Reading and Middlesborough – all by popular demand.  I also want to branch out and draw some European cities, inspired by my own travels – Paris, Berlin, Barcelona...  I definitely want to do Sydney soon too.   I’d love to hear any other suggestions!
 
Ultimately I’d love for people to say “oh, I was born here, went to uni here, got married here, and my child was born here” and be able to buy multiple skylines to tell their own story.  I’m getting there, but I know I have a lot more work to do… watch this space!