The Story Behind My Taj Mahal Drawing

The Taj Mahal in India is regarded as the finest example of Mughal architecture. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, and is widely recognized as the jewel of Muslim art in India. The Taj Mahal is a very important and iconic piece of art and architecture, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

This hand drawing was created from photographs and sketches I did the day I visited the Taj Mahal with my close friends to celebrate and mark our 30th birthdays, a few years ago now. We started our day around 5am so we could beat the crowds, took an auto-rickshaw to the gates, and paid our entrance fee. Walking down the path, you could feel the excitement build up amongst us. As we walked through the old arches we were met with the famous view looking straight at the Taj Mahal, reflecting in the water and trees lining the pathways. 

A few hours of walking around and taking it all in, we sat and reflected on where we were, together as friends, in this amazing setting. I love this last picture because it reminds me of the all vibrant colours in India, the bright orange, the mint green, the pretty blues, the array of pinks, so beautiful. 

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open for commissions

5 Tips To Create Your Perfect Studio/Office

Welcome to my studio, aka home-office but I'm guessing that's what many people are rocking. Today I'm taking you through my studio setup and offering up my 5 top tips to help you in creating yours. Art, design, and crafting can [and does] take over our homes, and whilst this can be amazing, it can also drive others insane. My Dad used to threaten to 'clean' with a black plastic bag. 

But that doesn't stop us. 

In my apartment, of course, I have a studio. It’s in the corner of our living room and separated by an open bookshelf for privacy. I have amazing daylight from our south-facing windows out to the balcony and a wall with my certificates and some artwork on it.

My desk has everything I need on it, or by it, and it can get pretty cluttered...it's organized chaos.

1. Pick a location with lots of natural light

   but also power sockets for artificial light. I sit near the window so I get natural light, and a view of the neighbours but I am not too distracted by what is going on outside.

2. Surround yourself with inspiration

   This will be different for everyone but for me, it’s pictures of family and friends, inspirational quotes, images and art, stationery, and so on. I have some of my work framed to remind me of my recent works and I use objects I use regularly as display pieces too.

3. Set the atmosphere

   I do this with music. I have a Sonos speaker and I use the Apple Music app or the Calm app. I love a bit of background noise to distract my mind and all those random thoughts, or an audiobook on audible - I'm currently listening to The Happiness Project. I also love scented candles and often have one or two burning as I work.

4. Stay organized

   we all love stationery and washi tapes and paper and so on but clutter will only distract and put you off. Make your desk welcoming and easy to work at. Use cups, glasses, empty candleholders, or whatever you can to help store all those pens and pencils you have.

5. Workspace and surface

   keep this relatively empty so you always have a space to start a new project and remember to protect the surface you're working on. I use a large cutting mat to protect the tabletop and often put down a large sheet of white paper as a background for photos. The more you have lying around, the more your mind will wander to it. Even if that pile of to-do papers aren’t a priority, the fact they are sitting on your desk means your mind is thinking about them, even when you think it’s not.

10 Ways To Have A Good Day

It's midweek and I want it to be the weekend again but I'm going to make the most of it and have made a list of ten ways to have a good day, try them out:

1. Start it with a coffee

2. Take a hot shower

3. Wear something that makes you feel good

4. Smile at everyone you meet

5. Phone [or Skype] a friend

6. Take a walk around the block

7. Tackle one thing from that 'to-do' list

8. Tell someone you love them

9. Paint your nails

10. When all else fails, spend some time on Pinterest

A post shared by 'Living In Iceland' 🇮🇸 Sonia (@layoutlines) on Mar 9, 2014 at 3:06am PDT

INDIA: The Academic Work Trip - Delhi, Mumbai + Bangalore

I've just returned from a two-week tour of India. I was there for work, an educational visit to Schools, Colleges, and Universities, to education agents, and education fairs. We traveled from London to Delhi, Delhi to Mumbai, back to Delhi, and onto Bangalore, where I used to live and work. 

Being back in India after almost two years was amazing. There is a sense of energy, excitement, and opportunity in the air which was still very much there. The sun was shining, it was comfortably warm for December, and I was revisiting India with a new challenge and aim. I was there as the academic representative for my University, helping our international department in marketing and recruitment. I met with and spoke to students who are interested in design education. I gave talks, workshops, drawing classes, interviews, and portfolio reviews. 

It was a tough trip, and we worked pretty damn hard, but I honestly think we did a great job and couldn't have hoped for a better trip. I am very lucky to have the job I do as I simply love it, but getting to travel too is an absolute bonus!! Not only did we meet with hundreds of students who were interested in studying at our University but we had a great time doing it. 

We will be following up on all the applications and inquiries next week, but in the meantime, a massive thank you to everyone we met, interviewed, and worked with...it was bohoot acha to be back in Incredible India!! 

Returning To Incredible India

I can hardly believe it's been almost two years since I said my goodbyes to India, but this week I'm packing the same suitcase and heading off to Heathrow T5 to board a flight right back out there!! Only this time I am going for a much shorter visit. 

My Indian adventure started back in 2009, mid-recession. I flew out to India via Singapore armed with a laptop, a suitcase, and a CD of information. I had been employed to help start-up and run a new campus for a Singaporean design college and was semi-prepared for what was to come. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect, setting up a design school isn't an easy job and sometimes I can't quite believe I did it, but it was certainly "bohoot acha" {very good}. I gained a wonderful circle of friends, taught and learned from my fantastically talented students, made a load of memories, got to travel this beautiful country, and returned back to the UK to take on a new chapter and challenge with lots of experience behind me.  

Of course, I also found time for beautiful architecture, colourful markets, yummy food like delicious dosa, samba on a banana leaf, and even the Indian version of a cola which is quite the pick-me-up, that or a chai!!

So, almost two years on and I am now revisiting India as an Academic representative of my current University and I can't wait. I will be working to connect them with some very prestigious schools, college and universities in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. Over the two weeks I will be giving talks and lectures, holding workshops, school visits, interviewing potential new students and meeting lots of very interesting people, and eating and shopping - I'm hoping.  

Interior and Architectural Ink rendered Hand Drawings

Rendering, by hand, with Ink Marker Pens

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been producing some drawings to show my students as examples for a ‘Design Communications’ class I'm teaching this term. I always think it’s best to show examples of your own work - that way the students see I can actually do what I’m teaching and expecting of them, and not just pull images from google.

In my opinion, we are too quick to jump onto computers to render our work and there is a beauty in hand-drawn and hand-rendered work - an important skill to grasp before moving on to rendering in programs such as Photoshop, an office standard.

So, I'm sharing the examples with you, taking you through this process, and talking about what I use to render them, and how you can create your own hand-rendered drawings like these.

Ink Marker Pens for Interior Design Rendering

I have used a range of different ink markers in the past and have built up a little collection ranging from ProMarkers and Copic to Tria. I'm not biased to any brand as colour and ink flow are the most important feature so whatever I have to hand is usually good enough.

I started out with ProMarkers and then Tria before investing in a range of Copic markers.

I recommend investing in 3 to 4 pens to start with - a light and a darker grey, a brown for wood, and if your budget allows then a blender pen too. You can always render into the ink with coloured pencils.

Paper for Ink Rendering

Working with ink markers can be challenging and frustrating but it’s one of those skills that gets easier with practice so make many copies of your work before you ink the final drawing.

I often find that the paper I use can really make a difference in the final look of the image. Poor quality paper will have your ink flowing into each other and run. Standard sketchbook paper, if not thick enough, will do the same and can sometimes become a bit transparent with ink or bleed onto other pages so keep this in mind when working in your sketchbook.

There are ink marker pads on the market but they are pricey. Personally, I don't do enough of these drawings to make that investment so I’ve been using a thick card stock paper that has a watercolor-like absorption to it. Look for watercolour sketchbooks and see what the paper thickness and texture are like - a nice smooth finish is ideal. 

Try it yourself

Hopefully, this has encouraged you. Give it a try, less is more with ink marker work so try to build up the layers of ink as you go. Render and then stand back, add into the material or shadow and stand back.

If you don’t have a drawing to work on, take an image from a design magazine, draw out that image using a black ink fine liner drawing pen, or just in pencil for now, and start to render it.

Begin with the lightest colours and build up from there, do it in layers like a wash of colour and add in other colours to create shadow and depth. The hardest thing is knowing when to stop. 

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See our Pinterest board for more examples