Sketching My World
I took up drawing during the lockdown years as a simple project — a way of recording the people I saw through my window and the conversations taking place through video calls.
What began as an experiment quickly became something more interesting. Drawing forces a different kind of observation. It slows things down and reveals patterns of movement, balance and structure that are easy to miss in words alone.
Over time that way of seeing began to influence how I thought about innovation and systems. Some of the visual models explored in The Art & Architecture of Scaling began as sketches, gradually evolving into the diagrams and images that appear throughout the book.
This gallery shows some of the wider work that grew from that period.
Many of the visual ideas that appear elsewhere on this site began as simple sketches
It begins with noticing
Studies in Character
These drawings are studies in character. They are not portraits in the traditional sense, but observations of how presence reveals itself — in a glance, a posture, a moment of attention. Some are drawn in conversation, some in passing, others over time. Together they explore how individuals — human and animal — hold identity, often shaped by context, yet always distinctly their own.
Then the world comes into view
World in Observation
These works are studies in observation. They are not constructed scenes, but moments of noticing — where light, space and form are encountered before they are interpreted. Some are drawn quickly, others revisited over time. Together they explore how the world presents itself, before we begin to shape it into meaning.
Meaning emerges when we step into it
Art in Context
These works explore how meaning is shaped by context. They bring together elements that do not exist in isolation — people, places, systems and experience — and hold them in relation to one another. Some are constructed from memory, others from collaboration or observation, but all reflect the moment where separate parts begin to connect. What emerges is not just an image, but a way of seeing how meaning is formed through what surrounds it.
Before something scales, it has to be understood
Ideas in Sketch
These drawings are studies in thought. They are not finished ideas, but moments where something begins to take shape — a direction, a relationship, a question. Some are quick explorations, others return to the same idea from different angles. Together they show how understanding forms — not all at once, but gradually, through reduction, connection, and iteration.
