Why did visitors from a black and white planet travel to Keswick’s Pencil Museum? Did they have designs on the fantastic range of crayons in its shop, or have an eye (or three) on the longest coloured pencil in the world (7.9m btw) on display? This was the starting point for Earthling visitors at my comic strip/drawing workshops, and for younger Earthlings there was a visual prompt from my Draw It! Monsters book – the lost eyeballs are always popular – and as you might expect, a huge supply of coloured pencils. An unusual heatwave in the stunning Lake District landscape outside didn’t deter artists of all ages from coming in to explore this extraordinary museum and join the workshops afterwards. Some brilliant results from participants. And fame at last? My workshops featured on the front page of saturday’s Lake District Herald.
Now waiting for a giant box of pencils to be delivered. Although I’m going to be paid in common-or-garden sterling for running three days of workshops, the museum is going to reimburse me for my accommodation costs in, you’ve guessed it, pencils!