2020 was an annus horribilis for everyone. Covid shut down so much of daily life, and for me, it brought my bus-based drawing practice to an abrupt standstill. Understandably, there’s little to share from this time.
In March 2020, I was in Berlin with a large group of students and colleagues, completely unaware that the world was about to change. News reports became more alarming by the day, and by the time we landed back in the UK, it was clear that things were rapidly escalating. The drawing below—created on the bus from Liverpool Airport back home—was just another routine travel sketch at the time. Little did I know that within days, the country would be in lockdown, I’d be battling a serious case of Covid, and this would be the last bus drawing I’d make for many months.
These are some of the only bus drawings I made in 2020, with those from March drawn in Berlin as the news cycle became increasingly chaotic. Rumours and fears about Covid were intensifying, and while there was a growing sense of unease, it was impossible to predict just how serious things would soon become.
Two of the drawings here weren’t made on a bus (student in chair - top row, 3rd drawing & 'Berlin Bust' bottom row, 1st drawing), but I’ve included them as part of the spread they were drawn in. I think this speaks to the way a sketchbook inevitably becomes a kind of diary—capturing moments as they happen, whether or not the intention was to document daily life. Over time, these pages take on a meaning beyond the act of drawing itself.
Some of the only bus drawing instagram posts from this year:
The drawings below weren’t made on a bus but while waiting at Liverpool Airport on the morning of our flight to Berlin. At the time, they were just routine sketches—quick observations to pass the time before boarding. But looking back, they now hold a different weight, capturing a moment of quiet before everything changed. In hindsight, they feel like the calm before the storm.