Behind the scenes art blog- drawing tips and techniques

So, by now you should all know about our dear friend Stephen. If you don't, take five to go explore this site. We'll wait for you. In this post I want to share the individual stories behind the artefacts in Stephen's file. He has had a long life so the contents are varied and range from yellowed documents to modern urban explorer photographs. There are clues buried within them that give a timeline for those inclined to do a little research of their own. Or you can just enjoy

Or rather, in the case. Those of you familiar with the story of Stephen and his file will know that for the last couple of years I've been revealing his life story through various artefacts. One of the most recent was this rather splendid suitcase. Asylum patients would often take a suitcase containing their most valued possessions when admitted and as Stephen has a fascination with the things people leave lying around, this must have been irresistible. The question was, what

Of all my creations, the one I get asked about most often is Stephen. It all started with a song - the actual track by Alice Cooper is titled 'Steven' but I changed the spelling as otherwise there may have been a terrible temptation to address him as 'Steve' and I don't even want to think about what might happen then. The first impression I got of Stephen was of something squatting with his hand against a wall or a door, as if to keep something else out. I drew more hands and