Illustrator Matthew Booker’s energetic observations of Englishness and the everyday

London-based illustrator Matthew Booker finds inspiration for his drawings, lino-cuts and prints in public spaces, where he captures the energy of people’s behaviour in all sorts of scenarios.

“I usually make the best work about places that I’ve been to,” he explains, “so I try to travel around a fair bit. Ideas generally come from observations of everyday life, Englishness and what people do for fun.”

One of many monochrome artworks is Growing, which he made as part of his residency with arts hub Metal in Peterborough, looking at the goings-on within a community-run garden. Silhouetted figures amid a busy mass of plant pots, within a flattened perspective, abstracts the scene and truly conveys the dynamic atmosphere.

Drummers depicts a local drum group sitting in a circle tapping djembes, and uses the same black and white palette but focuses on the clash of patterns in the scene, from the players’ jazzy jumpers to the carpet and the drum casings.

“On a whole my work is character-based, about the place and the people in it. I try to use subtle humour, and colours and composition that communicates some kind of English attitude.”

Matthew just completed The Drawing Year course at the Royal Drawing School, which he says has given him the opportunity to develop his practice, and introduced him to a world “very very far from what I’m used to”. Case and point: when It’s Nice That speaks to him, he’s nursing a hangover from the final show private view at Christie’s where he met Prince Charles.

His work has also visibly evolved since we featured his line drawings in 2015. “It’s given me time and space to try and delve a bit deeper into my drawing, and I’ve gained confidence in making work and just seeing what happens. I’ve learned to enjoy the process a bit more too.”