An artist named Lee John Phillips has won hearts around with his dedication and patience. He has been teaching illustrations for a decade. Sensing the shortage of patience in the art world, he decided to show its fruits. He began to illustrate the tools in his grandfather’s shed in 2014. He came up with an art treasure to amuse others.
The art world is shimmering with artists taking on different odds to materialize their artistic urges. But only a few of them manage to break away from the bonds and enter the sphere of teaching. They breach the limits to disseminate their knowledge and inspire others. An artist named Lee John Phillips has taken down a different trail to prove his mettle in the domain and spin some life lessons.
Lee has been teaching illustrations for a decade. He has earned a BA in General Illustration, an MA in Visual Communication, and a PGCE in Secondary Art & Design to arm himself with the details of various techniques in the domain. His teaching time brought out a moving fact of the art world. He could sense the shortage of patience and work ethic. He saw people wanting things to materialize over a night.
Seeing the perturbing scenario rising around the world, he decided to teach them a lesson. He began to work on the challenge to showcase the results of patience and hard work. Finally, he found his inspiration in his grandfather’s shed. He began to explore its bits by and by. Not just that, he began to illustrate them as he went ahead catching the elements in the shed. It started back in 2014.
He kept on putting in his efforts over the years. He drew the tools every day to make continuous advancements in his project. His efforts spawned across pages. He has ended up with a big volume of his work. His dedication has surprised everyone around. His sketchbook provides a peep into that narrative. One can find tools filling the pages and throwing light on his observation power with their details.
Shedding light on his observation of loss of work ethic, he shared, ““I was frustrated by the demise in work ethic I’ve noticed in recent years. People (and pupils) have less patience. They want things instantly. Very few people realize the time that needs to be spent on creating something of value. I thought, foolishly, ‘I’ll show them!’.”
Adding to that, he said, “I made the decision to catalogue everything, even multiples, and have not regretted it since.”
Taking on his project, he shared, “I began drawing items from the shed in 2014 and realized that the items in jars and tins were actually more interesting than the tools themselves.” He also said, “It also became clear that the format of my sketchbook was unsustainable for the project—I wanted to draw more than just one ‘thing’ per day. That initial sketchbook developed into pages of random objects and I began to enjoy the pattern and repetition that emerged.”
He has managed to illustrate more than 6,500 items. He has estimated a total to mark over 100,000. It has made waves around the world for his hard work and patience. Art lovers have loved his work and determination. Thus, he has succeeded as a teacher. Taking on that, he said, “My job as an art teacher truly helped sculpt the project into what it is today”.
Hats off to him for his efforts!
