HAVE Pen Will Travel is the most apt name for an exhibition of original drawings, sketchbooks and publications currently on show in The Look Out in Langholm.
Dwayne Bell, local boy made good, has included his now best-selling sketches of passengers on the X95.
These hang alongside drawings of several community members, one of the projects he completed as part of his MA, and others of the forestry industry, focused on his dad, David.
Dwayne has a background in editorial illustration and is programme leader for BA (Hons) Illustration at the University of Cumbria.
His recent research has been in the field of reportage and observational illustration; giving him ample opportunity to do what he loves most – draw.
Dwayne has exhibited work in London, Moscow, Manchester, Leeds, Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
His clients include The Guardian, Wired, The Hollywood Reporter, The Financial Times, GQ, Adidas, Warner Bros Music and Creative Review.
Lucy MacLeod, his partner and creative director of OutPost Arts, which is hosting the exhibition, said there were now four volumes of the X95 books.
The smaller books had sold well and had been reprinted and there was only one copy of the hardback book left.
Lucy said: “He is interested in the non-moment moment when people are just sitting on the bus.
“The books have been sold all over the world which is
interesting. The drawings capture rural communities shuttling back and forth between here and Carlisle and now the books themselves are travelling to other continents.
Chainsaws
“The project on Langholm people and industries looks at what makes up our community. The drawings don’t only focus on the people but on the equipment they use as they work.
“It’s the same for the forestry drawings. There are illustrations of boots, gloves and chainsaws as well as the characters who work in the industry.”
The exhibition is on now and runs until December 20. The Look Out is open from Tuesday to Saturday.