New e book Collectively is a hopeful retelling of the lockdown life
It's Hawker's first book, and was created when writer and editor Laidlaw was spying on a picture the artist took for the Clap for Carers applause held in the UK during the initial lockdown. The couple worked on the book remotely and worked together through Zoom without being able to meet in person.
For Hawker – a London-based artist who is a frequent architectural illustration artist and has exhibited his work across the capital – Together is a more hopeful take on last year's challenges. While recognizing the difficulties lockdown and isolation have brought, it also offers a comforting message of community and togetherness.
"I think people are pretty skeptical of us as human beings," the artist told CR. "Especially in the last few years there have been so many divisions and suddenly we are forced to do it together, no matter what. It was a very nice thing how people reacted in general."
Working on the pictures for the book was a slightly different experience for Hawker, who spent much of his time drawing on-site before locking. Unable to set up his easel as usual in London, he was forced to use more of his imagination – something he says was a refreshing change of pace.
“Before the book came out, I was just filling sketchbooks with my observations and there wouldn't have been that much of a narrative, but when the book came out and we talked about creating this story that people would understand, the excitement increased around the idea of creating a work that has a flowing narrative. I used my imagination and my memories. "
Together also has a deeply personal aspect to Hawker, with the main characters of a dog and a man based on his own dog and his late grandpa – to whom the book is dedicated.
Together is published by Kyle Books at a price of £ 16.99. kylebooks.co.uk