Back in July this year the Daily Sketcher received a lot of media attention as people were discovering sketches by this anonymous person on post-it notes on the local trains.
Since then his popularity has continued to grow with a large following on twitter and instagram. We always look forward to seeing his daily postings – Â a little thing to brighten up our day.
He (we say ‘he’ because at least we know, or think we know, that Daily Sketcher is male)  is now selling framed prints on his website and from this week his prints will be on sale in the ONE Art shop in Liverpool ONE.
Apparently he will be in the shop (anonymously) Â for the special preview event on Wednesday (18 November 2015)
We spoke to him (via email) to find out more about his process, inspiration  and fear of being caught.
What is the idea behind this project and how long have you been doing this?
It’s a bit hard to pinpoint it down as it evolved from just doodling, but I started using the daily_sketcher name almost 3 years ago now.
The idea of the project has always been to try bring a little cheerfulness into the world. I have found that more and more we’re isolated in society and just wanted to try create a thread of happiness within it.
Do you stay anonymous? How many pieces a day do you usually draw?
I try my best to stay anonymous, but as I didn’t set out to start to do the daily_sketcher I wasn’t anonymous to start with so people who know me personally know that I do this. But as soon as I started the daily_sketcher I made the conscious decision to try be anonymous as I wanted my post-its to be a reflection of the viewers feelings rather than mine.
I tend to draw around 5-10 a day sometimes more and sometimes less, it really depends how busy I am. I really love doing them but unfortunately life can get in the way.
What are the sources of your inspiration?
I get my inspiration from everywhere, for instance my work mates obsessions with CAKES often drives cake based sketches, but they range from my personal experiences to peoples comments on twitter or overheard conversations. It can be hard sometimes to think of something new so I try write down anything I think will be good.
Why post-it notes and how did you decide to use them?
I knew that I wanted to leave my messages places where people would notice things, I found that people see anything on flat surfaces as rubbish and so ignore it, people look at their eye level but I knew I didn’t want to leave permanent marks of vandalism and so the idea of post-it’s seemed to solve these problems.
How do you feel when you are drawing and stick the post-it notes?
Nervous I’ll get caught and look a little silly sticking post-it notes all over the place! But I try be as discreet as I can.
What’s your favourite moment (or moments) on the train?
The moment that stands out most was an overheard conversation between two people discussing a daily_sketcher I had stuck on the window which culminated in the conclusion I must be a man as my writing was scruffy!
Why is dedicating your commuting time extending kind acts towards total strangers through this intervention so important to you?
It’s really easy to sit back and wish the world was a nice place, and I think we forget that we all have the opportunity to change it a small but at a time.
website
http://dailysketcher.co.uk/
twitter
https://twitter.com/daily_
Instagram
https://instagram.com/
Note-sticking action shot…
To me you are perfect. #daily_sketcher pic.twitter.com/PASIoPFiAU
— Daily_sketcher (@daily_sketcher) November 13, 2015