Marc Martin’s day in illustrations

In the back of every issue, an artist shows us what her or his average day looks like in illustrations. In issue 19, that’s Marc Martin (37), who lives in Melbourne, Australia. 

Every morning Australian illustrator Marc Martin rides his bicycle to his studio in Melbourne – unless it rains, then he takes the train – and, on the last bit, when he walks through the back streets, he takes photos for his drawings. Marc shares the studio with fifteen other creative professionals: designers, photographers and writers. They use the common space in the studio for lunch breaks, cooking and watching movies. When Marc is not working on a book – he spent eight months on his latest book, A River – he works on shorter illustration projects.

  1. “In the mornings, I answer any urgent emails and get the admin out of the way.”
  2. “Coffee helps me type faster.”
  3. “Podcasts get me through the day. Some favorites: Planet Money, This American Life, This Is Criminal and Reply All.”
  4. “Projects I’m working on include a book, a commercial project, an editorial, and sometimes I simply experiment.”
  5. “I work in watercolor, gouache and pencil.”
  6. “My sketchbook with ideas and observations acts like a catalyst for future projects and [the practice] improves my drawing skills.”
  7. “Sometimes I make short films in which I mix ‘real’ images with illustrated cut-outs.”
  8. “I use my smartphone mainly to post material on Instagram and to check social media.”
  • You can find Marc’s day in illustrations in issue 19.