Wil Freeborn is an illustrator and designer based in Gourock, Scotland. I mentioned his work on Lines and Colors back in 2010.
Freeborn likes to do location sketches in watercolor and/or ink. Late last year, he painted a series of watercolors of coffee shops in and around areas he visits. They were composed in a fascinatingly vertical format for a 2015 calendar.
The calendar can be ordered from Freeborn’s Etsy store, along with prints and other items. You can also see the watercolors on his blog and Flickr stream.
He has also recently done a commission of someone’s favorite coffee shop (above, bottom) (and may sill be accepting other commissions, I don’t know).
In addition, Freeborn is holding a competition in which he will paint the winner’s favorite cafe, and give them the original. He’s judging the winner on the basis of a great image from which to paint. Submissions can only be made by posting the photos on Instagram with the hashtag #coffeespots.
I particularly enjoy his approach to watercolor, combining firm draftsmanship with free, sketch-like composition and application of color.
