An artist has created an incredible doodle map of Oxford, featuring all the landmarks, museums, restaurants and shops and name-checking its most famous inhabitants.
Dave Gee, 31, is a freelance illustrator and mural artist who has made an international name for himself with a trademark cartoon-ish doodling style.
Mr Gee said: “Last year me and my girlfriend took a staycation and we visited Oxford so it was recent in my memory.
“As I was walking around I was thinking, there’s a lot of things I could draw here.
“I also just really liked the vibe, there were lots of independents – I always try to push as many independent businesses as I can - and I took a bit of a shine to it.”
Normally his maps, which he has made of a host of cities including London, Edinburgh and Bristol, usually take two to three days from start to finish to complete but Mr Gee worked in two-hour stints over a period of time on the Oxford map alongside other commissions.
The process starts with him researching the city, before putting out a call to his social media followers for suggestions of what to include.
He said: “In Oxford the suggestions were mainly museums and some university buildings.”
He also looked up people who came from the area.
“I choose the ones I recognise or that strike a chord with me – so in Oxford there’s Hugh Laurie and Radiohead and the Jericho Tavern where they played their first gig, whatever jumps out at me.
He added: “My girlfriend watches Made in Chelsea which is why I included Jamie Laing.”
He then gathers together a long list of all the landmarks – the bars, restaurants, shops, and sports teams.
He said: “Then comes the arduous part – comparing the list against various maps, usually Google but sometimes Ordnance Survey maps if I’m struggling.
“Then I do a rough layout so I know where everything is going to go.
“I draw the landmarks on first, and that is the really enjoyable part, because I can see it coming together, then I add things like rivers.
“The final part is the doodles which is my trademark style.”
The map is hand-drawn on A2 paper, fairly large and usually used for posters and architectural drawings, using Posca pens.
Mr Gee said: “These pens are really versatile, they’re waterproof for when I’m outside and drawing on walls and they’re not streaky.
“The effect is it looks like the drawing is wallpapered on.”
The drawing is then scanned and digitised.
Mr Gee, who works from a studio in Ancoats, Manchester, is successful worldwide and has been commissioned to create murals by the BBC, Channel 4, Manchester’s Arndale Centre and Marks and Spencer and has illustrated packets of Lancashire Tea and bottles of Salford Rum with his doodles.
Before Covid, he worked all around the world, mostly in Europe but also in Asia.
He said: “My favourite piece is in the lifts at the New York Hotel. It’s a wraparound map of New York which is quite a special city.”
He added: “In Oxford there’s lots of lovely buildings, I was a bit spoilt for choice.”
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