Hewitt, John

Biography

John Hewitt completed a PhD in 2008, on the subject of contemporary English courtroom sketches. His research encompassed aspects of reportage drawing, various modes of print publishing, relationships between words, photographs and drawings, notions of authorship in the context of art practice and criticism, and the value of personal memory as an evidential tool in visual documentation. 

John is a Senior Lecturer in Illustration with Animation at MMU. He has taught widely in English art schools since 1981, in the areas of fine art, printmaking and illustration at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. John was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art in 2003 and won the Hugh Casson Prize for drawing at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2016.

John’s artwork is housed in several national collections, including the V&A and the Government Art Collection. His illustrations have appeared in books, magazines and newspapers including the Sunday Times, the Radio Times, the Guardian, New Statesman, Time Out and Ambit. 

Statement

‘My creative practice switches between the media of drawing and etching. Its subject matter invariably deals with observed events, people, animals, objects and locations. Notions of memory run through it.’ 

‘In addition to my work for exhibition or publication I post a daily drawing on Instagram, under name w_john_hewitt.’