Matt Wright is on a mission… and a tight deadline, too! The Lincoln-based architectural illustrator and artist has set himself the ambitious challenge of creating a large-format drawing of Bailgate… in one long run! With the piece due to debut in June, the last thing he needs is to be interrupted, but he\u2019s still managed to have a chat with us to tell us how to undertake such an ambitious project<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last thing Matthew Wright needs is a distraction… so an hour-long conversation with an excited journalist isn\u2019t ideal, but the architectural illustrator is very patient with me as I\u2008fire question after question about his ambitious project, The Papestry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s like the Bayeux Tapestry, but Lincoln-based, specifically Bailgate and Steep Hill, so I suppose it\u2019s the Bailgate Tapestry. Matt began working on the project in August last year, and the idea was to take his illustrative style and use it to create one long panoramic illustration of the buildings along Bailgate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The piece is due to be completed by early June, when it will make its debut at The Usher Gallery, probably six metres long and about half a metre tall… so how do you go about undertaking such a task? We had to find out, even if it meant interrupting the artist when he really needed to be working!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was born in Lincoln, and I\u2008went to school and college here. I moved away in my 20s and went to Leeds, then London, before returning to Lincoln during lockdown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m completely self-taught as an artist and I started drawing purely as a way to relax. Having studied music production at university, I spent my time touring with our punk band, playing a few festivals and did some session musician work in between. Drawing was a way of calming my mind: it was never meant to be a serious career!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just before moving back to the city, Matt had illustrated a couple of children\u2019s books starring his cat, Nermal, hence his handle online, \u2018matandhiscat.\u2019 Living in Bailgate with his wife Roz and five-year-old son Ruben, he became fascinated with the architecture that he\u2019d failed to appreciate in his younger days and began drawing the buildings around him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After posting a few online, people soon began to commission him to draw their properties, he went self-employed and the rest is history. Between his commissions, Matt also created Haunted Lincoln in 2023 (updating it in 2025), featuring local buildings in the city reputed to be haunted… this was a reflection of his fascination with ghost stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following year he created The Great Lincoln Pub Crawl, featuring around 30 of the city\u2019s local public houses; a sort of \u2018Tower of Babel\u2019 of Lincoln\u2019s boozers. Limited editions of both prints are available on Matt\u2019s website and, together with his online illustration tuition and commissions, help to fund his passion project, The Papestry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2008always wanted to push myself further and whilst finishing The Great Lincoln Pub Crawl I came up with the idea of one continuous drawing of Bailgate. I\u2008was inspired by The Bayeux Tapestry, which I\u2019ve always thought was monumental, telling a story in one long piece of work.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere was quite a bit of planning involved, but it\u2019s not until you actually start working on it that you realise some of the difficulties. I\u2008reasoned that much of my time would be taken up working on houses on Bailgate if I were to start from Newport Arch, so instead the Assembly Rooms is the first building to feature, and I\u2019m working along the east side of Bailgate, with the aim of eventually reaching The Rest and the wonky lamp post where Steep Hill meets Danesgate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deadlines mean Matt might have to stop earlier than that, but that\u2019s where the piece will eventually finish, and where Nermal, who sadly died last year aged 22, will be pictured. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next, though, is the west side of Bailgate, which is set to keep Matt busy into 2026 and 2027… assuming his patience can take it, because drawing each building takes a week, sometimes two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matt is usually up and in the studio from about 5am, and works into the evening after taking Ruben to school and picking him up again. To create an illustration of each building, Matt starts by taking reference photos. Each building is accurate in terms of its scale, often taking doors as a good point of reference for dimensions. Ostensibly the perspective is as if you\u2019re standing in front of the building, although the reality is that Matt has to employ a bit of artistic license in terms of perspective. But he also chooses to include any cracked plasterwork or crumbling brickwork to ensure the representation is as true-to-life as it can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another practical problem, though, is the gradual slope which of course becomes more pronounced from the Magna Carta pub down towards Steep Hill. Matt described the slope as \u2018a bit of a headache\u2019 which is probably understating matters considerably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI work on Arches watercolour paper, which is thick, slightly textured and very expensive,\u201d he says. \u201cThe process is straightforward but meticulous. I photograph each building from multiple angles and then I take measurements. Next it\u2019s a case of pencilling it out before beginning the inking stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matt hand-draws each brick, each object in the shop window and each shadow on the roofline in detail. He tries to take a break every hour, or if he feels himself losing precision. \u201cYou can\u2019t rush it,\u201d he says. \u201cI think the detail is the integrity of the piece.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are bombarded so much with digital work and AI stuff that can be too perfect. With this, you can see it\u2019s human. It\u2019s been drawn out of love and care and attention to detail.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The artist reckons he didn\u2019t anticipate such strong public interest, but really, it\u2019s impossible to see why anyone would be less than impressed with the detail, the lovely boldness of the black and white pen strokes and above all, the sheer ambition of the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy mum was on the bus the other day and she heard two people talking about it, which I thought was really sweet! I\u2019ve been interviewed on BBC Look North, Radio Lincolnshire and on Calendar News and people have spotted me on Bailgate when I\u2019ve been out. Some have even come up to me asking me not to draw things like their blinds, or asking if I can add things into the windows, so there will be a few secret details in the finished piece!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for what happens next, Matt isn\u2019t quite sure yet. Since the piece will end up being six metres long, displaying it on a wall in your home will be tricky. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some buildings have a slight space between them on the illustration to reflect actual spaces between, for example, Eastgate between the Post Office and the White Hart. There\u2019s scope, then, for excerpts from the overall artwork, offered as limited edition prints, or for the piece to be digitised and reproduced in a giant format and shown somewhere around Lincoln. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One thing\u2019s for sure, though, seen in its entirety, Matt\u2019s labour of love will be incredibly impressive and very beautiful. We can\u2019t wait to see it, so I suppose we\u2019d better let him get on with his work!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matthew Wright is known on Facebook as matandhiscat, and is an architectural illustrator and artist currently working to produce a large-scale illustration of Bailgate, \u2018The Papestry,\u2019 which will debut on 20th June at The Usher Gallery. Matt accepts commissions and has a limited number of his existing pieces for sale as well. The artist is also offering online illustration courses via his website too. See www.matandhiscat.bigcartel.com or find him on social media: @matandhiscat.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n