26 Feb Swim Illustrations and Commissions

Highlighting some of my best and most recent swimming illustrations and commissions. I flipping love wallowing in water. Wild swimming for me is like having two hobbies here in the UK. For half of the year I get to meet friends in the Lake District where we dip in a mountain tarn and then we get to catch up drinking beers in the evening sun. And then there’s the other six months of the year which is usually ice cold morning dunks, sometimes smashing ice and other times combining a swim with a sauna.

As both a swimmer and an illustrator, I’m drawn to those small in-between moments: towels on pebbles, steaming flasks, damp hair in winter air. Illustration allows me to capture that feeling — not just the act of swimming, but the quiet emotional landscape around it.

Way back in 2017 I produced a personal short award winning film called My Big White Thigh’s and Me. It documents my first tentative steps into the world of wild swimming. You can watch the full My Big White Thighs & Me film here.

Commissioning a Wild Swimming Illustration

Many people commission artwork to mark:

• A favourite swim spot
• A friendship forged in cold water
• A year-round swimming milestone
• A meaningful location

On this page you’ll find some of my recent swim illustrations and commissions. If you’re part of the wild swimming community, a custom illustration can be a beautiful way to document your connection to a place. If you’d like to commission a portrait of you and your friends then I’d love to hear from you.

Some of my illustrations are also available as prints or cards in my shop and you can follow me in instagram @maiamedia