Bringing London to life with Tim Bulmer!

Meet Tim our wonderful witty artist based in Suffolk, he’s such a joy to work with and is known for not taking life too seriously. We have worked alongside Tim for a number of years now and his talent never fails to amaze us. We’re very proud to say Tim is easily our Best-selling artist with nearly 50 jigsaw puzzles in the range to collect!

Fun fact: Not only does he create phenomenal 1000-piece puzzles based on hobbies, regions and history but when Tim finds the time to unwind from his busy schedule and studio he is a dab hand at cocktail making! (Cheers to fine puzzles and drinks!)

We all know Tim’s illustrative maps look fantastic and he is very passionate about turning them in to puzzles but have you any idea of the time it takes to create one of his jigsaw puzzles? This stunning 1000 piece London map jigsaw was created over a 6 month period! ( 6 months out of his very busy life to create the ultimate map of London, us puzzlers are very lucky!) So why does it take so long?  Let’s find out more below.

Each ‘asset’ is carefully sketched and painted in watercolour to create many a mini masterpiece which are then  scanned in to the computer and shrunk to form the base of our jigsaw puzzle. Sounds easy, right?

Step 1 Research: Time to find out the nitty gritty of the capital city

The endless task of researching London’s attractions, poignant buildings, celebrities, people of interest, road names, history and events. This is done by searching through countless books and hours of trawling the web to bring you the best bits from the streets of London.

Step 2 putting pen to paper

Now it’s time to get all these fascinating facts and ideas from Tim’s head on to paper. The sketching begins full size with lots of detail. This stage is where Tim’s ideas and research collide with graphite and paper.

Step 3 Add a splash of colour

This is where the talent starts taking shape when Tim creates detailed watercolours of hundreds of images and text. Adding a pop of colour and bringing these static sketches to life.

Step 4 Scan in to the computer

At this stage hundreds of images that have been carefully created have been scanned in to the computer so we can start thinking about placement and forming the map base digitally.

Step 5 Create the collage

Once all the images have been scanned in to the computer we can then re-arrange them to create the city with all the assets fitting together. Meticulous map orientation skills are needed! All Tim’s mini painting have been collaged to make the most spectacular, detail map.

Step 6 Send to the manufacturers

The design team resize the artwork to 1000 piece dimensions 50 x 66 cm, we then create a prototype of the jigsaw puzzle and turn the artwork in to puzzle.

The image gets stuck to cardboard then stamped in to 1000 pieces, bagged, boxed with a guide print added.

Voila you can now order a Tim’s marvellous new 1000 piece map jigsaw puzzle of London by Tim Here!