"I've always enjoyed drawing and art through the years. For most of my life though I just didn't have the time to indulge that hobby. When I did get to the point where I had all the time I wanted I took up drawing graphic illustrations of my favorite topic, machines.

After discovering Xara vector software 12 years ago I immediately started to see its advantages. It's a very intuitive and easy to learn piece of software. For drawing mechanical machines I found Xara vectors gave me a much greater control and precision over what I was drawing than raster could. Xara is the program of choice now for all my drawings. The illustrations I create are usually a mix of Xara vectors and raster paint work. The main subjects in each illustration are 100% vector with the backgrounds a 50/50 mix of vector and raster.

The use of vectors is a big plus when printing large illustrations. The images in print formats larger than 30" still come out crisp and clear. I'd be lost now without my Xara vector software."

All images copyright © Graham Ward and may not be copied or reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the artist.