When Lee John Phillips’ grandfather died, he realized that his grandmother was keeping his deceased grandfather’s work shed as a mausoleum in his honor. The shed was the typical space of a handy guy with a lifetime full of tools and supplies, and Phillips’ grandmother didn’t want to part with it. That’s when Phillips came up with this amazing idea. Instead of leaving his grandfather’s things frozen in time, he decided to draw each and every last object in the shed. He estimates that it will take him about five years to draw all 100,000 items, which include, nuts, bold, pain cans, and countless other items. He’s been posting his drawing on Instagram as they’re complete, and the resulting sketches are fascinating to look at. See the homage to Phillips’ grandfather below.
This is a re-post but means a little more now I’ve fully started the project. This is about a quarter of it. All jars and tins are full. I’m going draw every last item. See you in 3 years time! #shed #tools #toolshed #manstuff #drawing #drawingaday #doodle #illustrator #illustration #sketchbook #journal #moleskine #artist #art #coal #miner #grandfather #family #bigassproject A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Apr 30, 2014 at 1:24pm PDT
Vol. 2. Page XCiV Items 3,847 – 3,868 #theshedproject #drawing #grandfathers #shed #art #artist #illustrator #illustration #fineart #wip #sketchbook #journal #moleskine #moleskinearts #challenge #tools #manstuff #pembrokeshire #aberbargoed #wales #staedtler #staedtlermars #marsmatic #linedrawing #old #volume2 #igerwales A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Jul 10, 2015 at 6:35am PDT
Day 1 – 4 This year all drawings will be based on the contents of my late grandfather’s shed. #drawingaday #drawing #sketch #sketchbook #doodle #journal #ink #tattooflash #illustration #illustrator #artteacher #fineliner #sursum #artist #instaart #wip #journal #marsmatic #staedtler #shed #manspace #wales #miner A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Jan 4, 2014 at 8:07am PST
Page Liii Items 2419-2428 Lots of spanners for a while I’m afraid. Please be patient. #theshedproject #drawing #everything #in #my #late #grandfathers #shed #art #artist #illustrator #illustration #fineart #wip #sketchbook #journal #moleskine #moleskinearts #challenge #tools #manstuff #pembrokeshire #aberbargoed #wales #staedtler #staedtlermars #marsmatic #linedrawing #spanner A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Jan 27, 2015 at 2:31am PST
Could take some time this… #illustrator #illustration #moleskine #journal #sketch #sketchbook #drawing #doodle #ink #instaart #staedtler #marsmatic #manstuff #tools A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Mar 6, 2014 at 12:48pm PST
The keys for the shed. I made the key ring for my grandfather in 1991. #illustrator #illustration #keys #valleys #miner #drawing #doodle #sketchbook #sketch #moleskine #ink A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Feb 17, 2014 at 3:41pm PST
Nice to get back to the reason I took a year’s unpaid leave! #theshedproject #drawing #grandfathers #shed #art #artist #illustrator #illustration #fineart #wip #sketchbook #journal #moleskine #moleskinearts #challenge #tools #screwdriver #manstuff #pembrokeshire #aberbargoed #wales #staedtler #staedtlermars #marsmatic #linedrawingy #kleintools #old #newmindsoldsouls #stanleytools A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Apr 17, 2015 at 3:21am PDT
Items 607-630. First of very many Flora tubs. #drawingaday #drawing #sketch #sketchbook #doodle #journal #ink #tattooflash #illustration #illustrator #artteacher #fineliner #sursum #artist #instaart #wip #ropework #instaart #monotone #blackandwhite #traditional #shed #shedproject #tools #manstuff #fineart #engineer #miner #flora #jamjar A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Sep 24, 2014 at 5:12am PDT
Warning – Tedium Level: Severe #theshedproject #drawing #grandfathers #shed #art #artist #illustrator #illustration #fineart #wip #sketchbook #journal #moleskine #moleskinearts #challenge #tools #screwdriver #manstuff #pembrokeshire #aberbargoed #wales #staedtler #staedtlermars #marsmatic #linedrawingy #kleintools #old #newmindsoldsouls #stanleytools A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on May 7, 2015 at 6:46am PDT
Finished the Tupperware of tablet bottles. Total of 983 items including nuts already on bolts. I did not seperate them, I draw as I find. Grand total of 844 ‘catalogued’ items in one container. Almost a third of all work documented to date. #theshedproject #drawing #everything #in #my #late #grandfathers #shed #art #artist #illustrator #illustration #fineart #wip #sketchbook #journal #moleskine #challenge #tools #manstuff #pembrokeshire #aberbargoed #wales #staedtler #staestlermars #marsmatic #linedrawing A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Jan 19, 2015 at 7:02am PST
Lovely mix of items in the next container. After my last visit to the shed I feel I may still have another 4 years worth of documentation ahead. I’m opening containers I’ve overlooked and seeing hundreds upon hundreds of items. I leave, lock myself away, draw for weeks on end, feel positive – then return. It’s not putting me off at all, just seems to be getting bigger as I go. #theshedproject #drawing #grandfathers #shed #art #artist #illustrator #illustration #fineart #wip #sketchbook #journal #moleskine #moleskinearts #challenge #tools #screwdriver #manstuff #pembrokeshire #aberbargoed #wales #staedtler #staedtlermars #marsmatic #linedrawingy #kleintools #old #newmindsoldsouls #stanleytools A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on May 10, 2015 at 5:15am PDT
First jam jar contents documented in ‘project shed’ #illustrator #illustration #drawing #doodle #nuts #bolts #screws #rivets #manstuff #miner #shed #tools #moleskine #sketchbook #journal A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Mar 6, 2014 at 12:14pm PST
This is a painting of those. #theshedproject #drawing #grandfathers #shed #art #artist #illustrator #illustration #fineart #wip #sketchbook #journal #moleskine #moleskinearts #challenge #tools #painting #manstuff #pembrokeshire #aberbargoed #wales #staedtler #staedtlermars #marsmatic #linedrawingy #kleintools #old #photorealism #stanleytools A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on May 6, 2015 at 2:47pm PDT
Page xxxiiii detail. A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Oct 4, 2014 at 8:10am PDT
Freehand ink drill-bits are tricky. Page LXXXii Items 3,416 – 3,444 Very close to finishing book one. #theshedproject #drawing #grandfathers #shed #art #artist #illustrator #illustration #fineart #wip #sketchbook #journal #moleskine #moleskinearts #challenge #tools #screwdriver #manstuff #pembrokeshire #aberbargoed #wales #staedtler #staedtlermars #marsmatic #linedrawing #kleintools #old #newmindsoldsouls #stanleytools A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on May 14, 2015 at 6:07am PDT
Order from chaos. #theshedproject #drawing #grandfathers #shed #art #artist #illustrator #illustration #fineart #wip #sketchbook #journal #moleskine #moleskinearts #challenge #tools #screwdriver #manstuff #pembrokeshire #aberbargoed #wales #staedtler #staedtlermars #marsmatic #linedrawing #old #newmindsoldsouls A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Jun 29, 2015 at 3:28am PDT
One of my favourite shed-related objects. This one is possibly the reason I decided to not limit my drawings to the tool collection and to explore ‘solutions’ and collections. Also, this modification makes complete sense! ? #theshedproject #drawing #grandfathers #shed #art #artist #illustrator #illustration #fineart #wip #sketchbook #journal #moleskine #moleskinearts #challenge #tools #manstuff #pembrokeshire #aberbargoed #wales #staedtler #staedtlermars #marsmatic #linedrawing #old #volume2 #igerwales A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Jul 8, 2015 at 8:02am PDT
This spot is grease from the shed, so I suppose it’s ok. Surprised there’s not more rust and dirt on these pages. #theshedproject #drawing #grandfathers #shed #art #artist #illustrator #illustration #fineart #wip #sketchbook #journal #moleskine #moleskinearts #challenge #tools #manstuff #pembrokeshire #aberbargoed #wales #staedtler #staedtlermars #marsmatic #linedrawing #old #volume2 #igerwales A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Jul 24, 2015 at 12:21pm PDT
Lots of keys. Tough to draw straight in ink. Never missed a pencil so much. A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Oct 2, 2014 at 1:43pm PDT
New A3 book seems massive! Strange to shift scale and draw bigger objects after the rivets. Nice change. Daunting, but nice. Item No. 2271 – Book 2. #theshedproject #drawing #everything #in #my #late #grandfathers #shed #art #artist #illustrator #illustration #fineart #wip #sketchbook #journal #moleskine #challenge #tools #manstuff #pembrokeshire #aberbargoed #wales #staedtler #staestlermars #marsmatic #linedrawing A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Jan 19, 2015 at 1:07pm PST
Start of the shed-documenting-process. This is gonna take years! #drawing #doodle #sketchbook #moleskine #ink #tools #manstuff #illustrator #illustration #designer A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Feb 17, 2014 at 3:37pm PST
Shed Project cont… Page xix. items 213-242 #drawingaday #drawing #sketch #sketchbook #doodle #journal #ink #tattooflash #illustration #illustrator #artteacher #fineliner #sursum #artist #instaart #wip #ropework #instaart #monotone #blackandwhite #traditional #shed #shedproject #tools #manstuff #fineart #engineer #miner A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Aug 5, 2014 at 2:28am PDT
Items 696-719 Page xxx The Shed Project #drawingaday #drawing #sketch #sketchbook #doodle #journal #ink #tattooflash #illustration #illustrator #artteacher #fineliner #sursum #artist #instaart #wip #ropework #instaart #monotone #blackandwhite #traditional #shed #shedproject #tools #manstuff #fineart #engineer #miner #keys A photo posted by @leejohnphillips on Sep 30, 2014 at 4:12am PDT