We visited Mycenae while on holiday in Greece. The views were stunning, the size of it all was awesome, but what I enjoyed most was the museum and their collection of pots.

The designs of the Mycenae period are quite sublime and I think we can learn a lot from the works of those masters. Their patterns are simple and beautiful, probably refined and refined and passed down from father to son over a long period. We only get to see what is left. How much wonderful stuff must there have been at the time.

My poor, long-suffering wife and children obviously wanted to pop into the museum, look at the stuff and move on. I wanted to stay all day and draw the patterns. Taking photos or buying postcards is not enough. You have to trace the lines yourself and recreate the marks to really understand them.

Many of the designs are determined by the brush and the way the brush works. You really need a brush to recreate the style. We use pens so much these days, because they are so convenient. What a hassle to get a brush out to draw! I must have a go with a brush myself and see what I come up with.

Many of the designs would make lovely logos today. I wonder what the Mycenaen designers would have made of computers and bézier curve drawing. I’m sure they would have loved it. The simple shapes are very similar. So often I looked at a pot and thought how modern it seemed, as if the design had been drawn on Illustrator just the day before. Plus ça change…