Keira Rathbone, 27, uses old manual typewriters (some are 70 years old) to create portraits.

While at a university she discovered that she can draw people’s eyes using the typewriter and set out to do an entire portrait.

She has a studio in Chiswick London but she is also a constant sight throughout the city where she just sits with her typewriter trying to draw inspiration from the surroundings.  After deciding on a figure to capture she then decides which of her 30 typewriters to use.

Using the characters in the manual typewriter she chooses the ones that would deliver the particular shape she wants.  Because she uses old manual typewriters she can control the shades by hitting the keys softer or harder.

She already has in her collection portraits of politician David Milliband, playwright Bonnie Greer and former Miss World Bollywood Aishwarya Rai.

Some of her portraits take up to three weeks to finish.

Her work is on display at Montcalm Hotel near Marble Arch in the West End.

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