One of the best things about knowing a lot of creative types is being introduced to artists you hadn’t heard of before. I make no apology for having been unfamiliar with some stalwarts of the art world and I’m betting some of you are too, so allow me to introduce you to John Duffin.

Duffin’s work covers a variety of media from charcoal and pastel to watercolour, but it’s his evocative etchings that really get the design juices flowing. They tend to be urban scenes, and loosely fit into two categories: the slightly cartoonish close ups and the cityscapes which capture the beauty and loneliness of urban living from strange, often vertiginous, angles.

Take two favourites of mine, ‘Going Home’ and ‘If Only’, both of which use long shadows and dizzying perspective to cut straight to the heart of a city existence. As a London-born city dweller, the familiar feelings of both safety in numbers and isolation in the crowd draw me to the images.

For those who prefer a more vibrant look, the same style is used to great Deco effect in richly coloured digital prints like ‘The Last Picture Show’. There’s a strong nostalgic element to much of Duffin’s work even though he’s very much a contemporary artist, with an archive reaching back to the late 80s. He also accepts private commissions if you email him.

In terms of ready artwork affordability, Duffin is at the designer-shoes-on-sale end of the spectrum, though I’d much rather splash out £195 on one of his (unframed) prints than some piece of heeled frippery any day. My sister has already offered a Duffin as a wedding present and it’s on course to be enthusiastically accepted and treasured. And, while I’m just as happy to dribble over Italian toothbrushes and Finnish bird art, it’s nice to be able to recognise and support brilliant UK talent.