This year has certainly been one to remember, what with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympic Games, and Barnet artist Renos Lavithis has captured some of the year’s most special moments in a calendar of his own work.

This is the third year that Renos, who is originally from Cyprus, has put a calendar together and it features scenes from the Olympic Games, London monuments and pubs as well as scenes from places he has visited, such as Cornwall, the Lake District and Scotland.

“I did four pictures of the Olympics,” says Renos, “and I’ve got ideas for another three or four, one of which will be the torch. It was amazing when it came through Barnet. Unfortunately I didn’t go to any of the events, but in the new year, I’m going to go on a tour of the Olympic Park – we artists have the licence to use our imaginations.“ Renos’ drawings are pen and Indian ink with a touch of pencil work and a watercolour wash, all done on very thick watercolour paper, and a picture can take him anything from eight to 30 hours to complete, depending on the level of detail.

Renos worked as a graphic artist for the Daily Mail for 30 years and, after taking early retirement, revisited his old Fleet Street haunts and painted all the pubs the journalists used to visit, and then moved on to capture all the major landmarks of London.