Illustrator Musician Artist
Colin Butcher

A Living Legend

Colin
Butcher

Illustrator · Musician · Artist

From the engineering studios of 1960s England to Australia's music scene — Colin has spent a lifetime making things of precision, beauty, and originality. Technical illustrator, drummer and keyboardist and painter: few people move so fluently between disciplines, and still do each one so well.

This site is a small tribute to a remarkable man and father — his work, his career, and his ability to overcome and persist through whatever life throws at him.

The Draughtsman

Technical Illustrator

Long before CAD software existed, aircraft were brought to life on paper — precise, hand-drawn technical illustrations that communicated complex engineering to the people who built them. Colin was one of the people who did that work, and he did it exceptionally well.

"Drawing what no camera could capture — the inside of a machine, rendered by hand."

Colin worked for Hawker Siddeley in England, one of Britain's great aerospace companies — the firm behind the legendary Harrier jump jet. His technical drawings documented aircraft systems with a clarity and craftsmanship that defined an era of British engineering.

He later applied that same precision to automotive work — car service manuals and parts diagrams — producing the kind of exploded-view illustrations that technicians across the industry depended on.

↳ Colin is archiving his original drawings. This gallery will be updated as works are scanned and added.

Engineering flange drawing
Engineering flange drawing
Aerospace technical drawing

The Musician

Musician

Cybotron · Colossus · 1978

In the late 1970s, Melbourne's underground music scene was alive with a kind of cosmic experimentation rarely heard in Australia. Cybotron were at the centre of it — genuine pioneers of electronic and progressive music at a time when pub rock dominated everything else.

Colin joined the band as drummer, percussionist, and synthesiser player for their landmark 1978 album Colossus — widely considered the band's peak. The record sold better in Europe and the United States as an import than it did at home, and it has only grown in reputation since.

AllMusic singled Colin out by name, noting that Cybotron had "hit a peak with Colossus, which benefited from the presence of drummer and synth player Colin Butcher." The music still sounds like nothing else made in Australia at the time.

↳ More recordings and personal archive audio coming soon.

Cybotron — Colossus (1978) · Full Album

Cybotron — Colossus · Single Track

The Artist

Artist

Alongside illustration and music, Colin has painted throughout his life — acrylics and watercolours that carry the same attention to detail and sense of composition as everything else he turns his hand to. This gallery grows as more works come to light.