Lessons for Young Artists

(Hardback)

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A master hands over his tools in this generous, gentle book of artistic advice We are all artists as children, painting and drawing each day. Most of us stop when we get older - but David Gentleman kept going. For over ninety years he has been drawing, painting, engraving and printing, rising to become one of Britain's best-known and most loved artists. His watercolours have filled galleries; his iconic wood cuts are emblazoned across posters, book jackets and train stations; his stamps have made their way to the furthest corners of the world. Here, the great, polymathic artist and craftsman shares what he has learned over the course of a lifetime of making and thinking about art. Unlike his contemporaries, Gentleman was never a teacher; his lessons are a sequence of unconventional prompts and reflections that will deepen how you think about art and the world around you. Sincere, practical and unpretentious, Gentleman's insights are a breath of fresh air. Here are new ways to focus, notice the world and cultivate your own style; techniques to evolve your work, from playing with time to painting in bad weather; methods for getting the most out of mistakes and negative criticism; and, above all, reminders to return, always, to the simple delights of creativity.

Reviews

Gentleman has been responsible for some of the most-seen public artworks in this country, from more than 100 commissioned stamp designs, through the illlustrations in the astonishingly popular 1957 cookery book Plays du Jour, to a platform-length mural at Charing Cross Underground Station (passed through bya whopping 60,000 passengers a day) * The Times *
It takes a special kind of person to hit their 10th decade and still see fresh beauty in the city theyve called home for 70 years * i News *
Gentleman, more than anyone else, was responsible for demonstrating the possibilities of the postage stamp, a tiny shard of visual pleasure and interest that could make art a natural accompaniment to the everyday act of communication for millions of people * Apollo *
It would be tempting to describe Gentleman as a pillar of the British establishment were it not for his anti-establishment leanings For decades he has been working steadily as a designer-illustrator in a tradition of his own making * Eye Magazine *
David Gentleman is London's visual laureate -- Quentin Blake
David has spent a lifetime depicting with wit and affection a London he has made his own -- Alan Bennett

Author Bio

David Gentleman is a painter and printmaker, working in many mediums. His work is held in many major galleries, including Tate, the V&A and the British Museum. He has designed British postage stamps and coins, and the platform-length mural at Charing Cross on the underground. He lives in London.