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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 your relationship with your art, and with 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.
With lush illustrations, anecdotes and explanations of how he made some of his most famous work, this is a unique guide to the nature and practice of art-making which will encourage and inspire artists young and old.<>
About the author
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.
