David Arthur

My earliest work in Indian ink and watercolour involved paintings of people's homes which I attempted to sell on the doorsteps of affluent Kensington West London.Happily they were all in easy walking distance of my own W8 hovel.In cold weather the owners sometimes brought me soup which I consumed while seated on the kerb,all very Dickensian.
I performed a similar activity involving breweries.That is to say I was compelled to visit every hostelry between Edwardes Square in Kensington and Sloane Square in Chelsea,to this day it remains a blur in my memory.Yet not entirely so.I do remember encountering the author of Cider with Rosie when I was trying to sell a picture of The Roebuck pub in Chelsea to the landlord.Said author referred to the Roebuck as his 'office'.
My chief desire was to illustrate books and my first three publishing commissions arrived on the same day,whacking out illustrations for three books at the same time was not without its problems.
I mainly illustrated children's books for some of the big London publishers but after fifteen years of line and wash I decided to reacquaint myself with oil pastels.
It took a further five years or more for me to become anywhere near proficient...this learning process continues...

I studied Graphic Design,specializing in illustration