Pick Up a Pencil: The Work of Laurence Fish

This lavishly-illustrated hardback book covers the work of talented British artist Laurence Fish (1919-2009).

Laurence was one of the 20th century’s most versatile artists. Born in London, he developed his artistic skills early in his life, and when in his teens, he was already working on styling prestigious cars such as Alvis. During WWII, he served with the RAF, but his artistic skills saw him seconded to MI5 as a technical specialist in explosive devices. After WWII he rapidly became well renowned as a painter and commercial illustrator, being commissioned by many famous British Companies such as Shell, BP, MG Cars, BOAC and Hawker Siddeley. His classic airplane magazine covers are now collectors’ items.

This book is also full of wonderful stories about Fish including one where he took one of the bomb devices home to draw it, kept it under his bed, then found it was live!