How To Art, a new book about art written by Kate Bryan with illustrations from the one and only David Shrigley, is fittingly named after the down to earth ethos of its author and illustrator. David, known for his simple satirical drawings, and Kate, who’s built an extremely respectable career in arts after years of working shifts as a teenager burger flipper at Burger King and calling out numbers at Gala Bingo, make for a brilliant pairing in a book that takes a “fancy subject down to earth so we can all enjoy it”.
Kate fell in love with art as a teenager, enamoured by the reproductions she discovered art books, eventually leading her to her current role as an arts broadcaster and chief art director for Soho House since 2016. Now, she’s produced her own seminal text. It’s proudly ‘lowbrow’ and sincere, just like (one could say) the majority of working class appreciators of art. There are tons of success stories of blue collar workers who made artistry their full time job, but as we all know, it’s not without its perils. Phoebe Waller-Bridge blurbs How To Art as “art without terror”, quite rightly – the book is straight forward, joyful and never condescending.
“It was to demystify in an entertaining way. I wanted to remind us all that art’s supposed to be joyful, we shouldn’t have to get bogged down in academicism,” says Kate, sharing details on how she came about creating her own kind of how-to guide. “Even my 6 year old tells me the title doesn’t make sense!” Nonsense or otherwise, the book is undeniably accessible. This isn’t a traditional guide, but it is a book in which one hopes anyone can refashion their own path with art. There is no large stretch of imagination needed to envision a future where imagination is your greatest asset.