My Town
By David Gentleman. Particular Books, £25
London can be a hard city to love, but David Gentleman always finds good reasons, which are lovingly drawn in
My Town (Particular Books, £25). For seven decades, Gentleman has made drawings of the people, animals, parks, streetscapes and skylines of the United Kingdom’s capital. His observations are both affectionate and critical: in his introduction to a chapter about ‘Markets’ he writes that ‘irritating or even deplorable developments still make good subjects – you needn’t like what you draw.’
This attractive hardback, sympathetically designed by Tom Etherington, comprises three sections. The first contains general views of London; the second shows Gentleman’s studio at the top of his Camden house; and the third deals with places within easy walking distance of his home. His studio drawings have both precision and intimacy, showing the views from his windows, his tools, his comfortably seated cat and an upside-down ‘No!’ placard, one of a multitude (of his design) held high in London’s 2003 anti-war demonstrations.