A Yorkshire Sketchbook

In recent years David Hockney has returned to England to paint the landscape of his childhood in East Yorkshire. Although his passionate interest in new technologies has led him to develop a virtuoso drawing technique on an iPad, he has also been accompanied outdoors by the traditional sketchbook, an invaluable tool as he works quickly to capture the changing light and fleeting effects of the weather. Executed in watercolour and ink, these panoramic scenes have the spatial complexity of finished paintings - the broad sweep of sky or road, the patchwork tapestry of land - yet convey the immediacy of Hockney's impressions. And as in the views down village streets and across kitchen tables that appear alongside them, his rooted and fond knowledge of the area around the East Yorkshire Wolds is always clear. If you know the region, the location of the sketches is unmistakable; if you don't, its features will come to life in these pages.

David Hockney (b. 1937) is an internationally acclaimed artist. He studied at Bradford School of Art from 1953 to 1957 and at the Royal College of Art, London, from 1959 until 1962. He has lived in Los Angeles since 1963 but now splits his time between the United States and East Yorkshire, where he grew up.