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Blackstock's Collection: The Drawings of an Artistic Savant
Blackstock is autistic and an artistic savant. He creates visual lists of everything from wasps to hats to emergency vehicles to noisemakers. In the spirit of the Outsider art of Henry Darger and Howard Finster, Blackstock makes art that is stirring in its profusion and detail and inspiring in its simple beauty. He has never received formal artistic training, yet his renderings clearly and beguilingly show subtle differences and similarities—enabling the viewer to see, for example, the distinctive features of a dolly varden, a Pacific Coast steelhead cutthroat, and fourteen other types of trout. Each collection is lovingly captioned in Blackstock’s unique hand with texts that reflect facts from his research as well as his passions and preferences. Blackstock’s Collections contains over 100 extraordinary examples of his splendidly original taxonomy, offering a unique look inside the mind of a man making sense of life through art.
144 pages, Paperback
First published August 3, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 1, 2008
Artwork or illustrations from a retired Seatlle pot washer, that is mind-blowing incredible. With incredible detail he does a series of ink drawings of plants, tools, airplanes, shoes, and various insects.
On one level one thinks what madness, but then you realize that there is something beautiful about the common object and how an artist can focus on that one object. Essential!
On one level one thinks what madness, but then you realize that there is something beautiful about the common object and how an artist can focus on that one object. Essential!
December 3, 2019
A great book that offers entrée into the touching and talented savant mind of 'Outsider' artist Gregory Blackstock. His categorical, almost clinical, drawings of groups of fish, tools, instruments and the like—complete with detailed descriptions worthy of the praise of at least the amateur naturalist—is a refreshing reminder of what sort of beauty may arise from the periphery of society, from the least expected places.
January 27, 2025
This is an exceptional book of outsider art by a man who loved making illustrated lists of almost anything. Pens, spiders, war planes, you name it. The strong black outline style, profile view, and linear arrangements of objects make the whole thing unified and incredibly soothing. I treasured my copy for 15 years and am just now passing it on because I never seem to have time to look at it anymore.
January 2, 2023
Totally awesome. Gregory Blackstone is an autistic outsider artist. He will draw a page full of various crows from around the world--each crow will have a title, and occasionally a comment. Some themes I could care less about, e.g., speedboats of the 1940s, and others are fantastic--e.g., The collies. I would pay for some of his art.
March 15, 2019
My younger son is autistic, this made me think of another view of how a savant works. My son has an eidetic memory, which scares the crap out of a lot of people but is very good to help him. To see the works that Blackstock has done gives me a view into my boy's mind. Little by little, we get to know each other every day.
January 15, 2018
Such a fascinating collection of drawings, I can look at these for hours.
November 30, 2024
Fantastic little book illustrating the work of an amazing outsider artist
March 31, 2009
Modern life is an ever-accelerating barrage of people, buildings,vehicles, creatures, and things. How much can a curious mind take in? And what can it do with all the data? Gregory L. Blackstock, a retired Seattle pot washer, draws order out of all the chaos with a pencil, a black marker, and some crayons.
Blackstock is autistic and an artistic savant. He creates visual lists of everything from wasps to hats to emergency vehicles to noisemakers. In the spirit of the Outsider art of Henry Darger and Howard Finster, Blackstock makes art that is stirring in its profusion and detail and inspiring in its simple beauty. He has never received formal artistic training, yet his renderings clearly and beguilingly show subtle differences and similarities—enabling the viewer to see, for example, the distinctive features of a dolly varden, a Pacific Coast steelhead cutthroat, and fourteen other types of trout.
Each collection is lovingly captioned in Blackstock's unique hand with texts that reflect facts from his research as well as his passions and preferences. Blackstock's Collections contains over 100 extraordinary examples of his splendidly original taxonomy, offering a unique look inside the mind of a man making sense of life through art.
Monsters of the Deep
Major Forestry Pests
The Great Cabbage Family
The Spatulas
The World War II U.S. Bombers
The Buoys
King Sized Jails
Monsters of the Past
Classical Clowns
Great Italian Roosters
Our State Lighthouses
The Irish Joys
Gregory L. Blackstock is an autistic savant who began, at the age of 58, a successful career as an artist.
Blackstock is autistic and an artistic savant. He creates visual lists of everything from wasps to hats to emergency vehicles to noisemakers. In the spirit of the Outsider art of Henry Darger and Howard Finster, Blackstock makes art that is stirring in its profusion and detail and inspiring in its simple beauty. He has never received formal artistic training, yet his renderings clearly and beguilingly show subtle differences and similarities—enabling the viewer to see, for example, the distinctive features of a dolly varden, a Pacific Coast steelhead cutthroat, and fourteen other types of trout.
Each collection is lovingly captioned in Blackstock's unique hand with texts that reflect facts from his research as well as his passions and preferences. Blackstock's Collections contains over 100 extraordinary examples of his splendidly original taxonomy, offering a unique look inside the mind of a man making sense of life through art.
Monsters of the Deep
Major Forestry Pests
The Great Cabbage Family
The Spatulas
The World War II U.S. Bombers
The Buoys
King Sized Jails
Monsters of the Past
Classical Clowns
Great Italian Roosters
Our State Lighthouses
The Irish Joys
Gregory L. Blackstock is an autistic savant who began, at the age of 58, a successful career as an artist.
March 8, 2009
This is a fantastic collection of the Outsider Art of Gregory Blackstock, a potwasher at the Washington Athletic Club for over 20 years. Blackstock is autistic/artistic savant, draws almost entirely from memory, and curates gorgeous collections of his hand drawn illustrations in this book. I'm a big fan of series and collections, and this book brings out the best of what is possible with series. I loved the pictures of bees, masks, and famous knotted figures used to shorten ropes. The shining chows are amazing, and the classical clowns are too. I wish the pages of the book had been larger so I didn't feel so squeeze by every page, but mostly b&w line drawings are great enough that I forgive this indiscretion. I wanted so many of these pictures to become tattoos, silkscreens, projects so I could keep them around for a long, long time.
December 30, 2007
Gregory L. Blackstock's artwork is amazing. He is autistic which makes his book the perfect way to reveal that God instills talents and gifts into every person, no matter how their brain functions. Clearly, one of Blackstock's many talents is drawing. This is a perfect coffee table book and reference manual rolled into one.
April 6, 2008
blackstock is an autistic and artistic savant and these drawings (pages and pages of different types of saws or ants or alarms for example)are awesome. If you like Henry Darger or Howard Finster or any of those types you'll like this.
June 9, 2013
I found this little book at the Stewart-Gardner Museum in Boston. I was not aware of the artist and his story but was drawn to his charming pictures. Truly an eye opening find. I hope to visit the sponsoring studio in Seattle one day.
January 29, 2016
This book is amazing! My favorite drawing is either The Weathers, The Noisemakers, or The Gleaming Chows (that last one mostly because it sounds like a good band name). I will add this book to my used bookstore mental list as it needs to be in the home library.
December 12, 2007
The art gets five stars. I wish the book's pages were bigger.
June 19, 2010
Everyone should own this.
April 2, 2016
I've seen lots of one piece images of Blackstock's work before but getting to look through a whole book was truly enjoyable. Thanks, Library!
February 25, 2012
leafed through this book at the bookstore when first came out (or library, or somewhere)...trying to not own it....
October 14, 2012
Aside from the incredible detail, the drawings have an innocence about them that warm my heart. Like seeing the work of a technically skilled child.
February 5, 2016
Amazing!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews