This collection of aphorisms, written by an “unknown painter,” contains musings on the creative process and is intended as advice for aspiring artists.

The author notes that he/she has drawn on a lifetime of experience as an amateur artist and specifies that the book was written during a summer holiday in China. It begins with the quasi-Zen reflection: “If you stare at the world long enough, the urge to paint will come.”

The book contains ten chapters which include, among others, thoughts on: materials and methods (“Painting is a series of binary responses to materials, ones and zeroes, yeses and noes[sic], which somehow ends in a soft ‘Maybe’”); tradition and teachers (“Honor your teachers like you would your parents”; self-discipline (“Painting demands discipline and a lack of discipline. Freedom and rigidity. Talent and naiveté”); how to observe (“Pay attention to the little moving animals and watch them scurry. They are brushes, the earth their canvas); and skills such as the use of color and lighting (“Painting manipulates light (color). Sometimes, I think it would be easier to control the wind”).

Some musings are philosophical; others ironic. Occasionally, they are humorous (“Never trust an artist who hands you a business card”).

While there is much to appreciate, readers will also encounter aphorisms that are cryptic to the point of head-scratching (“Why shouldn’t a painting be like a yawn?”). There are also moments that feel cliché (“Paint daily, as if the world depended on it”).

In sum, Book of the Unknown Painter is a mixed bag, but painters, and artists in general, will find this an interesting approach to their craft. The short bursts of prose are easy to breeze through, and the crisp format keeps the book from becoming tiresome.

Ultimately, readers can simply discard the lesser aphorisms and appreciate the many thought-provoking takeaways offered here.