Laurence was born in London and became a very successful commercial artist, producing many famous railway posters. Pick Up a Pencil covers his whole painting life, from the early drawings of detailed explosives for MI5 (they were used to help the army to disarm the bombs), through to his own fine art paintings. Jean's book is also full of stories including one where he took one of the bomb devices home to draw it, kept it under his bed, then found it was live!
