I knew there was something different about me when my painting of a tree with a red trunk was shown to my class of fellow nine-year-olds. Yes – I was colour blind. Like quite a few men, I was colour deficient in red, green and brown.
I was born in Chesterfield, England, in 1938. I progressed though school and in 1955 passed my GCE Art. It was one of the few subjects that I enjoyed; and that was the only tuition I initially had in art. I left school and became an apprentice draughtsman at Rolls Royce Aero Engines in Chesterfield. The training was very strict and I remember the first few weeks when I spent all day learning to print 0.160 inches high and black (B pencil). The letters and numbers were upright and highly standardised to prevent misreading of the finished
