An autistic and artistic savant, Gregory Blackstock labored for most of his life as a janitor and dishwasher in Seattle, Washington. At age 40, however, Blackstock began drawing everything that caught his fancy — from varieties of fish, birds, and insects to cars, boats, and planes — working in pencil, marker, and crayon to create striking visual catalogues of everyday objects. When Blackstock retired in 2001, his friends and family encouraged him to exhibit his massive body of work, and Seattle's Garde Rail Gallery, with its history of showing self-taught artists, was quick to embrace the opportunity. This monograph, which is the first book published on Blackstock's obsessive practice, presents the drawings in an easy-to-view handbook format, divided into categories and accompanied by texts from Darold Treffert, a savant-syndrome specialist; Karen Light-Piña, a partner at Garde Rail; and the artist himself, including a handwritten biography and recipes for "exotic hot soups."

Blackstock's 103 illustrated works — all formatted vertically — are drawn by hand from memory. He records things that he has previously seen in dictionaries, catalogues, encyclopedias, and stores. The Hammers (1988) offers 12 different hammers, each detailed with a wooden handle and varying steel head and labeled by type. After nine hammers, Blackstock had to expand his canvas by attaching more paper — a technique employed in many of his drawings. The Great American Presidents (1989) depicts George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, the only two leaders deemed worthy by the artist; meanwhile, The Classical Clowns (1995) touts a dozen happy- and sad-faced performers — everyone from Bozo to Emmett Kelly.

Nearly all of the early works are rendered in black-and-white, but by 2004 — after his first gallery exhibition — Blackstock began using color crayons to enliven the subjects on view. For example, The Noisemakers (2005) presents seven methodical rows of things that are capable of creating a ruckus, including blue- and red-striped skyrockets, a yellow chain saw, and a flesh-colored shouting head that's shockingly labeled a "loud filthy mouthed offender, the overemotional dirtbag!" Another colorful piece, titled The Art Supplies (2004), enchantingly lists 48 different products used to make art — and since he's working from memory, Blackstock has probably used every one of them. Like ingredients in a recipe for a DIY artistic career, the inventory maps the way to the magic he convincingly creates.

-Paul Laster