Every artist has something they're truly trying to say.

This free guide will help you find out what that is.

A free PDF resource that will guide through an exercise exploring the three fundamental questions at the heart of every meaningful painting practice, to help you find your creative core.

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Black and white portrait of artist David Mankin smiling in his painting studio, wearing a paint-splattered shirt and holding a paintbrush.

Hello, I’m David Mankin.

I spent a long time making paintings before I really understood what I was trying to say with them.

That's not a criticism of those early years. You learn an enormous amount by simply turning up and working. But there came a point where I realised that the painters I admired most weren't just technically accomplished. They had a clarity about their work. A sense of direction. Something they were genuinely pursuing, that you could feel in every canvas.

Finding Your Creative Core is the exercise I wish someone had given me earlier. It isn't about pinning yourself down or deciding what kind of painter you are once and for all. It's about beginning a conversation with yourself. One that will keep evolving as your work evolves.

It starts with three questions. Simple to ask, but genuinely worth sitting with.

What you'll discover in the guide:

Close-up of artist David Mankin using a palette knife to apply paint to an abstract landscape artwork on a canvas in his studio.

✓ The three pillars that shape every painting you make

Subject, connection and expression. Most painters focus on the first and the third, and barely touch the second. This exercise slows you down and asks you to look more carefully at all three, and at how they relate to each other.

✓ How to observe your own sensitivities as creative clues

What do you linger on in the landscape? What colours and atmospheres draw your attention without you quite knowing why? These aren't random preferences. They're signposts. This exercise helps you read them.

Artist David Mankin studying a reference image beside paintings, paint tubes, brushes, and other art materials on his studio worktable.

David Mankin exploring the rugged Cornwall coastline for inspiration for his contemporary abstract landscape paintings.

✓ Where the energy in your work actually comes from

There's a particular quality in paintings made by someone who knows what they're pursuing. You can feel it. This exercise won't manufacture that quality, but it will help you get closer to the source of it.

✓ Three principles that will keep you going when the work gets hard

Play, passion and persistence. David talks honestly about why all three matter, and how to hold onto them even when your practice feels stuck or directionless.

Creative Core diagram by David Mankin illustrating the connection between what, why, and how in the artistic process.

Handwritten Creative Core workshop notes by David Mankin exploring what excites and inspires your artistic practice.

✓ A framework you can return to again and again

Your creative core isn't fixed. It shifts and deepens as you grow. This isn't a one-time exercise. It's something to revisit whenever you feel you've lost the thread.

About David Mankin

David Mankin is one of the most respected abstract painters working in Britain today. Based in Cornwall, his richly layered canvases draw on the drama and atmosphere of the landscape - work that has attracted collectors worldwide and earned him ten solo exhibitions over twelve years of professional practice.

His path to painting wasn't straightforward. After 25 years running a graphic design business in London, an opportunity out of the blue to work at a studio in St Ives rekindled something he'd carried since he was a teenager, and he hasn't looked back.

As a teacher, David brings the same honesty, warmth and rigour to sharing his process as he does to his painting. His in-person courses at Coombe Farm Studios sell out consistently, and his online course has drawn artists from across the world.

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Portrait of contemporary abstract landscape artist David Mankin standing in his Cornwall art studio with paint-covered clothes and a palette knife.

Photo of a woman standing in a gallery space beside artwork, smiling warmly with paintings and a sculpture displayed around her.

“David Mankin is one of the most compelling abstract painters of his generation.”

“...creating works of intensity and depth inspired by the Cornish landscape. His paintings carry an emotional weight and instil a visceral response - each painting evoking real feelings rather than a casual observation. Through his unique language of paint, he captures the wilds of Cornwall, distilling its essence into something profoundly human. The resultant body of work forms a lasting connection in all who encounter it and I believe his standing in the art world will continue to soar amongst his many collectors around the world’ ”
- Sarah Brittain-Mansbridge MBE, Director, Cornwall Contemporary

Every artist has something they're trying to say.

This exercise is a quiet, unhurried way to start working out what that is for you.

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