Drawing, Painting, Studying, Lecturing

In recent years Lester has said, “Through all my life as a designer I have spent considerable time developing myself as an artist. I am constantly drawing, with particular emphasis on the figure, which I find fascinating though difficult in terms of evolving something that is not completely abstract but certainly not literal or realistic.” He was a particularly fine water colorist. A student of the arts, Lester has done much reading and studying, had engaged in the writing of papers, composing these on matters associated with his profession, had been the author of papers expressing in lectures and in panel discussions his credo. He had given many lectures throughout the United States, Canada and abroad, the first recorded talk in 1934 before the Society of Typographic Arts in Chicago at the Newberry Library, his subject: “New Foundations for Layout”. His lectures have been for the most part before design groups, Universities, and Museums. On the occasion of his being a delegate from the United States to the International Advertising Conference taking place in London in 1951, he gave a talk before the Advertising Creative Circle of Great Britain. Expressing his thoughts on lecturing in general he said, “In spite of the fact that I have lectured many times and although I do have some simple precepts upon which I base my own approach to problems of design and painting, I am becoming less patient with the increasing vogue for ‘talking design and painting’. Art in any form is a projected emotion using visual tools, and although it is true that at times words are certainly helpful in describing and explaining one’s visual concept, on the whole the fewer the words, the better the design philosophy”.