Meet Frank Clarke
From the Simply Painting web site

Frank Clarke was born in Dublin, Ireland. It was after retiring early from a career that included dress designing and property development that he decided to take up painting as a hobby.

He joined a painting group where he felt intimidated and inferior. After six weeks he quit the group because he was told that he did not have the gift. But he was not one to be easily put off. Whether or not he had the gift, he was to pursue his hobby. It was then that he made a most unusual discovery: No one was prepared to show him the basics of painting.

Having read every art instruction book he could get his hands on, Frank came to the conclusion that they all seemed to start at Chapter 4, making the assumption that he had some prior knowledge of painting, which of course he did not. It was then that Frank decided to write these missing chapters and it worked ... Simply Painting was born.

The first book became a best seller, outselling all other art teaching books combined in its first year in Ireland. By then Frank had also made his first television series. The success of Simply Painting has been phenomenal with Frank's book, Frank Clarke's Paintbox PUBLISHED BY THE BBC, nestling in the British bestseller list and his Simply Painting television series is shown on over 250 television stations worldwide.

His second BBC book was published in May 2001 and instantly sold out two print runs. He has made over 400 programs to date. These shows are broadcast across the world and Frank is a household name in the U.S., U.K. and Australia. Frank has also appeared on all the major chat shows in those countries.

Frank has taught millions of people to paint using his “have some more fun” system through his books, TV programs, videos, seminars and classes.