ARTISTS THAT HAVE INSPIRED ME.
As a wildlife artist I have always looked to nature for my main source of inspiration and as a child one artist in particular had a great influence on me, 'Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe' was a prolific artist and illustrator who lived and worked during the first half of the 20th century and I came across his work through collecting tea cards as a child. My mother and grandmother always bought 'Brooke Bond' tea and I would excitedly anticipate the opening of each fresh packet of PG Tips so as to add a new card to my growing collection!
Tunnicliffe's birds and animals were so beautifully painted that for many children, not only were they wonderful to look at but they were a great educational tool as well! Later I discovered Archibald Thorburn and Peter Scott and the beautiful bird paintings of Roland Green. When studying art at school I became aware of the landscapes of the French impressionists and the masterpieces of English artists such as Turner, Girtin and Constable. Marine painters such as Edward Seago and John Wilson Carmichael and the watercolours of John Sell Cottman have always filled me with awe and amazement. Latterly I have been very much inspired and influenced by modern wildlife artists such as Lars Jonsson, Tim Wootton, Nick Derry, John Threlfall and the brilliant Scottish artist Keith Brockie. I am fortunate enough to know some of these artists personally and have met and had critique of my work from some of them and much encouragement and sound advice! The Society of Wildlife Artists have also been a great source of inspiration. When I paint butterflies and insects and also botanical subjects I am mindful of the work of lesser known Hertfordshire artist Gordon Beningfield whose style is so delightful and skill so accomplished that the insects seem to fly off the paper. There are many talented artists working today who constantly amaze me but are too numerous to mention here. One only has to look on Facebook or surf the web to understand what I mean!
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| Common Blues and Small Copper butterflies with Forget me nots. |
BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES.
I have been out and about with pencil gouache and watercolour during the summer months and the results are seen in these paintings of some of my favourite butterflies and wild flowers. Most were painted on my local patch in Hertfordshire except for the Purple Hairstreaks which I found on an Oak tree at The Lodge in Bedfordshire. I have been giving regular art demonstrations at the RSPB headquarters at THE LODGE, Sandy in Bedfordshire throughout the spring and summer and I hope to be taking an art class there on Sunday September 20th. It hasn't been a particularly favourable year for butterflies with persistent wet weather most of the time however, I did manage to catch a few dry days sketching and painting and also taking photographs to use at home!
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| Small Coppers and Harebells. |
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Common Blue and Clouded Yellow.
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| Purple Hairstreaks on English Oak. |
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| Green-Veined Whites and Small Copper. |
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| My up coming demo this month. |
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| Come paint with me! |
