Wildlife Artist's Handbook E-Book

Jackie Garner

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 306

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Art has always been inspired by the wildlife around us. Since earliest times we have been continually fascinated by both wildlife and the challenge of representing it. This book sets the scene of how wildlife has been portrayed in art and guides the reader through the principles of practical drawing and painting wildlife. It covers recommended equipment, techniques, fieldcraft, composition and anatomy, and offers help for those wishing to exhibit their work. Suggests how to begin to draw wildlife and then to add colour; advises on how to draw a constantly moving subject and how to capture the moment; gives clear instruction on anatomy and composition; suggests how to paint outdoors and how to use photography and museum collections; gives inspiration and insights into printmaking and sculpture; gives practical advice on exhibiting and selling wildlife art; showcases inspiring images, in a range of styles, from over twenty leading artists. An authoritative guide to the principles of drawing and painting wildlife, this book will be of interest to all artists and everyone interested in wildlife - including botanical artists, print makers and sculptors, and is lavishly illustrated with 260 colour illustrations.

Leseprobe

THE WILDLIFE ARTIST’S HANDBOOK

Jackie Garner

First published in 2013 by The Crowood Press Ltd Ramsbury, Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2014

©Jackie Garner 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84797 608 6

Frontispiece: Dancing Cranes by Jackie Garner (watercolour).

Title page: King Penguin by Jackie Garner (watercolour).

Cover images: Heading Home by Jackie Garner (acrylic); Roach Studies by David Miller (graphite and oil on board); Whooper Swan Preening by Celia Smith (steel wire, copper wire and electrical cabling); Red Admiral and Mayweed by Darren Woodhead (watercolour); Dancing Cranes by Jackie Garner (watercolour); Red Rut II by Alison Ingram (oil on canvas).

Credits

Green, Gold & Dun © estate of C.F. Tunnicliffe OBE RA, reproduced by kind permission of John Huddleston. Contemporary artwork photographed by the artist unless specified below. Chris Hindley and Philip Nelson’s sculptures – photography: Chris Hindley; Nadin Senft’s Night Flight – photography: William Jordan; Celia Smith’s sculptures – photography: Peter Stone; Ken Waterfield’s Nine Day Wonders – photography: Barry Wilson. All illustrations by Jackie Garner, except where specified. Every effort has been made by the author and publisher to contact the copyright holders of the works illustrated in this book. Should any omissions have been made and the correct source not been noted, the publishers will rectify this at the earliest opportunity.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Foreword

1.  WILDLIFE IN ART

2.  HOW TO DRAW WILDLIFE

3.  PAINTING AND MIXED MEDIA

4.  OUT OF THE STUDIO, INTO THE WILD

5.  ANATOMY AND MOVEMENT

6.  COMPOSITION

7.  PRINTMAKING AND SCULPTURE

8.  PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE WILDLIFE ARTIST

9.  ESTABLISHING YOUR ART

Appendix

About the Author

Contributing Artists

Index

Jackie Garner: Owls of Ancient Egypt, watercolour. Painting inspired by similarities and differences in an owl hieroglyph, despite varying geography and chronology.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I seem to have spent most of my life wanting to write and illustrate books about art, wildlife, or ideally both subjects together. Bruce Pearson has always been an inspiration and I am indebted to him for writing the foreword, letting me include his images and most of all for suggesting me as author of this book.

A huge thank you goes to Simon Trapnell and the team at Nature in Art Museum, who have not only been encouraging and supportive from the book’s earliest days, but have generously allowed reproduction of works from their collection.

I would particularly like to thank West Midland Safari Park for generously sponsoring my access to their extensive collection for sketching and research trips.

This book would not have been possible without wholehearted support from other wildlife artists. I have been thrilled and honoured by their enthusiastic encouragement when the book was just a concept, and later in their generous responses to my requests for artwork. A special thank you, too, to Jonathan Pointer for going the extra mile.

John Hague (http://thedrunkbirder.wordpress.com/) kindly gave permission for his photograph of a woodcock wing-stretching to be included in Jonathan Pointer’s case study, for which he has my grateful thanks.

I am delighted to include works by George Lodge and Charles Tunnicliffe OBE, RA in the book, and so would like to thank Brian Bird, of the George Edward Lodge Trust, and John Huddleston for kindly making those images available to me. I had the good fortune to meet Meg Stevens on several occasions, enjoying her wit and artistic talent. Her art and words live on after her, and I thank Roger Stevens for his kind permission to quote her in this book.

Heartfelt thanks go to the following for their expert advice when my own knowledge was insufficient: Mike Amphlett (photography), John Brinkley (optical equipment), Richard Sale (Inuit sculpture), Nadin Senft (sculpture), The Mammal Society, Natural England.

Thank you to Katrina van Grouw for enthusiastic and generous encouragement from the outset.

Thank you to Linda Barnes, Rosemary Gowland and Cath Hodsman for ideas and input right at the beginning when this book only existed in my imagination.

Near the bottom of this list but at the top of my appreciation, I would like to thank the best and most supportive family anyone could wish for, who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Particular thanks to Paula Wilson, for not just going the extra mile, but for going several extra miles.

And a final thank you to KB for keeping his promise, through thick and thin, to be 100 per cent supportive.

I could not have done it without you all.

Bruce Pearson: Bait Digger and Brents, relief print.

FOREWORD

Books about, and by, wildlife artists are plentiful enough, with every volume uniquely inspiring – whether it is a celebratory biographical examination of an artist’s creative output with dazzling reproductions of their finished works, or an autobiographical account of a journey or artistic theme with telling insights into the artist’s creative processes. Although each volume provides a visual feast, collectively they tend not to explain in detail the mechanics of making the art or linger on the methods and materials involved, nor do they fully expand on basic themes like composition or tackle broader issues such as the context of their subject within the rich heritage of wildlife portrayal in art history.

However, from my experience as president of the Society of Wildlife Artists for ten years, and a working lifetime’s involvement in other art forums, those kinds of questions are exactly what most of those interested in art and the natural world – aspiring artists especially – are seeking guidance about and answers to. Over the years I have had everything, from the rather naive ‘Is it better to use a range of pencils when sketching?’ to the very direct ‘I dream of one day earning a living from wildlife art. What direction would you advise a student artist to take?’ From the challenging ‘Why do you think that wildlife art is held in such low esteem by the contemporary art world outside of specialist galleries?’ to the slightly confused ‘I am just starting to paint with watercolour and am a keen photographer. Will photographs help my art?’ However vague or focused, invariably at the end of every question was ‘Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.’ If only on all of those occasions I could have simply answered ‘Take a look at Jackie Garner’s Wildlife Artists’ Handbook.’

This book is a much needed and very thorough practical guide to wildlife art that goes way beyond the conventions of a step-by-step guide. It incorporates a history of the genre, chapters about composition, field-craft, photography and copyright as well as taking the reader through a range of practical drawing and painting techniques and expanding enthusiastically into chapters about printmaking and sculpture. Quite simply, it is a glorious companion for anyone with an interest in wildlife and art- amateur or professional artist, gallery visitor, art collector or note-taking field naturalist, among many others. But, perhaps more significantly, it will act as an inspirational starting point for aspiring artists wanting to ‘have a go’ after experiencing something wonderful in nature. And it will encourage someone wanting to add a creative touch to their diary, or perhaps help a dormant creative re-discover a passion for painting and drawing wildlife. For those people, and for all of us with a keen interest in art and an enthusiasm for the natural world, this new handbook will be indispensable.

Bruce Pearson, September 2013

Joseph Wolf: Peregrines, oil on canvas.

CHAPTER 1

WILDLIFE IN ART

‘It is important to express oneself – providing the feelings are real and are taken from your own experience.’ Berthe Morisot

Think of a time when you saw something breathtaking; something that moved you. It might be an unexpected glimpse of an animal or bird, a colour combination or the fall of light. How did you react? Probably your immediate instinct was to show someone else, with a breathless, ‘Look at this!’ Our inherent wish is to share what moves us with others, and what better way to do that than by creativity? Art allows us to express our feelings about an experience or subject, to relate a story, or record behaviour – quite simply to share our most emotional observations of wildlife with others.

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Whether you are a beginner who has never drawn wildlife, a keen improver or an experienced artist choosing wildlife as new subject matter, this book is for you. There are suggestions on how to begin to draw wildlife, tips for drawing a constantly moving subject and information on anatomy and composition. There are sections on painting, mixed media, printmaking and sculpture for those wishing to move beyond drawing to other media. Artists ready to share their work will find the final chapter useful. Although the book concentrates on wildlife subjects, much of the information – techniques for sketching from life, composition, painting techniques, exploring other media and connecting with other artists online – will be relevant to artists inspired by domesticated animals and wider subject matter.

The book can either be read from cover to cover or the chapters can be read in any order, according to your preference. Skim the whole book to give an overview then focus on the sections you will find most useful. Build an idea or two into your art, until they become second nature. Then come back to the book and look for new ideas. Use this book in parallel with other art study, and especially practise life drawing. Practice at landscape will help you paint habitat, tonal study gives form to your subject, and practising textures in a studio still life will help you to show textures in fieldwork. Your wildlife art will reflect your wider experience, and will evolve over time, ultimately becoming more individual and distinctive.

If the first function of this book is to be practical, the second is to inspire. Immerse yourself in the glorious images from some of the leading wildlife artists of the past and today. Even if you never pick up a pencil I hope you will find pleasure and enrichment in the images within this book and will be encouraged to further investigate the world of wildlife art.

Harriet Mead: Woodcock, sheet steel.

Chris Rose: Beachcombers, oil on canvas.

Daniel Cole: Turnstones & Snowbunting, oil on board.

Szabolcs Kókay: Gathering (White Pelicans), oil on canvasboard.

Throughout the book the term artist applies to any art practitioner, irrespective of level of skill or experience. The terms painter, printmaker or sculptor are generally interchangeable unless the context makes obvious which is intended. The terms wildlife or creature are used to refer to any animal, bird or insect. If bird, animal or insect is used please refer to the context to see if the term might apply to any creature or specifically to the one mentioned.

DEFINITION OF A WILDLIFE ARTIST

Wildlife artist: on one hand the words describe us exactly: artists who take wildlife as inspiration for our art. On the other hand the title implies a disregard of other subject matter and sets us apart from the wider art world, causing some artists to refute the term. There is no real need for such a label: others do not describe themselves as portrait artists, landscape artists or still life artists, just as artists. Yet ‘wildlife artist’ is a convenient way to ally ourselves with others who share our enthusiasm and is a useful search term in today’s digital world.

However you refer to yourself, be an artist first and a scientist second. It is too easy to be sidetracked into producing an image that gives a great deal of scientific information but has far less artistic value. Despite the title of this book, I encourage you not to be a wildlife artist but an artist…one who happens to be inspired by wildlife. There is a subtle difference. Although wildlife enthusiasts can sometimes be very critical, it is possible to strike a balance between scientific accuracy and artistic expression.

‘Art and Science need not be in antagonism.’ George Edward Lodge

Sadly, wildlife art is often dismissed by the art establishment as illustration at best and ‘pretty pictures of animals’ at worst. This is unfair, as art inspired by the natural world has as great a tradition as any other genre. Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Rubens, Turner, Goya, Dali and Picasso were all inspired by wildlife, so there is no justification for disparaging the subject now. What we must do today is be worthy of the tradition, portraying our subjects with honesty, insight, technique and passion. Let’s start by discovering how the genre developed.

WILDLIFE ART – AN INSPIRING LEGACY

Many thousands of years ago humans began to record their relationship with wildlife, mostly portraying the animals they hunted or feared. Wildlife was painted or inscribed in random positions across a rock surface. Cave paintings apparently had sacred meanings as they were often hidden in the depths of caves unsuited to habitation. In contrast rock art was often depicted on exposed rock faces for all to see. Lacking the detailed reference material we have today, the earliest wildlife art concentrated on the general appearance and character of the subject. Images could be scratched or hammered into the rock surface or painted. The ancient artists’ materials were natural: plant dyes, charcoal, blood and naturally occurring pigments applied with brushes made from twigs, grasses or animal hair. Despite the advances in technology over the ensuing millenaries, charcoal, natural pigments, and brushes made from animal hair are still used today. Painting wildlife today has a direct link across the years to the very first painters.

Early wildlife images were either painted or scratched into the rock surface.

The ancient Egyptians depicted wildlife in various ways. Wildlife was largely feared or misunderstood, leading the ancient Egyptians to deify it. Representations were therefore used symbolically, especially in the tombs of the pharaohs. Many gods were depicted with a human body and the head of an animal or bird. The creature was chosen because its characteristics corresponded to that of the god. Thoth, the god of writing, was assigned the head of an ibis because the curved bill shape mimicked the shape of the scribe’s pen and the bird’s characteristic head movement was similar to the act of putting pen to paper. The tombs of the nobles depicted hunting and fishing scenes much more realistically. Numerous species were shown, as it was believed that an abundance of wildlife on the tomb wall led to an equal abundance in the afterlife. Despite lacking the reference material we take for granted today, the ancient Egyptians were able to portray wildlife precisely enough for their wildlife to be positively identified today. Their representations did not always show accurate colours as their palette was limited, and realistic wildlife was sometimes shown alongside mythical creatures. Wildlife may be seen in ancient Egyptian paintings, sculptures, ceramics and metalwork, and the importance of animal and bird imagery is shown in their pictorial hieroglyphs – over 500 symbols are based on animals and birds.

The god Thoth was often depicted as an ibis.

Ancient Egyptian wildlife art was either symbolic, as in these hieroglyphs…

The Romans continued symbolism in their mosaics, which were made of stone or occasionally glass squares (tesserae) usually 5–25mm wide. Their mosaics represented the wildlife they saw around them or combined animal motifs with elaborate geometric patterns. Despite being made of tesserae, Roman mosaics showed wildlife with form, texture, shadows and reflections. Mosaics depicted myths or used images to remind viewers of the morality of the day. Mosaics were a status symbol, the opulence of the design and the skill of technique reflecting the wealth of the owner. As Christianity gained acceptance, the popular depictions of Orpheus charming the birds and animals gave way to representations of Christ the Good Shepherd tending His flock. Christian mosaics became wall instead of floor decorations since walking over figures of Christ would have been disrespectful.

…or naturalistic like these aurochs.

Greco-Roman mosaic of a Purple Swamphen.

The medieval Church dominated art, and depictions of wildlife were not exempt from that influence. Wildlife images were used to communicate bible stories and religious beliefs rather than show the natural world. Biblical references decreed which creatures could be portrayed so certain species, such as a lion and an eagle (representing the saints St Mark and St John respectively), were commonplace. Later non-religious images of lions were shown in the typical St Mark pose but superimposed on a stylized background. Wildlife was shown as symbolic and sometimes as a decorative motif, appearing in stained glass and illuminated manuscripts.

The lion, posed with books, was used to represent St Mark.

Walls decorated with mosaics had given way to walls decorated with paintings. Early wildlife art often took religious themes as that imbued the subject, and likewise the artist, with greater importance. Animals Entering the Ark, St Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Animals and The Garden of Eden were popular themes. Many early paintings show wildlife in unrealistic poses as the artists were unfamiliar with exotic species and had limited reference materials. Nevertheless, these themes allowed artists to paint wildlife subjects as living creatures in a landscape rather than being stylized entities detached from their natural habitat.

Jan Van Kessel: Landscapewith theAnimalsEnteringNoah's Ark, oil on panel. Paintings of animals on a religious theme were thought to have greater importance than secular subjects.

Medieval artists had used symbols to represent their subjects, a system that worked well until a portrayal of an unfamiliar subject was required. The unfamiliar practice of sketching had started to take hold in the fourteenth century as artists began to make references for future paintings, gradually becoming an accepted artistic method. Captive animals in menageries or travelling circuses were readily available, and artists such as Rembrandt drew them for reference material or as animal portraits. Rembrandt’s pupil Carel Fabritius continued the tradition; his famous painting of a tethered goldfinch shows observation, familiarity and empathy. One of the most famous Renaissance wildlife studies is Dürer’s hare. Drawn from a captive animal, there is no attempt to portray any kind of habitat but it is a celebration of the animal itself. Dürer kept a menagerie, allowing him to draw from life regularly.

The beauty of a wild creature’s appearance continued to inspire artists who had no particular interest in the creature’s habitat or behaviour. The artists Jean-Simeon Chardin, Joachim Bueckelaer, Jan Baptist Weenix and Frans Snyders all used fish or bird carcasses as a means of displaying their skills in painting texture, colour and detail. There was no apparent interest in the wildlife except as a contrast to folds of cloth, silver or glassware and later as a potential meal.

Wildlife-inspired artists who were hunters were likely to represent wildlife convincingly. They knew the anatomy from butchering the carcass ready for the pot and had experience of their subjects’ behaviour and habitats through seeing them in the wild. Today the shoot-it-then-draw-it method is abhorrent yet until relatively recent times it was an accepted process in producing wildlife art. Certainly many artists have been inspired by the results of a day’s hunting. Some of J.M.W. Turner’s bird watercolours are likely to have been inspired by the results of hunting trips. He painted a series of twenty bird species mostly from dead specimens though made to look as though they were living birds. Turner’s sketchbooks also recorded flocks of geese in flight, swans, herons and fish, depicted in pencil and watercolour. The sketchbook work was used in Turner’s later watercolour landscapes.

Rev. Christopher Atkinson: Common Heron, watercolour.

The eighteenth century was a time of unparalleled exploration. Artists were commissioned to illustrate newly discovered species from these voyages. They often joined scientific expeditions as well as working on the growing museum collections. Sometimes wildlife was oddly depicted as the artist had no understanding of the new species they were portraying. Some artists started to show wildlife in its natural habitat, though often noticeably out of scale. Nevertheless natural history images surged in popularity, helped along by the exquisite wood engravings in Thomas Bewick’s books, A General Historyof Quadrupeds and A History of British Birds. As printing techniques improved, mass-produced images became possible, bringing wildlife images to a much wider audience.

Thomas Bewick: The Corvorant (sic), wood engraving.

One of the more colourful characters in the history of wildlife art was John James Audubon. The illegitimate son of a merchant and born in Haiti but raised in France, Audubon escaped to America to avoid conscription. There he became obsessed with hunting and drawing birds, revelling in a constant supply of new subjects. Although he claimed his drawings were made from life, they were actually dead birds that had been arranged into his chosen positions. Despite his use of dead specimens Audubon maintained that wildlife should be viewed in the wild rather than be represented purely from dead specimens. He was certainly true to this tenet, devoting most of his time to observation of birds in their natural habitat. Audubon devoted his life to producing a book of life size illustrations of all the American bird species. Unable to find an American publisher he travelled to England, meeting Bewick and finding a publisher: Robert Havell and Son. The Birds of America, from Original Drawings, with 435 Plates Showing 1,065 Figures finally appeared as four volumes of hand-coloured etchings, engravings and aquatints.

‘Nature must be seen first alive, and well studiedbefore attempts are made at representing it’ John James Audubon

The nineteenth century brought a new artistic term: ‘animalier’. It was first used by an art critic as a derogatory title for Antoine-Louis Barye, a French artist most noted as a sculptor of wildlife bronzes. Over the years the term gradually lost its original condescension and became a word that specifically described a nineteenth-century animal sculptor or generally describes an artist who chooses to be inspired by the animal form.

Jules Moigniez: Corncrake, bronze.

That same century was the golden age of wildlife illustration for scientific papers, largely due to the remarkable skills of the exponents. John Gould was a noted artist, taxidermist and ornithologist. He was the author of many bird monographs, as well as Birds of Great Britain. The illustrations were hand-coloured lithographs made by a team of artists (including his wife Elizabeth, Edward Lear and Joseph Wolf) who worked up Gould’s preliminary designs. Gould worked with Darwin on his Galapagos studies before moving to Australia to study the wildlife there. His work culminated in The Birds of Australia, a seven-volume set that included 600 plates, over half of which were previously undiscovered species.

John Gould (with Henry Richter): Circus Cineraceus (Montagu's harriers), lithograph.

Joseph Wolf had begun his art career as an apprentice lithographer, later learning watercolours and oils. He soon excelled at portraying birds and became the illustrator of choice for Germany’s ornithologists. Wolf moved to England to work for the Zoological Society of London, illustrating scientific papers and painting newly discovered species from around the world. His gallery paintings showed living wildlife in natural habitat, in contrast to the stilted images produced by most of his contemporaries. Wolf’s paintings later influenced George Lodge, Archibald Thorburn and Bruno Liljefors, Lodge even describing him as ‘the greatest draughtsman of birds whoever lived’.

Another noted artist, illustrator and taxidermist was John Gerrard Keulemans, whose detailed and consistent work was ideally suited to scientific illustration. Keulemans had a prolific output, with over 5,000 illustrations published. He produced gallery paintings only when commissioned to do so.

Johannes Gerrard Keulemans: Black-headed Gulls, watercolour and gouache.

While Wolf worked at his apprenticeship in Germany, in France Rosa Bonheur was learning to draw through the traditional methods of copying from plaster casts and at the Louvre. To supplement these studies she was encouraged by her artist father to draw from life. She began with domestic species and moved on to wild animals. Bonheur’s studies of anatomy took her to Parisian abattoirs and veterinary schools where she made drawings as references for paintings and sculptures. Amongst her numerous international honours, she was the first woman artist to become a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.

Rosa Bonheur: Chamois, oil on canvas.

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw unparalleled changes to traditional art styles. Impressionism, Art Nouveau, Pointillism, Art Deco and Fauvism all gained prominence. Japanese prints were being seen in Europe for the first time, bringing a new type of imagery to the European consciousness. The Impressionists pioneered the completion of work outdoors. Until then the preferred method was to make a small oil sketch outdoors in preparation for a studio painting, but the Impressionists showed an artist could work directly from the subject outdoors. Monet’s famous painting of a magpie shows how the artist was able to place the subject in the correct scale in its habitat through experience of seeing it in its own environment. Artists throughout Europe benefited from exposure to new artistic methods and styles.

The Swedish artist Bruno Liljefors had an insatiable curiosity for the latest artistic developments. He explored wildlife in the landscape by studying new as well as traditional art methods. Those influences may be seen clearly in his paintings of birds depicted in the style of Japanese prints and the Art Nouveau treatment of ripples in a painting of waterfowl. With each new style he incorporated his favourite elements without losing his own vision. Throughout his career his paintings were informed by his knowledge and experience of his subjects in the wild. Towards the end of his life he was wealthy enough to purchase the Bullerö archipelago, establishing a ‘nature reserve’, one of the first examples of wildlife benefiting from wildlife art. The islands were managed to provide an ideal habitat for wildlife, though they had the dual purpose of providing hunting grounds for Liljefors and his friends.

While some artists were challenging the art establishment, others stayed firmly within it. The most famous of the Victorian wildlife painters was Sir Edwin Landseer, who gained fame for his anthropomorphic paintings of animals. From a young age Landseer was encouraged to dissect animals to fully understand their anatomy. At best his works are beautifully observed and convincing portrayals, at worst they show a cloying sentimentality and are more concerned with promoting the morality of the age than celebrating the subject. Widespread admiration of Landseer’s work led on to the tradition of an anthropomorphic portrayal of wildlife.

Ohara Koson: Two Waxwings on a Branch with Berries, woodblock print.

Archibald Thorburn was a Royal Academician whose watercolours were highly acclaimed from an early age. Thorburn continued the tradition of sumptuous wildlife illustrations initiated by Audubon and Bewick. He rose to prominence when he took over Lord Lilford’s Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Islands from the ailing Keulemans, producing 268 of the 421 plates. Thorburn later benefited from the new half-tone method of printing, a photographic process which freed the artist to work in any medium, since paintings could be accurately reproduced. The new technique was cheaper to produce than lithography and allowed large editions to be made, giving Thorburn’s illustrations (particularly his books on British wildlife) a wide audience.

Archibald Thorburn: Wigeon and Teal, watercolour.

George Lodge is best known for his sketches and paintings of birds of prey, though he painted many other wildlife subjects, from Lepidoptera to the big cats. He was also a skilled taxidermist, wood-engraver and lithographer. Lodge’s work shows his familiarity and empathy with his subject, providing a reminder of how subject knowledge informs an artist’s work, giving it an integrity that cannot be matched in any other way. As Lodge had been influenced by Wolf, he in turn influenced the next generation of wildlife artists, amongst them Philip Rickman, J. C. Harrison and David Reid-Henry. Lodge produced an autobiography, Memoirs of an Artist Naturalist, the last chapter containing much good advice for aspiring wildlife artists from his lifetime of experience.

George Lodge: Female Merlin with a Skylark (© George Edward Lodge Trust).

The First World War deprived the wildlife art world of many fine painters who would have gone on to produce great images. Artists such as Frank Southgate and Otto Murray-Dixon were just beginning to establish themselves but their lives and careers were sadly ended too soon.

Frank Southgate: Dick Denchman's Feast, watercolour.

Otto Murray-Dixon: Pheasants, watercolour.

Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe was another wildlife artist whose work gained recognition from the art establishment, even his early work being purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the National Gallery in Stockholm. Tunnicliffe’s career began with commercial illustrations, much of it for the farming industry, and continued with book illustrations for leading authors of the day. His exquisite wood engravings for Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter are probably his most famous illustrations. Despite his prolific illustration output, Tunnicliffe is probably best remembered for his collection of measured drawings, or ‘bird maps’ as he termed them. These were post mortem drawings, made for his personal reference, and soon comprised animals as well as birds. Tunnicliffe’s paintings displayed masterful composition, whether in the arrangement of a measured drawing, a pattern formed by a flock of birds or the decorative layout of foliage. His measured drawings were displayed at the Royal Academy after his death.

While some artists devoted their entire careers to wildlife art, others interspersed wildlife images with diverse subject matter. Picasso, known for any subject other than wildlife, was commissioned to illustrate the eighteenth-century Comte de Buffon’s monumental literature, Histoire Naturelle. Picasso selected thirty-one species of birds, animals and insects for his bestiary, working from memory and imagination rather than life, treating each creature individually and portraying them with humour, empathy and insight. His work utilized the painterly effects of aquatint to the full, creating images of spontaneity, freedom and life. In creating a bestiary Picasso was continuing a tradition while creating a new body of work.

A trawl through art history books shows that artists have frequently been thwarted in the early stages of their artistic career. Often parental pressure decreed a different career path before artists were able to devote themselves fully to their art. Eric Ennion was a county doctor who famously decreed as a child that in adulthood he would be ‘an artist or an archer or a man who never goes to church’. His prediction of an artistic career came true only in later life when he turned from medicine to painting the natural world. Constantly sketching, he encouraged his students to work from life, particularly inspiring John Busby who in turn has inspired many of today’s foremost wildlife artists. Ennion often worked on a mid-tone paper so that he only had to add dark tones and highlights. His visual memory was acute, honed over years of observing and sketching. Ennion’s birds are full of life and action, captured forever on paper while flitting through their daily lives.

THE BESTIARY

Bestiaries originated in antiquity, came to prominence in the Middle Ages, and have been periodically reinvented ever since. They are books – the pages being either bound or loose – which combine descriptive texts and images of wildlife, often mixing the real with the fabulous. All the species are treated equally, whether the creatures are imaginary or realistic. Although part of the charm of a bestiary is in the whimsical treatment of the subjects, the descriptions usually have a moralizing explanation.

Sir Peter Scott epitomized the change in attitude from hunter to conservationist. Originally a wildfowler, Scott turned from shooting when he had injured a goose but had been unable to retrieve it to kill it quickly and cleanly. Guns were swapped for paints and his distinctive oil paintings of wildfowl were soon in demand. Scott’s paintings were sufficiently popular for him to establish the Severn Wildfowl Trust (later renamed the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) from the proceeds of his art, in order to safeguard the wildfowl he loved. This use of funds from the sale of wildlife art to benefit conservation has become a prevalent theme since Scott pioneered the concept. ‘Other people were painting birds, but not as I saw them,’ is how Scott described his work. His comment is sage advice for wildlife artists today – each artist will see the world uniquely, and it is this individuality that creates distinctive and memorable art.

The 1930s brought a new type of book: the field guide. Roger Tory Peterson combined his formidable artistic and identification skills, pioneering a concept that would keep wildlife artists busy for decades to come. A Field Guide to the Birds was published in 1934, like nothing seen before. The field guide format took off, first in America and then spreading across the world. Field guides have since gone through several evolutions, some being more scientific, others more artistic. Lars Jonsson’s Birds of Europe relied to a great extent for its success on the artist’s interpretation and experience. Ian Wallace, Darren Rees, John Busby and Peter Partington’s talents were combined to create Birds by Character, which relied on the skill of the artists to recreate jizz.

Barry Walding: Mute Swan, oil.

The 1950s saw interest in wildlife art increase steadily, and in 1960 Robert Gillmor and Eric Ennion initiated an exhibition of bird art, the success of which led on to the establishment of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA). That same year the Society of Animal Artists (SAA) was founded in America. Both organizations have been instrumental in promoting excellence in wildlife art and appreciation of the natural world. In the ensuing years interest in wildlife art continued to increase and in the 1980s two museums opened their doors to the public. The Nature in Art Museum in Gloucester, England, was established as the first museum with a permanent collection solely dedicated to wildlife art from around the world. In America the National Museum of Wildlife Art was created to showcase that country’s wildlife art. Both museums have temporary exhibitions and educational programmes to complement their permanent collections. With the establishment of wildlife organizations to promote the best in wildlife art the genre has continued to thrive, with the creation of further societies, exhibitions and competitions.

Like most wildlife artists, Robert Bateman had a strong affinity with both wildlife and art from an early age. Bateman’s art began with realism and moved on to exploring Impressionism, Cubism and Abstract Expressionism before returning to realism. The catalyst for that return was the discovery of Andrew Wyeth’s work, which showed Bateman that realism could be combined with abstract forms and rhythmic pattern. The resulting paintings received critical and public acclaim, convincing Bateman to embark on a full-time art career. Bateman’s success with realism has been one of the factors influencing the North American affinity with detailed work. He is a keen conservationist and advocate of environmental education.

With improvements in photographic technology, photorealism (also known as hyperrealism or superrealism) gained further prominence. Increasingly comprehensive reference material meant that artists could choose to depict every detail of their subject, even mimicking the depth of field of a photograph if they wished. With the advent of digital technology and the widespread availability of photographic equipment, good quality reference material is available to all.

Today’s artists use the sketchpad and the camera as their tools and the days when wildlife was shot before it was painted have thankfully disappeared. Wildlife artists have increasingly used their art to benefit rather than harm the subjects that have inspired them. One of the UK’s best known exponents of the use of wildlife art to raise money and awareness for conservation is David Shepherd. He originally planned to be a game warden in Africa but a lack of qualifications and experience prevented that career path. On returning to England Shepherd took up painting, established himself as a firm favourite with the British public and used the profits from his work to fund conservation projects targeting critically endangered mammals. Today the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation supports projects throughout Africa and Asia through education, nature reserve creation, anti-poaching patrols and input to legislation.