John Silver

John Silver  Biography

Background & History:

From an early age I can remember that all I wanted to be was an artist. I will always be grateful to the teachers who would often let me sit at the back of the class by the window and draw whatever I liked, usually making up birds and horses. The girls liked me to draw horses for them!

I gained a place at the Kings Grammar school purely on my ability to draw, this meant of course, that I had to work extra hard at my academic studies. After leaving school with two A levels I studied art at Manchester Polytechnic and North Staffordshire Polytechnic, which resulted in my art degree in graphic design and illustration. Looking back, I always felt that I should really have studied Fine art. I taught myself the noble art of photo retouching using an airbrush, and after working for one year in a graphics agency, I decided to work for myself. I did this for the next ten years as well asng an art shop and picture-framing gallery with my wife Lesley. In any spare time that I got I used to paint and study the works and techniques of the old masters.

After ten years of juggling jobs I decided it was time to turn professional, so I quit everything to concentrate on my painting. Not long after this I became associated with Washington Green who published my very first print.

My style back then was very illustrative and almost photographic. During the last eight years or so my style has evolved and is becoming much more loose and painterly. My driving obsession and burning desire has always been to improve with each painting and though it has been hard work I am enjoying every minute of it.

Ideas and inspirations:

Dogs have always played an important role in my life, so it would be obvious to say that being around them is my inspiration. I have two Black Labradors called Milly and Monty and I study their movements and habits very closely. Watching them gives me endless hours of enjoyment and my mind is always thinking that would make a great painting!

In my own personal view, I feel that in order to paint a good picture of a dog one must get into its mind and almost become the animal. To know how a dog thinks and behaves is enormously important for me.

I also love studying the great artists and get many ideas and inspirations from them. I feel that we can learn an incredible amount from the artists of yesteryear, but unfortunately a great deal of their knowledge and abilities have been lost. I believe that this knowledge that is thought to be lost, can be passed on in some way and taught to the new apprentice. Almost as if my guardian angel was an artist! This is obviously just my theory and I dont expect anyone else to believe it just as long as I do. Spookily though, I do share my birthday with Leonardo Da Vinci! I am constantly influenced by some of the old masters like Da Vinci, Titian, Reynolds, Rembrant, Poussin, Van Dyke and most of the Pre-Raphaelites. The great dog artists I like are Maud Earl, George Earl, Edwin Landseer, Arthur Wardle and John Emms. I feel very strongly that I am being used and guided by some of these artists.

From palette to picture:

As mentioned previously, my style is slowly changing from high detail to a much more loose approach. I have observed from my studies of other artists that styles do change with time. Loose painters become more detailed and detailed become more loose, as in my case. Instead of painting every hair on the dog in great detail, I am trying to develop a more flowing style and trying to capture the true nature of the subject. Creating the painting out of these loose flowing lines and broad sweeps of the brush gives me a feeling for the actual dog. As a result of painting this way, the brushes I use seem to be getting bigger every day! Painting like this also allows me to be more creative with the lighting in the picture, as it is possible to produce much more dramatic effects like this, the lighting in a picture being an extremely important element.

I paint the traditional way with oils on board that I have prepared with gesso many months earlier. I put a base coat of deep pink paint and allow it to dry before I start the painting. This is an old masters technique, that will give a warmth to the picture when some of the reddish undercoat shows through.

I try to paint my dogs in a very majestic manner, almost like a classical portrait. I am not really into painting them doing their everyday normal habits. I wish to idolise them in a way, and show their grand nature and absolute love and unquestionable faithfulness to their owners. They are, after all, mans best friend.

A day in the life:

Where I used to start painting quite early on in the morning, I now find that I have so many other things to do first. The technological age is upon us, on a grand scale and I find that part of my morning ritual is now devoted to the computer in the corner of my studio. I use it for e-mailing people and also as a place to store a catalogue of my work. It is so easy these days for me to send a picture of my latest work via the internet, as opposed to posting the actual painting. I love technology for allowing me to communicate more quickly, easily and efficiently than I could a few years ago. For me, communication is everything.

Eventually I start painting, and when I do, the time just seems to fly by. I seem to enter a different time scale when I am so involved with my work. I will stop for a dinner break around twelve and again at around seven in the evening. I will, more often or not, carry on working till late in the evening. It is not uncommon for me to work into the early hours of the morning as I get carried away very easily with the exuberance I feel when painting. The older I get, the more work I wish to do.

I was born to be an artist - that is all I ever wished to be. I have dedicated my life to putting paint on canvas so that, one day, one of my paintings will give some satisfaction to someone, somewhere.

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