Steve is a professional wildlife photographer and artist. From around 8 years of age, armed with a basic SLR camera, he would be outdoors photographing wildlife. He also really enjoyed drawing as a child but then only drew occasionally till nearly 40 years later when he moved to Devon and joined a local art group in 2022. With his photographer's eye for detail, and rediscovered love of drawing and painting, he found that he could create realistic and vibrant animal paintings using pastels.
"My focus almost always starts on the eyes as this sets the mood and detail for the rest of the painting, and I am fascinated with the different shapes and colours of animal eyes and how and why they differ between species. I have travelled around much of the UK, photographing some of our amazing native wildlife, which I now use as a reference* and inspiration for my paintings. I have also been on a number of safaris to Africa to photograph, study, and then paint some of my favourite big cats, elephants, and other animals in their natural habitat. Since converting to pastels, I have also been taking on pet commissions, and I do enjoy seeing the reactions when people receive their completed painting of their much loved family pet".
* Reference photos used as the basis and inspiration for these paintings are either taken by steve or sometimes downloaded from royalty free or royalty paid sites, e.g. wildlife reference photos