Sam Harvey About Me

I was raised in the depths of the beautiful Kent countryside. Growing up surrounded by rolling hills, a garden full of chickens and the various wildlife of the countryside, no doubt helped develop my fascination for the natural world.

From a young age, apart from making mud pies, I would observe and draw the sparring pheasants, garden birds and farm animals around me. Although primarily self-taught, I went on to study a degree in Illustration, with a view to enter the world of Children’s book illustration. Since graduating, this dream has proved illusive, so I am now developing a fine art career, concentrating on the subjects I love the most.

I use a mixture of inks and watercolours to create my paintings. The combination of these mediums produces such vibrant results, and no two paintings are ever the same. Soaking the paper with water, I literally flick and splash the colour onto the sketch. I let the colours run together and form their own patterns, adding more colour for shadow, and more water or flicks of white ink for highlights. I tend to focus more on birds as a subject matter. Their colours, feathers and characters are endlessly fascinating, and a real challenge to re-create in paint. Recently I have been branching out into Koi and British mammals.

I am lucky enough to be represented by two Kent galleries, and the Haddon Gallery in Devon. The majority of my avian paintings can be seen at ‘Birds Birds Birds’ in Faversham. There is also a small collection of paintings at the ‘Church Mouse Gallery’ in Hythe. In 2009 I was shortlisted as a finalist in the BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year, and in 2010 I was a finalist in the DSWF Wildlife Artist of the Year. In 2011, I had work accepted and sold at the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art. My work is slowly but surely becoming recognised. In the future I would like to push my techniques even further, producing more abstract representations, and possibly even try my hand at portraits, landscapes and photography.