David Shepherd's Wildlife Artist of the Year

Recently on my social media accounts, I have been sharing photos of a piece I have been working on in between doing commissions and thought it would be a great idea to tell you all about it.

Who is David Shepherd?

David Shepherd was a British Wildlife artist and conservationist born in 1931 to 2017. He started his career as an Aviation artist which eventually led to wildlife. One of his earlier paintings 'Jesus on the Battlefield' was painted for my home town in Bordon as a memorial to all the military units who served in the South African War, the First and Second World Wars and Korean War.

What is the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF)?

Throughout the years, Shepherd has painted many wildlife artwork to raise awareness and help fund conservation efforts. After he passed away, his family have taken his place to keep the foundation going and have even garnered support from many celebrities!

Wildlife Artist of the Year competition

Every year the foundation has a competition open to amateur and professional artists around the world. This helps fund the foundation's projects as well as help the artists' work be seen.

This year I wanted to do a coloured pencil submission to show how far I have come since I started using them.

The piece was submitted in the 'Animal Behaviour' category. The idea was to show the leopard lazing about contently with leaves framing around his face. My big thing was for him to be chill.

Last year's submission

Here is last year's submission that was shortlisted in the 'Human Impact' category. I was so excited that I was shortlisted in such a massive competition.