John was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire England 1959 and has been
painting for as long as he can remember. Silver began working as a commercial artist after leaving college with
a B.A. (Hons) degree in 1984.His first full time job was a photographic retoucher with a top Manchester graphic
and photographic agency - this was to last only one year as John really wanted to pursue his wildlife painting
career.
In 1985, John Silver became a professional illustrator and freelance retoucher specialising in fantasy air-brush
illustrations. These took the form of many computer magazine and game covers. At the same time he was studying
the different painting techniques of the old masters, his favorite being Da Vinci, Titian, Rembrant, Turner and
Constable. In order to discover as much as possible about techniques he would painstakingly copy selected paintings,
some of them taking as long as eight months to complete.
John Silver's constant love throughout has been to paint wildlife and he takes every opportunity to study and observe
animals in their natural environment. In 1994 he spent some time in the company of world renowned wildlife artists
John Seerey-Lester and Alan Hunt, the knowledge that he gained from them at this time proved invaluable. Since
then he has spent time exhibiting and collecting reference at many Game Fairs throughout the country which has
resulted in him producing his working dog series of paintings. All of these influences over the years are now apparent
in his highly detailed yet atmospheric originals which are proving extremely collectable.
Silver was awarded the 1998 "Best New Published Artist" Awarded by the Fine Art Trade Guild.
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