Art by Stephen Bishop.com

My portrait paintings and drawings and other artworks are for people, it is my creative art and purpose! My artist career really began when I was very young. I was always expressing my art in school projects creating drawings with pencils on paper and using color felt tip pens. When my natural ability in art became apparent at school, I was fast tr... acked to CSE and O Level Art. By that time I was becoming interested in Technical Illustration, General Illustration and Design, but needed to study and practice art to A Level standard before I could attend Art and Design College in Kent, in order study those. After working very hard for my Art Al Level at West Kent College of Further Education for two years, I reached the required standard for entry in to Art and Design College. I was successful in my application to the Kent based Medway College of Art and Design where for two years I worked hard for my B/TEC Ordinary National Diploma in Graphic Design, Technical and General Illustration. After that. I set up my own small business as a freelance artist, and then for a time worked as a Graphic Artist and Illustrator for the Manpower Services Commission, producing art advertising for the community. After some time I became a self employed artist again in 1988 and I still am a self employed artist in Kent to this day. In 1990 I met a very well established and highly respected Canadian born portrait artist, Peter James Garland and worked as his apprentice for a year. This was a very significant turning point in my artist career. Peter Garland has taught me the skills and knowledge to be a portraitist of animals and people, and to be able to render any subject on canvas. In particular he taught me the fine skills of oil painting, and drawing and painting with pastels, covering many different subject matters and fine tuned my knowledge and skills as an artist. Working as Peter Garlands artist apprentice has created my interest in oil painting and helped develop my oil painting and pastel techniques and style which has ...Read More