John Busby RSA RSW SWLA (1928-2015)

John Busby was an acclaimed landscape and wildlife artist and one of the pioneers of drawing birds in the field. Internationally renowned for his wildlife art, through his teaching, mentoring and books he influenced a whole generation of artists to paint from life. His distinctive style – the ability to capture a bird’s character with just a few quick contour lines – has been taken up by artists all over the world.

“John can say more with a single 6B pencil line than many others can with a hundred brush strokes.” Barry van Dusen, artist

He was awarded ‘Master Wildlife Artist’ by the Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin in 2009 in recognition of the influence he had on the development of wildlife art over his lifetime.

Born in Bradford, Yorkshire 1928, spending his childhood on the moors above Wharfedale where he developed his love of wildlife and birds. Studied at Edinburgh College of Art and taught there for over 30 years.

He travelled extensively leading artistic trips to the Galapagos, the Falklands and other far-flung places.  He was much in demand as an illustrator of bird books and wrote five books of his own, of which Lines from Nature was published posthumously.

His landscapes are in many public collections nationwide.

He was a member of the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA), the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW), a founder member of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) and a past-president of the Society of Scottish Artists (SSA). He was prominent in the Artists for Nature Foundation which draws attention to habitats and wildlife at risk, through projects worldwide.

He lived just outside Edinburgh in East Lothian for most of his life taking inspiration from the open skies and shorelines of the Firth of Forth.