George Pickering

Nigel Hemming, Steven Townsend, Frederick J Haycock, Mick Cawston, Mike Sibley. Britain has produced and continues to produce a long and proud illustrative history of contemporary canine artists whose reputation is acknowledged across the globe. Another name you might like to add to this already impressive roll call is that of George W Pickering, who makes a pleasing and regular habit of painting the uncanny likeness of Labradors, Retrievers, Collies and various other dogs onto canvas, as well as crafting pictorials which reveal a cornucopia of hedgerow birds, owls and ducks amongst many other animal-based subject matters.
Roundly considered the rising star of the canine art market (understandably so when taking on board his enveloping and detail-orientated compositions) and in recent times gabbing an increasing share of its net worth, Pickering studied Scientific and Natural History Illustration t Blackpool and the Fylde College of Art. During his student days there he entered a Readers Digest National Competition which, although not winning, saw him offered encouraging words and acclaim from no lesser wildlife expert than Sir David Attenborough. Which as far as references go is as gilded of edge as it generally gets.
Since departing art school and embarking on a successful and lucrative career as a full time, professional canine and wildlife artist/freelance illustrator (which he’s also combined with spells of lecturing), Pickering’s hallmark works have been met with critical acclaim from both fans of the genre and seasoned collectors in equal measure; and has enjoyed and prospered from showcasing his individual and collective pieces at exhibitions in London, Birmingham and Newcastle. What’s more, Pickering eventually lifted the industry silverware that was starred from his student days when in 1999 he was awarded the Matthew Brown Trophy by Accrington’s Howarth Gallery. On that memorable occasion not only did Pickering bag the first prize, yet also claimed the third in a field consisting of some 600 other artists, in an annual competition that had previously seen the likes of established dog artist, Steven Townsend emerge victorious from.
In terms of the timeline when Pickering started making the general public aware of his artistic works, it was probably around the juncture when he released, 'Reflections of Bygone Days', which was, essentially, an evocative study of a barn owl. It was this pictorial which effectively launched Pickering’s mass market appeal, which he quickly followed up with ‘In from the Cold’ which again announced his arrival in the more specific canine market it’s fair to say. What happened next as they say, is history, albeit relative, whereby Pickering rapidly began receiving the respect and appreciation amongst peer groups, the contemporary art industry and most important of all, potential clients that his work so richly deserved.