| I am a 30-something artist, freelance illustrator and web designer based in The Wirral, in the North West of England, having also spent over 10 years in Falmouth, Cornwall. |
| I grew up in the seaside town of West Kirby, overlooking the Dee Estuary. After completing two art and design foundation courses at Wirral Metropolitan College I went on to study Illustration at what was then Falmouth School of Art (now University College Falmouth). |
| Painting |
| My painting technique has developed over the years, from initial studies of the work of the Impressionists and Post Impressionists to subsequent influences such as Sargent and Brangwyn. |
| I work on canvas, building up colour in multiple layers to create vibrant optical mixes, favouring scenes with striking contrasts of light and shadow. When time allows I work in oils. When working to tight deadlines I paint in acrylics, the quicker drying times of which enable me to produce work more rapidly. |
| Portrait Art |
| Since 2002 I have offered a popular family and pets portraits from photographs service, which now accounts for over half the paintings I produce. Portraits are available as colour portrait paintings or black and white pencil drawings. |
| Fine Art |
| I have held 2 solo exhibitions - at the Domino Gallery and Liverpool Academy of Arts (where I also exhibit paintings in the annual exhibition of Beatles art 'Come Together') - and continue to sell landscape paintings in selected galleries and via this website, Birtall.co.uk, which I run myself. In 2006 I was elected to membership of the Wirral Society of Arts when my painting of Duart Castle won 2nd prize in the Wirral Open art exhibition at the Williamson Art Gallery. |
| Illustration |
| I have also received commissions for illustration work from clients including NatWest Bank, BBC Worldwide, Random House, Hallmark and Carlton Cards. my work has featured on book covers, greeting cards, advertisements, food packaging and more. Most of my work is for the UK market, but I do accept commissions
from overseas. |
| Web Design |
| I design brochure-type HTML websites with emphasis on ease of use and search engine friendliness. Web designs... |
| Hobbies etc. |
| On a personal level, though most of my time is taken up with work, I
enjoy listening to old and largely unfashionable music such as The Beatles,
The Kinks, Fairport Convention, John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers, CSNY, Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, Richard Thompson and John Martyn. I play acoustic guitar very badly for my own amusement. I also enjoy
even older comedy shows such as Hancock and the Goons. |
| I am a sports fan and particularly
enjoy following the fortunes of England's cricket team on Test Match Special on the wireless. I used to enjoy watching them in the olden days, when we could watch cricket on normal TV. We never knew how lucky we were... |
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| UK fine artist and illustrator Simon Birtall. |
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PORTRAIT ART |
| Commission portrait paintings of family, friends or pets from your own photos. Paintings from £90. More... |
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FINE ART |
| Gallery of Impressionist landscape paintings and miscellaneous other work on canvas. Images of Cornwall and the Isle of Mull. Buy or commission art. More... |
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ILLUSTRATION |
| Illustrations for book covers, advertising, packaging and greeting cards. More... |
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WEB DESIGN |
| Brochure type HTML website design. More... |
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GREETING CARDS |
| Buy fine art greeting cards signed by the artist. More... |
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ART SHOP |
| Birtall.co.uk is an affiliate of Amazon.co.uk. Buy art & design books, DVDs and videos, plus other office supplies.. More... |
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GIFT ITEMS |
| Buy gift items featuring my artwork at CafePress.com. |
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