ABOUT

I was fortunate to spend the last year of my degree at Bristol sketching birds from life, often at nearby Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve, Slimbridge. This was a truly inspirational time, working to produce as many field sketches as possible to practice drawing from life, but most importantly spending time observing the behaviour of birds and watching the weather and the effect it has on the landscape.

Since leaving art college I have worked as a freelance wildlife and landscape artist.

I have aimed to have three or four one man exhibitions each year and have really enjoyed exhibiting at such venues as Birdscapes Gallery, Norfolk and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserves Slimbridge, Arundel and The Wetland Centre at Barnes. Annual exhibitions at The West Barn, Bradford on Avon gave me an opportunity to show work based on sketches made in the previous year. In time between my own exhibitions I have shown work in joint exhibitions, for example the Cystic Fibrosis Trust exhibitions at Bonhams and Christies, The Wykeham Gallery, Stockbridge and the Society of Wildlife Artists annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries. Since 2014 I have exhibited annually in the art marquee at the Birdfair, Rutland Water. Today my work is permanently on show at Birdscapes Gallery, Norfolk and Nunnington Galleries.

I place great importance on observing wildlife and landscape on location and keep extensive sketchbooks packed with ideas for compositions. I have found field sketching to be the most enjoyable aspect of being an artist. There is great excitement from spending time close to wildlife and inevitably this brings some fascinating insights into the behaviour of many species.

When sketching a bird, I first set out to produce some sketches of its proportions, if appropriate showing the shape of the bird’s reflection in water. I feel I have really achieved something if I can quickly and accurately record this, then I may if the bird has not flown, go on to look at more detail, making studies of plumage colour in water colour and looking hard at the character of the bird. Next I move on to the bird’s immediate surroundings, so would sketch the water and any nearby vegetation. Lastly I might make some studies of the wider habitat, with a couple of water colour studies to record the weather. Alongside sketches I keep written notes. This gives me lots of information from which to make a picture, but of course often a bird will fly or I may even be distracted to draw something else. I find the process of making sketches extremely absorbing and I completely forget about time!

Sketches are often made spontaneously in pencil in my pocket sketch book, which I carry everywhere. At other times I set out to sketch with much more equipment including watercolours, larger sketchbooks and my trusty optics- Leica 8X32BA binoculars and Swarovski 65hd scope.

I love the variety of habitats the British Isles have to offer. In early May I camp in the far North West of Scotland. I find this area very inspiring for its wildlife and its landscape. I am particularly keen to observe red- throated and black- throated divers in breeding plumage and spend lots of time sketching both species. The area offers spectacular coastal scenery such as Handa Island and the beautiful Balnakeil Bay where last year I sketched long-tailed ducks, red-throated and great Northern divers, whimbrel, sanderling and turnstones before producing a series of paintings of the bay itself. I regularly sketch in Norfolk, the North York Moors, the Yorkshire Dales, North Wales and close to home in Gilling East, North Yorkshire where I live with my wife and two boys.

In 2018 Mascot Media published my first book, On Crescent Wings- a Portrait of the Swift. It combines my sketches of swifts made between 2001-18 along with my writing about the species and what it has meant to me. The book has given me a platform to help swift conservation through talks, events and book signings. It is available here https://www.mascotmedia.co.uk/books/on-crescent-wings.html

I am an area representative for Swift Conservation and co- founded Helmsley Swifts and recently made a presentation about swifts at the Swifts Local Network Conference 2020 at Bristol Zoo. I regularly talk to groups using my artwork to inspire people to enjoy the wildlife around them.

In 2020 I was thrilled to be offered the chance to provide the cover and internal illustrations for Charles Foster’s magnificent book The Screaming Sky. This enabled me to share some of my more recent swift sketches post On Crescent Wings.

I was proud to be asked to be Yorkshire Arboretum’s artist in residence. It has been a real inspiration to spend time observing and drawing trees, especially the relationships birds have with trees.

https://www.yorkshirearboretum.org/blog/jonathan-pomroy-becomes-artist-in-residence  

The residency culminated in a major exhibition of my work at the arboretum in September 2021.

Lockdown had a very big effect on the way I work. With galleries closed I started to concentrate much more on field sketching again. I feel this has changed my work for the better. I started to sell much more work online and increased the size of my online shop. This enables people to buy an unframed work- I have found that people enjoy seeing a watercolour before it goes behind glass. It also enables me to offer for sale many of the images which illustrate my blog posts.