Derek Robertson (artist)

Derek Robertson RSW SSA SAA (born 1967) is a Scottish artist. One of the signature members of the Society of Animal Artists, he is known for his paintings of wildlife and landscapes, ^[1] and for his poetic narrative work ^[2] consisting of paintings, constructions and installations. He has been elected several times to the Council of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. He has written and presented five television programs ^[3] about his work and the wildlife he portrays. He has written five books about his art: The Mugdrum, ^[4] Highland Sketchbook, ^[5] A Studio Under the Sky, ^[6] Otters, An Artist's Sketchbook, Living Landscapes and Puffins: An Artist's Sketchbook. His work has also illustrated many other publications. ^[7]

Life and work

Derek Robertson was born near St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. While at the High School of Dundee, ^[8] he attended weekend art classes by James MacIntosh Patrick before completing a BA (Hons) in drawing and painting at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee. ^[9]

On graduating in 1989, ^[10] he was commissioned by HarperCollins to write and illustrate his first book, Highland Sketchbook, which was nominated for the McVities Prize. ^[11] He was then commissioned by Grampian Television to present a program about his work for the series Portrait of the Wild. ^[12] He went on to write and present a series of four half-hour programs for Grampian TV/STV entitled Drawn From Wild Places. ^[13]

Robertson has won several awards, including the RSW Small Painting Prize, Glasgow Art Club Fellowship ^[14] and John Gray Award. ^[15]

He has illustrated many publications, most notably Song of the Rolling Earth ^[16] and Nature's Child ^[17] by the nature writer Sir John Lister-Kaye.

Robertson exhibits mainly in the UK, but also overseas. His work is held in public and private collections internationally. ^[18] His wildlife work is noted for his use of outdoor sketching from life ^[19] and for often using the unusual technique of watercolour on linen. ^[20]

He has served on the selection and hanging committees for a number of the exhibiting societies in Scotland and on the council of the Aberdeen Artists Society. ^[21]

He has worked on collaborative projects with the poets Valerie Gillies ^{[22] [23]} and Rody Gorman. ^{[24] [25]} Robertson was appointed artist in residence at Tentsmuir Nature Reserve and has worked on numerous collaborative projects with scientists and other creative practitioners.

Wildlife research

Robertson is an amateur wildlife researcher. He is a licensed bird ringer and has assisted many research projects which have resulted in co-authored publications, including a collaborative research project on farmland finches ^[26] with the BTO. ^[27] His own studies have also been published in scientific papers. ^[28] He has illustrated and edited a number of papers and publications, including the Fife Bird Atlas. ^[29] He has accompanied research expeditions to Africa, Scandinavia, and seabird islands such as St Kilda, the Shiant Isles and Handa Island, which have all featured in his paintings. ^[30] He has served on many research and conservation committees including the Isle of May Bird Observatory, ^[31] the Tay Ringing Group, and the BTO council and ringing committee.

References

1. "Robertson.html". Artist-registry.stanford.edu. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
2. "Article : DEREK ROBERTSON EXHIBITION - St Fergus Gallery, Wick". Arts.Caithness.Org. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
3. "Around Scotland", The Scots Magazine Dundee. p624, June 1995
4. Cyril Gerber, In conversation with Peter Hill. Alba Magazine Edinburgh, Summer 1999 p48
5. Wild in de Natuur, exhibition catalogue t' Kunsthuis van het Oosten, Enschede, Nederlands, 2009 p31
6. New Books, Scots Magazine, Edinburgh, February 2001, p143
7. Art and Observation, Scottish Bird News, Aberlady, p4 No 88 June 2008
8. Former pupils: http://www.archive.highschoolofdundee.org.uk/Filename.ashx?tableName=ta_publications&columnName=filename&recordId=162
9. Birds in Art exhibition catalogue Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wasau, Wisconsin USA 2001 p101
10. "Biography of Derek ROBERTSON | Anthony Woodd Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland". Anthonywoodd.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
11. Alan MacLeod, Painting Paradise, Kingdom Magazine, Dalgety Bay, Fife, Issue 8 Spring 2005, p30-31.
12. Deirdre Gillespie, Drawn from Wild Places, Scottish Field, Edinburgh, June 1995 pp. 14-17
13. Drawn From Wild Places, Preview, Kelvingrove Museums, Glasgow, July–September 1995 p6
14. "Fife artists honoured by Society of Painters in Watercolour". The Courier. 12 February 2011. Archived from the original on 5 April 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
15. "Artists' stroke of genius! - Local Headlines". Fife Today. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
16. Song of the Rolling Earth
17. Nature's Child
18. "Derek Robertson, British wildlife illustrations, birds artist, wildlife illustrations, natural history drawings, wildlife art". Wildlife Art Company. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
19. A Walk on the Wild Side, Artists and Illustrators Magazine, London, October 1999 pp. 42-43
20. Painting with Gouache on Linen, Artists and Illustrators Magazine, London, January 2001 pp. 24-24
21. AAS Annual Exhibition Catalogue, Issue 74, 2008, Aberdeen
22. Valerie Gillies
23. Valerie Gillies, The Chanter's Tune, Canongate, Edinburgh pp. 15-19
24. Rody Gorman
25. Ruairidh agus Ruairidh eile, Stanza Scottish International Poetry Festival Programme 2012, St Andrews, cover and p. 12
26. project on farmland finches
27. Calladine et al. BTO News Issue 247 July–August 2003, pp. 10-11
28. "Tay Ringing Group - Ornithology conservation charity - bird and habitat research into their biodiversity, population or environment". Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
29. "The SOC: Fife Bird Atlas". Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
30. Neil Glenn, Scotland's Migrant Magnet, Birds Illustrated, Vol. 5 Issue 4. Summer 2008, Peterborough, pp. 45-49.
31. Ringing Report, Isle of May Annual Report, 1999

Further reading

• Mansfield, Susan (16 August 2008). "Where The Wild Things Are". Edinburgh: The Scotsman, Critique. p. 7.
• Stuart, Glenn (Autumn 2001). "A Studio Under the Sky". Edinburgh: The Scottish Wildlife Trust Magazine. p. 14.
• Zealand, Gillian (16 August 2008). "A Studio Under the Sky". Aberdeen: Braemar Gathering Magazine. p. 26.
• Robertson, Derek (1992). Highland Sketchbook (hardback). Bishopbriggs: HarperCollins. p. 165. ISBN   978-0-00-434590-1.
• Robertson, Derek (2001). A Studio Under the Sky. Dunfermline: Woodlands Studios. p. 152. ISBN   978-0-9539393-2-9.
• Robertson, Derek (2009). Otters. An Artist's Sketchbook (softback). Aberdeen: Woodlands Studios. p. 48. ISBN   978-0-9539324-1-2 . Retrieved 15 April 2014.
• Lister-Kaye, Sir John (2004). Nature's child (hardback). London: Little, Brown / Time Warner. p. 193. ISBN   978-0-316-72731-0.
• Lister-Kaye, Sir John (2003). Song of the Rolling Earth (hardback). London: Time Warner. p. 332. ISBN   978-0-316-86176-2.
• Robertson, Derek; Boon, A. Williams, O. Sainsbury, J. McPhail, R. Lambert, t. Hoskyns, B. Gudgeon, S. Sykes, K. (2007). Grouse. An Artists' View (hardback). Shrewsbury: www.countrybooksdirect.com. pp. 130–143 & 151. ISBN   978-1-84689-019-2.
• Daichies, D., ed. (199). Tam O' Shanter. A Tale (hardback) (in English and Scots). Edinburgh: Moubray House Publishing. p. 32. ISBN   978-0-948473-17-3.
• Stroud, Ken (Winter 2001). "Wildlife Sketchbook (periodical)". www.wildscapemag.co.uk. pp. 4–5.
• Gage, Edward (June 1992). "Gestural Empathy of a Poet (broadsheet)". The Scotsman.

External links

• "Interview: Derek Robertson is never happier than when painting in the great outdoors", The Scotsman, 15 August 2008. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
• Wildlife and landscapes
• Narrative paintings and constructions