Biography

John Philip Busby (1928 – 2015) Artist, writer, teacher and naturalist John Philip Busby was born in Bradford in 1928 and attended Ilkley Grammar School. After National Service, he studied at Leeds College of Art and then at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) where he was awarded post-graduate and major travel scholarships. On return from […]

For many, the name John Busby is synonymous with acute observations of nature and an enviable ability to capture character, light and movement in just a few simple lines and washes. His work was born from first-hand experience of nature and, as is the case with the very best artists, it encourages fresh ways of […]

The wonderful website www.NotJustHockney.info celebrates the very large number of professional artists born or associated with the city of Bradford, in Yorkshire and of course John Busby was born in the city in 1928, nine years before David Hockney RA. BUSBY, John: ‘My Art’ The local wildlife artist, John Busby, died in 2015. He was […]

“…He was a founder member of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) and was also External Assessor for Natural History Illustration at the Royal College of Art, 1989-92 and again in 2000. In 1989 he began a Seabird Drawing course based at North Berwick which has continued every year since, and he has led courses […]

John Busby, wildlife and landscape artist, writer and teacher Speed of observation was essential to much of John Busby’s wildlife art. It allowed him, for example, to capture the precise millisecond when, say, a peregrine braked before striking its prey. “His drawings appear to have been cut from the sky with a few strokes of […]

by Darren Woodhead “One cannot draw or paint ‘what one sees’ in front of one without being aware of what is happening on the page or canvas in the process. However fascinating the subject matter, we need equal fascination with the whole business of making marks with which, in a childlike way, we can identify. […]

By Stephen Moss ” ‘My work is rooted in landscape and in the living birds and animals as they are part of it. I aim to show how creatures move and to express the visual delight they bring. I try to combine accuracy with artistry.’ So the wildlife artist John Busby, who has died aged […]