Like many wildlife artists Jackie Garner has been inspired by visits overseas,to the Falkland Islands, Egypt, Spain and India.
Jackie paints UK and international wildlife and has been commissioned for wildlife illustration projects, as well as being the author and main illustrator of The Wildlife Artist’s Handbook and a regular contributor to Leisure Painter magazine. Birding is my passion, so many of my paintings are of British birds, especially their relationship to their environment. My artwork starts with experiencing wildlife in its own environment, making sketches and then working those up in my studio. I’m currently getting very excited by the potential for abstract art inspired by pattern and texture in the natural world.
Jackie feels that everyone should have an experiment sketchbook: “You learn so much through experimenting and going beyond your comfort zone. What mark-making possibilities does this new brush give? How can you add texture? What happens if you drip, drizzle or spray the paint? Use a sketchbook (kept only for this purpose) to find the answers to whatever question you’ve posed. Always write down what you did and which tool you used for future reference. Aside from becoming a hugely valuable reference book in the future, filling your experiment sketchbook is brilliant fun!”