David Roberts

My preferred subject is people in all the different genres, portraits, life studies, urban sketching and squeezing them in to landscapes.
I use watercolour with pen and wash to quickly sketch figures and this brought me to the attention of the Lord Lieutenant of Dorset when I sketched him opening an art exhibition in Poundbury last year. He asked me if I would like to be his Artist in Residence and follow him around for a year sketching at events and presentations. I was very honoured to accept and I am now enjoying sketching at all sorts of events around Dorset including a visit by the Princess Royal who now has one of my coloured sketches. I have the position for a year but the plan is for me to mentor a younger artist to take over in 2026.
This year started with a trip to Antartica where I tried plein air sketching at a penguin colony and painting whales from the bar on board our expedition ship. It was a memorable experience and I have enough material to keep me painting for a long time.