Andrew Hird is a contemporary figurative painter of landscapes, cities and the English coast. All his work is from personal experience based on location sketches in pencil or paint. These “plein air” studies provide the working material for studio paintings, always referring back to the feeling of standing in the environment. Often he will return to favourite locations many times, recording the subject over changing seasons and times of day. His studio paintings are the considered result of painting on location, taking reference from his observational studies and evolving over days or weeks to bring together light, line and perspective that are distintive elements of Andrew’s work. His plein air studies are often loose and freely painted, aiming to capture a light effect or atmosphere quickly before the moment is lost. Andrew paints to share his personal world and hopefully transmit some of the pleasure he finds in recording it.

Andrew has exhibited at the Mall Galleries, Chelsea Art Society, Patchings Festival, Broadway Arts Festival, Royal Society of Marine Artists, Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the ING Discerning Eye. He won the Royal Institute of Oil Painters “Paint Live” competition in 2015, The Artist Purchase Prize, Great Art Award and Peoples’ Choice Award at Patchings, the Monkton Arts Prize in 2021, the Frank Herring award at the ROI exhibition in 2022, and the Topbond Marine award at the RSMA in 2024. He was selected to compete as a featured artist in Sky Arts Landscape Artist of The Year 2019 at Gateshead Millennium Bridge, and his painting was chosen by the Royal Navy for their permanent collection at HMS Calliope. He was elected an associate member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists in 2024. Andrew’s work is becoming increasingly popular with pieces in collections around the UK, Europe, the USA and Canada, and the Far East.