Ian Heard

Foss Quay: Ian Heard: Foss Quay: Ian Heard

My career as a marine illustrator developed from my early life, growing up in the family boatyard in Cornwall. 

 I just drew what I saw around me every day – sailing yachts, worksheds and commercial boats. I was aware in my childhood of the paintings of Montague Dawson nd Edward Seago and other masters of sail, and was influenced by a family friend, the yacht designer Percy Dalton, who was also an accomplished painter.

Ian in studio: Ian Heard in studio

On leaving school in Falmouth, I attended the Redruth School of Art where I attained a licenciate to the Society of Designers, later becoming a Chartered Member of the Society of Designers. I was lucky to work alongside John Raynes RCA and later for Timothy Guy Design in Truro. My trade took me to London and later to Oxford as art director in a regional advertising and design studio, working for many blue-chip companies, such as Rover, Blue Circle, Vauxhall and Oxford University Press.

In 1987 I set up the Heard Design Partnership with my wife, Eve, and we established long-term relationships with leading publishers – Macmillans, Reeds and Collins among others. It also saw the start of a 12 year association with Yachting Monthly which was looking for an artist who “understands how boats work”. 

I subsequently undertook commissions for Cruising World in the US and for many nautical publications by Adlard Coles and I illustrated the Complete Book of Sailing for Hamlyn. In 2004 I was asked to write and illustrate my own book, Classic Boats of the West Country, for Cornish publisher Bossiney Books. A second, paperback version of this is being published this year, along with a new book, Ports and Harbours of Cornwall.

In 1993 we moved back down to the West Country and settled in Tavistock, which is still our home and workplace. In 2001 we started Faraway Island Giclee to provide fine art printing services to the community of artists in the region. 

In parallel with my commercial work, I have always continued with my own paintings, mostly on marine themes but also including portraiture and landscape. I have exhibited extensively in the west of England and also in London, and undertaken many commissions, especially for the owners of fine and classic yachts.

Weir Quay Boatyard: Ian Heard: Weir Quay Boatyard: Ian Heard

 The Weir Quay Tide Tables’ commission came about after a wild, alcohol-free discussion with the Boatyard owner about making his annual booklet more appealing and valued. I proposed a less graphic solution and suggested a softer watercolour in a loose style, in pencil and colour.  This turned into a commission for the cover which has started the association between Weir Quay Boatyard and the arts and which has led directly to this exhibition.

I am constantly drawn to the river and the sea, and am always captivated by the fleeting light on water and landscape. Similarly, the dusty interiors of working sheds is a continuing source of inspiration. The process of boat building is still central to these paintings and harks back to my earlier roots.

Evening Sail at Egypt Bay: Ian Heard: Evening Sail at Egypt Bay: Ian Heard