Art For All - Ingham, Alan

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Watercolour artist Alan Ingham sadly passed away on 20th May 2002. Alan enjoyed tremendous success with his English landscapes, which have been exhibited regularly throughout the 1980s and 90s. His book, ‘Under A Watercolour Sky’, published in 1996, celebrates his great love for the countryside and his highly detailed style of painting.

Born in the Yorkshire Dales in 1932, Alan demonstrated a love of drawing from an early age. The first in his family to take an interest in art, Alan continued to paint throughout his education at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth and his subsequent travels with the Navy around the world. By the age of 24, he had become a chartmaker - this highly detailed way of working was to become a trademark of Alan’s watercolour landscapes.

Leaving the Navy aged 32, Alan went on to lecture in surveying at the North East London Polytechnic. As a subject which had never been taught outside the Navy, Alan was also required to write a text book for the course and ‘Sea Surveying’ was published in 1975. With this book completed and spare leisure time on his hands, Alan turned once again to painting, joining local evening classes in Brentwood to brush up on his style. Within a year, he had started to sell and exhibit his paintings, and before long this hobby had taken over his life.

By 1984, Alan decided to take early retirement to allow him to work exclusively on his watercolour landscapes. Having already been commissioned by Rolls Royce to paint the new Bentley Turbo and chosen by Laing to contribute to its prestigious Calendar, Alan’s work was also in great demand with local galleries. Enjoying a number of one-man shows with the Granby Gallery in Bakewell throughout the 1980s, Alan joined the Halcyon Gallery in Birmingham in 1989.

Although undergoing major heart surgery in 1996, Alan continued to work from his studio in Gloucestershire, producing the spectacular landscapes which have made him famous - many of which are auctioned locally for charity. Now one of the country’s most loved landscape artists, Alan’s latest portrayals of the British countryside look set to confirm his reputation as the best in the field.