Alan John Harris (born 10 April 1957) is a British bird illustrator.

Life

Harris was born in Epping,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. As a teenager, he became active in

bird ringing Bird ringing (UK) or bird banding (US) is the attachment of a small, individually numbered metal or plastic tag to the leg or wing of a wild bird to enable individual identification. This helps in keeping track of the movements of the bird an ...

, and in 1978 he became a member of Rye Meads bird ringing group. After receiving his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

Graphic Design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

from

Middlesex Polytechnic Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

in 1980, he began his career as a freelance bird illustrator. In 1982 he was elected Bird Artist of the Year by bird journal '' British Birds''. Since 1988 he has been a member of the artistic staff of this magazine. In 1989 he was a jury member of the competition Bird Artist of the Year. For his illustrations Harris undertook numerous field studies, which led him chiefly to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Influenced by

Charles Tunnicliffe Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe, OBE, RA (1 December 1901 – 7 February 1979) was an internationally renowned naturalistic painter of British birds and other wildlife. He spent most of his working life on the Isle of Anglesey. He is popularly ...

, Robert Gillmor, Peter Hayman,

David Morrison Reid Henry David Morrison Reid Henry (14 September 1919 – 1977; sometimes written Reid-Henry), of British origin, was an illustrator of birds. He signed his pictures DM Henry or D.M.H.. Reid Henry was the son of entomologist and ornithologist George Mor ...

, Robert Bateman and Lars Jonsson, he makes his drawings with watercolors,

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouach ...

and acrylic. He is also an admirer of the bird illustrator David Quinn.

Works

In addition to numerous illustrations in ''British Birds'' and other magazines, Harris has illustrated the following books: * Pete Tate, ''Swallows'' (1981) *

John Gooders John Gooders (10 January 1937 – 18 May 2010) was a British writer. He was known for the book ''Where to Watch Birds''. At the time he was a teacher, and a lecturer at Avery Hill College. Career in television In 1970, after taking two months ...

, ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe'' (1986) * Keith Vinicombe and Laurel Tucker, '' The Macmillan Guide to Bird Identification'' * James Hancock, ''Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills of the World'' (1992) * Kathie Fry and C. Hilary Fry, ''Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers'' (1992) * Peter Clement and John Davis, ''Finches and Sparrows: An Identification Guide'' (1993) *

Hadoram Shirihai Hadoram Shirihai (; born in Israel 1962) is an Israeli ornithologist and writer. Biography Shirihai is the son of Batia and Eli Shirihai. His mother was a schoolteacher, his father was a zoologist in Israel. He grew up in Jerusalem where he beca ...

and David A. Christie, '' The Macmillan Birders' Guide to European and Middle Eastern Birds'' (1996). In addition, from 1988 to 1993 he served on the team of illustrators for volumes 5 to 7 of the standard work ''Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa'' by

Stanley Cramp Stanley Cramp (24 September 1913 – 20 August 1987) was a British civil servant and ornithologist best known as the first Chief Editor of the encyclopaedic nine-volume handbook '' The Birds of the Western Palearctic'' (BWP). Cramp was born in S ...

References

Sources

*John E. Pemberton. ''Who's Who in Ornithology''. Buckingham Press, 1997. , p. 169 *Nicholas Hammond. ''Modern wildlife painting''. Pica Press, 1998. : p. 229

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Alan British bird artists 1957 births Living people