Biography -

With a career spanning over thirty years from 1981 to the present, Warwick Jacobs
has built a reputation as one of Britain’s most talented expedition artists. With over
half of his works having been completed in the field, Warwick has developed the ability
to quickly capture the true atmosphere of an event or scene. He is as happy painting
the animals and plains of Africa, as the open sea, and can as easily be found painting
in middle of Sahara, as he can sketching on slate 40ft underwater with a school of
Hammerhead sharks (as a qualified underwater artist). Highlights of his career
include six months in Africa, painting on a Royal Geographical Society project, and
ten three-month expeditions with Raleigh International, the British Schools Exploring
Society and Operation Raleigh as their official expedition artist.

Warwick has painted whilst climbing high peaks in the Himalayas, and canoeing in
the fjords of South America; he has painted Pygmies in the Congo, where he was also
charged whilst painting gorillas, barely 15ft away. He has painted parrots in the West
Indies, rare reptiles for the Mauritian Wildlife Trust, as well as the ice caps of Iceland,
and whales on the spot in the Faroe Islands. He has painted nuclear submarines and
ships for the Royal Navy, pilots in cockpits, and planes for airlines, once in exchange
for a flight on Concorde. Warwick specialises in painting ships and boats (marine art),
planes, wildlife and horses (one of the hardest subjects), portraits, and landscapes. His
largest undertakings have included dioramas on the side of Mauritian school buildings,
and even Gypsy scenes on Hampshire barns.

  Warwick’s work has been exhibited throughout the world, including New Zealand, Botswana, The Bahamas,
  Chile, London, Australia, and Borneo. He has exhibited with the Royal Society of Wildlife Artists in the Mall
  Galleries London, in the Royal Geographical Society’s ‘Disappearing Africa’ exhibition, London, 1989, the
  Australian Bicentennial, Bayswater Road Art exhibition, the Whale Tail Exhibition, Kenya, and various
  naval and sailing institutions. He was Artist in Residence for Dolomites Trekking Holidays, 1996, and
  his work has also featured on the covers of magazines such as British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) magazine, and
  Operation Raleigh magazine. He has just returned from a second trip painting in Nepal.

  Warwick’s work is always in high demand. He has completed commissions for members of the British Royal
  Family, including HRH Prince William and Princess Anne, as well as US President Ronald Reagan, and the
  Emperor and Empress of Japan. His flair for capturing maritime scenes has also led to commissions for the
  Royal Navy, the Royal Yachting Association, BT Global Challenge, and the Tall Ships Trust, not to
  mention countless societies and military organisations around the world. For a more comprehensive list of
  Warwick’s previous clients, please visit the clients page.

  Warwick regularly attends charity events to raise funds with his pictures, offering his skills as a
  caricaturist at top events in venues such as the Savoy Hotel London, and Portsmouth's Spinnaker
  Tower, following in the footsteps of his great grandfather. He is also an occasional guest speaker for art clubs,
  prisons and charitable societies.

Warwick currently paints at his studio half a mile from the Solent and draws inspiration from Montague Dawson and William Wiley, and admires contemporary artists such as David Shepherd. Warwick’s father and mother were both professional artists, carrying out commissions for Cunard, the Saudi royal family, and Presidents Sadat, Reagan and Carter. Warwick’s grandfather illustrated golfing publications, whilst his great grandfather, Major Charles John Cantelo Jacobs, illustrated for Vanity Fair and Punch, as well as painting members of the British and Spanish royal family. His great great
  grandfather was the renowned Southampton and Isle of Wight Gothic artist John
  Cantelo, whose work can be found in museums across the South, and his great-
  great aunt, Ellen Cantelo, a suffragette artist, exhibited in the Royal Academy
  in the 1850s, with pieces of her work currently in national collections.
  Additionally, his great uncle was the 1950s/60s abstract artist Denis Bowen,
  whose work now hangs in the Tate Gallery and V&A in London. Warwick’s niece
  keeps up the tradition, attending Central St. Martin’s School of Art, London.
  Warwick trained under his father, professional artist David Jacobs, and also at
  the Heatherley School of fine art, Chelsea, 1985. Warwick has also been a Fellow of
  the Royal Geographical Society since 1984, and is the founder and a trustee of the
  Hovercraft Museum, Gosport.

  Warwick does commissions, large and small, ranging from local village scenes to
  boardroom and museum pieces, fishing boats to cruise liners. He specialises in
  water colours, and prides himself on his fluid seascapes. He believes art isn’t just
  about the painting, it is about the experience, occasion or event, and
  above all about conveying an atmosphere.