The Biography of the Artist, David Andrews David Andrews (real name Brian Cutmore) was in born in 1938 in The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital, Kings Cross, London, England, The eldest son of Sign Writer, Commercial Artist and Designer, Sidney Cutmore, creator of several notable works in advertising, who produced the banners, flags and national emblems, used to decorate the processional route of The Queen’s Coronation in 1953, and also painted The Coat of Arms above a specially created entrance to Westminster Abbey.
The outbreak of The Second World War came when Brian was just a year old and the family lived through ‘The Blitz’ in London, but were bombed out three times during the next few years. Meanwhile, his young brother Barry was born and the family now having become homeless were evacuated to Bradford in Yorkshire, where they were treated with great kindness, which they will never forget. They remained there until the end of the war, when they were returned to North London. Sadly, a few years later his father died aged 42 and Brian became the family Bread Winner. He left school aged 14 and was an office boy in the City for 4 years. Then became a London Policeman, designing crime prevention posters and Accident plans, but this was not what he really wanted to do, and after nearly ten years as a Policemen, he realized that he must work very hard to achieve his ambition of becoming an artist . He left the police force and adopted the name David Andrews, combining his sons Christian names, David and Andrew, and has always signed his work using this name.
He soon moved from London to Bath in Somerset, and his original studies of British Wildlife began to sell in Galleries in Bristol, the West of England, and even in U.S.A. Early in his career, he was commissioned to paint a series of Wildlife watercolours for The Earl of Shelburn, in Bremhill, Calne, Wiltshire (later at Bowood House). Another patron of David’s work at the time was Sir Peter Scott at ‘The Wildfowl Trust’ Slimbridge in Gloucestershire.
In 1967 David returned to the London area, and was soon commissioned by Publishers Paul Hamlyn, to illustrate a full colour publication “Bird Behaviour” written by Dr John Sparks, of the Zoological Society of London, producer of BBC One T.V. Programme "Wildlife on One”. Plus a second, Hardback Book of Birds by Neil Ardley. titled "How Birds Behave". Both books were widely published in London, New York, Toronto and Sydney.
From the late 1960’s until the mid-1980’s a total of 24 more David Andrews pictures were published and distributed world wide. During this period, many of his earlier pictures appeared on British T V programmes Including ‘Softly, Softly’, ‘Z Cars’, ‘The Sweeney’, ‘Wild Alliance’, ‘George and Mildred’, ‘Robin’s Nest’, ‘Take the Highroad’, ‘Crossroads’, ‘Coronation Street’, Video Film, "The Bank Job", The Two Ronnies’, ‘Through the Keyhole’ (home of Spike Milligan) ‘One Foot in the Grave’, ‘A Good Murder’, 'Vera', and as prizes on the conveyer belt, in ‘Sunday Night at the London Palladium’, with Bruce Forsyth. Many of these programmes are now repeated on various channels on British Television.
In 1973 William Grant & Sons, Dufftown, Banffshire, Scotland, Distillers of Grant’s Standfast Whiskey, commissioned David to paint a set of pictures entitled ‘Birds of Speyside’ depicting birds indigenous to that area; The Black Grouse, Ptarmigan, Peregrine Falcon and Osprey. A framed set of these 4 studies were widely advertised in the National Press, and for every print sold, 5 pence was donated to The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds who received a donation of £5000 from the sale of 100,000 prints, many of which were sold abroad.
David had several ‘ One Man Exhibitions’ in the 1970’s including 5 at Harrods Knightsbridge Gallery in London and several other venues throughout the U.K. including Harrogate, Watford, Birmingham. Bristol, Torquay and The Cotswolds. Several other smaller Exhibitions followed in the early 1980’s in Sydney Australia, Wellington New Zealand and Boston U.S.A.
In 1976 David moved back to Somerset and worked exclusively for ‘Alexander Gallery’ in Bristol until 1982. He then painted many Australian Birds and had Exhibitions in Adelaide, and with several Galleries in Sydney, where funds were raised for the ‘Miss World Quest’ to support Australia’s entrants in the Miss World Competition in London.
In 1984, he moved from Somerset to Exmoor National Park, in North Devon, where he worked from his (self-built) Cottage Studio, overlooking his 9 acre Small-holding, with panoramic views over the beautiful surrounding countryside, abounding with the subjects which he painted with such loving detail. He settled here on Exmoor for over 20 years, where he was still very active. During this period 8 new studies were published by ‘Art Resources International’ in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A. and more of his workwas used by the 'RSPB', 'The Church of England Children’s Society’, (who used his picture of a Robin for their Christmas Card) and Marie Curie Cancer Research who also used 12 of his earlier pictures from the late ‘60’s on their 1990 Calendar. More, later examples of his work were published in Germany, France and Scandinavia as greetings cards.
In 1987 David became his own Publisher allowing him more direct control over his work, and in June 2004 his painting ‘Barn Owl in Autumn’ (now featured on this web site) reached the judging stage of the final 200 in ‘The Daily Mail not The Turner Prize’ from over 20,000 entries. In 2005 David moved from Exmoor to Stow on the Wold in The Cotswolds, as his cottage on Exmoor, though idyllic and very comfortable, was not easily accessible, and it was time for a change, back to civilisation. Then after 9 very happy years in the The Cotswolds, he and his family decided to make one more final move, back full circle to Yorkshire, a long journey north, but close to where he had spent his early, and very happy years as a child, at the end of the war. He now lives in the delightful, historic market town of Pickering, in Ryedale, on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, home to the T.V. series ‘Heartbeat’ and close to Scarborough, Whitby and York and the beautiful stately home of ‘Castle Howard’, scene of ‘Brideshead Revisited’ .
Artist's Hobbies
His many Hobbies include Philateley, Gardening, Reading Novels and Biographies and also making Glove Puppets, including their paper mache heads which are finished off with several coats of Acrylic Paint.
He was an amateur Wicket Keeper (Cricket) and Goal Keeper (Football). He ran 2 Youth Clubs for many years in London and Somerset. And has been a Tottenham Hotspur Supporter since 1949.
He loves Classical and Ballet Music and Michael Buble & Laura Pausini singing "You'll never know" plus the wonderful Andrea Bocelli and Laura Pausini singing "Dare to Love" and 'Sour Times' played live by PORTISHEAD at Roseland (N Y C) U.S.A. with background live orchestra, and sung by Beth Gibbons and all available on youtube.
His favourite Ballet music is 'Romeo and Juliet' by Tchaikovski played by Herbert von Karajan. He is a D.I.Y. enthusiast, having designed and built his Exmoor studio, plus 6 other completed projects.
He moved to the lovely Market Town of Pickering in 2014, home of the Heritage Steam Railway, built in 1836, which runs from Pickering, through the North Yorkshire Moors National Park up to Whitby. It is lovely to hear the nostalgic whistle of a Steam Train as it leaves the Station, which is only an easy 7 minute stroll from his house. He is now gradually becoming tempted to paint an image of this delightful historic old Railway Station and its Steam Engines, Carriages and passangers.
Being an Artist is very rewarding and satisfying, and David feels very fortunate that his recent move to this beautiful part of Yorkshire, has already begun to inspire him to continue even further in his already lengthy career, to branch out and attempt some newer different subjects.
Working Artist's Notes
David has now been a full time Professional Artist for 55 years. He is completely self taught and like many other artists, he feels that he is still learning his craft. He initially produced most of his work painting with Gouache (Designers Colour), using high quality materials, and has always used 'kolinski sable' brushes, painting on slightly tinted paper. Whatever materials he needs, he ALWAYS buys Windsor & Newton, - even the pencils, rubbers and other painting mediums, whether water colour, oil or pastel. Use the best materials that you can afford, and you will always achiev the best results. When it comes to Artist Materials - You get what you pay for -and can waste a great deal of time and money trying to get better results with cheap materials.
David found that after years of trial and error, that Gouache was not always the best medium to use, in order to achieve the lifelike hairs or feathers on animals and birds. So he gradually started using Acrylic paint on a fairly smooth stretched cotton canvas, board or paper from an oil colour pad. - This is not a golden rule, and won't work for all subjects, but did here.
David has painted many different subjects on many different surfaces, for instance Miniature Portraits using Artist Quality water colour tubes on ivory, or alternatively vellum surface, using pumice powder and French chalk to prepare the surface. Then size '000' sable brushes, and using very different colours with flesh tones. David even had to wear a Silk Dressing Gown, so that his clothing did not shed any hairs or other objects on to the ivory, as it would ruin the finished picture and be difficult to remove. Painting can be an enjoyable passtime, but very complicated at times and difficult to acieve a professional finish.
Gouache is opaque and covers the surface very well, whereas Acrylic is translucent and is best when applied in thin coats. The detailed studies of Birds and Butterflies on this website were painted in Gouache on Tinted Paper. 'The Farmyard' however was created using Acrylic. It was not an obvious choice of medium, but hopefully it worked. It is not always obvious which way to go, and sometimes it doesn't work so well. In art, one needs to be very patient, and to experiment. Different artists use different methods. David is self taught, and dousn't always get it right first time. These comments are only offered as possible ways to approach what one is attempting.
Due to demand, and his love of Dogs, Cats and Horses, he has taken many commissions for Pet Portraits, mainly Dogs and Horses, and now produces a range of Greetings Cards and Notelets.
David's interests are many and varied, his first love being Horse Racing, particularly the Steeplechase races, the atmosphere of a Race Meeting, and being able to view these beautiful and intelligent animals at close range. During his 9 years living at Stow he became a member at Stratford-on-Avon Racecourse, which hosted National Hunt Racing. Now living in Yorkshire he is a member at Thirsk Racecourse, where they hold Flat Race meetings.
The Artist David Andrews by the Author Brian S. Cutmore dated 07/06/2021.

The Biography of the Artist, David Andrews

David Andrews (real name Brian Cutmore) was in born in 1938 in The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital, Kings Cross, London, England, The eldest son of Sign Writer, Commercial Artist and Designer, Sidney Cutmore, creator of several notable works in advertising, who produced the banners, flags and national emblems, used to decorate the processional route of The Queen’s Coronation in 1953, and also painted The Coat of Arms above a specially created entrance to Westminster Abbey.

The outbreak of The Second World War came when Brian was just a year old and the family lived through ‘The Blitz’ in London, but were bombed out three times during the next few years. Meanwhile, his young brother Barry was born and the family now having become homeless were evacuated to Bradford in Yorkshire, where they were treated with great kindness, which they will never forget. They remained there until the end of the war, when they were returned to North London. Sadly, a few years later his father died aged 42 and Brian became the family Bread Winner. He left school aged 14 and was an office boy in the City for 4 years. Then became a London Policeman, designing crime prevention posters and Accident plans, but this was not what he really wanted to do, and after nearly ten years as a Policemen, he realized that he must work very hard to achieve his ambition of becoming an artist . He left the police force and adopted the name David Andrews, combining his sons Christian names, David and Andrew, and has always signed his work using this name.

He soon moved from London to Bath in Somerset, and his original studies of British Wildlife began to sell in Galleries in Bristol, the West of England, and even in U.S.A. Early in his career, he was commissioned to paint a series of Wildlife watercolours for The Earl of Shelburn, in Bremhill, Calne, Wiltshire (later at Bowood House). Another patron of David’s work at the time was Sir Peter Scott at ‘The Wildfowl Trust’ Slimbridge in Gloucestershire.

In 1967 David returned to the London area, and was soon commissioned by Publishers Paul Hamlyn, to illustrate a full colour publication “Bird Behaviour” written by Dr John Sparks, of the Zoological Society of London, producer of BBC One T.V. Programme "Wildlife on One”. Plus a second, Hardback Book of Birds by Neil Ardley. titled "How Birds Behave". Both books were widely published in London, New York, Toronto and Sydney.

From the late 1960’s until the mid-1980’s a total of 24 more David Andrews pictures were published and distributed world wide. During this period, many of his earlier pictures appeared on British T V programmes Including ‘Softly, Softly’, ‘Z Cars’, ‘The Sweeney’, ‘Wild Alliance’, ‘George and Mildred’, ‘Robin’s Nest’, ‘Take the Highroad’, ‘Crossroads’, ‘Coronation Street’, Video Film, "The Bank Job", The Two Ronnies’, ‘Through the Keyhole’ (home of Spike Milligan) ‘One Foot in the Grave’, ‘A Good Murder’, 'Vera', and as prizes on the conveyer belt, in ‘Sunday Night at the London Palladium’, with Bruce Forsyth. Many of these programmes are now repeated on various channels on British Television.

In 1973 William Grant & Sons, Dufftown, Banffshire, Scotland, Distillers of Grant’s Standfast Whiskey, commissioned David to paint a set of pictures entitled ‘Birds of Speyside’ depicting birds indigenous to that area; The Black Grouse, Ptarmigan, Peregrine Falcon and Osprey. A framed set of these 4 studies were widely advertised in the National Press, and for every print sold, 5 pence was donated to The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds who received a donation of £5000 from the sale of 100,000 prints, many of which were sold abroad.

David had several ‘ One Man Exhibitions’ in the 1970’s including 5 at Harrods Knightsbridge Gallery in London and several other venues throughout the U.K. including Harrogate, Watford, Birmingham. Bristol, Torquay and The Cotswolds. Several other smaller Exhibitions followed in the early 1980’s in Sydney Australia, Wellington New Zealand and Boston U.S.A.

In 1976 David moved back to Somerset and worked exclusively for ‘Alexander Gallery’ in Bristol until 1982. He then painted many Australian Birds and had Exhibitions in Adelaide, and with several Galleries in Sydney, where funds were raised for the ‘Miss World Quest’ to support Australia’s entrants in the Miss World Competition in London.

In 1984, he moved from Somerset to Exmoor National Park, in North Devon, where he worked from his (self-built) Cottage Studio, overlooking his 9 acre Small-holding, with panoramic views over the beautiful surrounding countryside, abounding with the subjects which he painted with such loving detail. He settled here on Exmoor for over 20 years, where he was still very active. During this period 8 new studies were published by ‘Art Resources International’ in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A. and more of his workwas used by the 'RSPB', 'The Church of England Children’s Society’, (who used his picture of a Robin for their Christmas Card) and Marie Curie Cancer Research who also used 12 of his earlier pictures from the late ‘60’s on their 1990 Calendar. More, later examples of his work were published in Germany, France and Scandinavia as greetings cards.

In 1987 David became his own Publisher allowing him more direct control over his work, and in June 2004 his painting ‘Barn Owl in Autumn’ (now featured on this web site) reached the judging stage of the final 200 in ‘The Daily Mail not The Turner Prize’ from over 20,000 entries. In 2005 David moved from Exmoor to Stow on the Wold in The Cotswolds, as his cottage on Exmoor, though idyllic and very comfortable, was not easily accessible, and it was time for a change, back to civilisation. Then after 9 very happy years in the The Cotswolds, he and his family decided to make one more final move, back full circle to Yorkshire, a long journey north, but close to where he had spent his early, and very happy years as a child, at the end of the war. He now lives in the delightful, historic market town of Pickering, in Ryedale, on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, home to the T.V. series ‘Heartbeat’ and close to Scarborough, Whitby and York and the beautiful stately home of ‘Castle Howard’, scene of ‘Brideshead Revisited’ .

Artist's Hobbies

His many Hobbies include Philateley, Gardening, Reading Novels and Biographies and also making Glove Puppets, including their paper mache heads which are finished off with several coats of Acrylic Paint.

He was an amateur Wicket Keeper (Cricket) and Goal Keeper (Football). He ran 2 Youth Clubs for many years in London and Somerset. And has been a Tottenham Hotspur Supporter since 1949.

He loves Classical and Ballet Music and Michael Buble & Laura Pausini singing "You'll never know" plus the wonderful Andrea Bocelli and Laura Pausini singing "Dare to Love" and 'Sour Times' played live by PORTISHEAD at Roseland (N Y C) U.S.A. with background live orchestra, and sung by Beth Gibbons and all available on youtube.

His favourite Ballet music is 'Romeo and Juliet' by Tchaikovski played by Herbert von Karajan. He is a D.I.Y. enthusiast, having designed and built his Exmoor studio, plus 6 other completed projects.

He moved to the lovely Market Town of Pickering in 2014, home of the Heritage Steam Railway, built in 1836, which runs from Pickering, through the North Yorkshire Moors National Park up to Whitby. It is lovely to hear the nostalgic whistle of a Steam Train as it leaves the Station, which is only an easy 7 minute stroll from his house. He is now gradually becoming tempted to paint an image of this delightful historic old Railway Station and its Steam Engines, Carriages and passangers.

Being an Artist is very rewarding and satisfying, and David feels very fortunate that his recent move to this beautiful part of Yorkshire, has already begun to inspire him to continue even further in his already lengthy career, to branch out and attempt some newer different subjects.

Working Artist's Notes

David has now been a full time Professional Artist for 55 years. He is completely self taught and like many other artists, he feels that he is still learning his craft. He initially produced most of his work painting with Gouache (Designers Colour), using high quality materials, and has always used 'kolinski sable' brushes, painting on slightly tinted paper. Whatever materials he needs, he ALWAYS buys Windsor & Newton, - even the pencils, rubbers and other painting mediums, whether water colour, oil or pastel. Use the best materials that you can afford, and you will always achiev the best results. When it comes to Artist Materials - You get what you pay for -and can waste a great deal of time and money trying to get better results with cheap materials.

David found that after years of trial and error, that Gouache was not always the best medium to use, in order to achieve the lifelike hairs or feathers on animals and birds. So he gradually started using Acrylic paint on a fairly smooth stretched cotton canvas, board or paper from an oil colour pad. - This is not a golden rule, and won't work for all subjects, but did here.

David has painted many different subjects on many different surfaces, for instance Miniature Portraits using Artist Quality water colour tubes on ivory, or alternatively vellum surface, using pumice powder and French chalk to prepare the surface. Then size '000' sable brushes, and using very different colours with flesh tones. David even had to wear a Silk Dressing Gown, so that his clothing did not shed any hairs or other objects on to the ivory, as it would ruin the finished picture and be difficult to remove. Painting can be an enjoyable passtime, but very complicated at times and difficult to acieve a professional finish.

Gouache is opaque and covers the surface very well, whereas Acrylic is translucent and is best when applied in thin coats. The detailed studies of Birds and Butterflies on this website were painted in Gouache on Tinted Paper. 'The Farmyard' however was created using Acrylic. It was not an obvious choice of medium, but hopefully it worked. It is not always obvious which way to go, and sometimes it doesn't work so well. In art, one needs to be very patient, and to experiment. Different artists use different methods. David is self taught, and dousn't always get it right first time. These comments are only offered as possible ways to approach what one is attempting.

Due to demand, and his love of Dogs, Cats and Horses, he has taken many commissions for Pet Portraits, mainly Dogs and Horses, and now produces a range of Greetings Cards and Notelets.

David's interests are many and varied, his first love being Horse Racing, particularly the Steeplechase races, the atmosphere of a Race Meeting, and being able to view these beautiful and intelligent animals at close range. During his 9 years living at Stow he became a member at Stratford-on-Avon Racecourse, which hosted National Hunt Racing. Now living in Yorkshire he is a member at Thirsk Racecourse, where they hold Flat Race meetings.

The Artist David Andrews by the Author Brian S. Cutmore dated 07/06/2021.

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The Biography of the Artist, David Andrews

Artist's Hobbies

Working Artist's Notes

The Artist David Andrews by the Author Brian S. Cutmore dated 07/06/2021.

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