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Denys Ovenden (1 April 1922 – 26 November 2019) was a
An illustration of Ifield Water Mill in West Sussex was painted by Ovenden in 2015 and shows a scene from 1848 when the railway between Crawley and Horsham crossed the millpond on a wooden trellis viaduct. The painting subsequently appeared on a limited edition Royal Mail postage stamp.
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
natural history illustrator working principally in watercolour
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
.
Biography
Ovenden's preoccupation with drawing began very early, probably around the age of three, since there are drawings on the fly-leaves of books from that period. His natural history interest began around the age of six. He began his studies atHornsey College of Art
Hornsey College of Art (a.k.a. Hornsey School of Art) was a college in Crouch End in the London Borough of Haringey, England. The HCA was "an iconic British art institution, renowned for its experimental and progressive approach to art and design ...
in 1938, with a five-year break from 1942 to December 1946 in the Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
, most of which was spent in North Africa and Italy. In 1950 he began working as a freelance
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
illustrator, for London Zoo
London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...
, ''The Radio Times
''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...
'', Crawfords Advertising Agency and Collins
Collins may refer to:
People Surname
Given name
* Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat
* Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration
* Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...
. A lot of time was also spent working with fellow ex-students at the Waverly Studio.
In 1961 Ovenden went to work on the part-work ''Understanding Science'', where he met Michael Chinery
Michael Chinery (born 1938, in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-e ...
, who became a friend. With Chinery he began a new phase of work for William Collins, first on ''Field Guide to the Insects of Britain & Northern Europe'', then the ground-breaking ''Reptiles & Amphibians of Britain & Europe''. This was followed by a number of other books for Collins, including entry-level hand guides to ''Wild Animals'' and ''The Sea Coast''.
In 1987 he prepared 10 plates for the Harley Books
Britain has a number of specialist entomological publishers:
* Amateur Entomologists' Society (http://www.amentsoc.org/) publishes various entomological handbooks, as well as the ''Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society''.
* British Wild ...
publication ''Grasshoppers and Allied Insects of Britain and Ireland''. There followed the ''Collins Guide to Freshwater Life'' and a small share in the ''Collins Fungi Guide''. Ovenden was commissioned by the Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
to prepare a poster accompanying David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
's BBC series ''Life in Cold Blood
''Life in Cold Blood'' is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first broadcast in the United Kingdom from 4 February 2008 on BBC One.
A study of the evolution and habits of amphibians and reptiles, it ...
''. After a period of 15 years' work, ''Galápagos, a Guide to the Animals and Plants'' finally went to print after the addition of illustrations of two other recently discovered rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...
s and the elusive pink iguana
''Conolophus marthae'', the Galápagos pink land iguana, is a species of lizard of the family Iguanidae. This critically endangered iguana is native only to the Wolf Volcano in northern Isabela Island of the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador). It ha ...
.
Watercolour
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
was the basic medium for his work, with occasional 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. Gouache h ...
for highlighting or detail. His preferred working surface was a "fashion" type board, CS2 "not surface" being the favourite.
Ovenden used a body-live, pinned, or preserved specimen to work from. He also used photograph
A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...
s, although these vary greatly in terms of colour bias. He used textbook or specialist handbooks to confirm details of mouth parts, wing venation, and other identification features.
Ovenden died in November 2019 at the age of 97.
An illustration of Ifield Water Mill in West Sussex was painted by Ovenden in 2015 and shows a scene from 1848 when the railway between Crawley and Horsham crossed the millpond on a wooden trellis viaduct. The painting subsequently appeared on a limited edition Royal Mail postage stamp.
References