Shooting with his father in his early teens provided Keith Sykes with the initial inspiration to draw and paint. His early pictures were an attempt to capture the excitement and atmosphere of coastal wildfowling for which he had a passion, and were strongly influenced by the work of Sir Peter Scott.

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Largely self-taught, Keith’s early pictures were produced in both oil and watercolour, but for a number of years he has concentrated on the use of scraperboard. Although extremely time consuming, scraperboard is an ideal medium for depicting fur and feather. By using only black ink on a white background he relies purely on light and shade to capture the unique character of the animal or bird he is portraying.

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Specializing primarily in the portraits of sporting dogs, most of Keith’s work is commissioned, an increasing amount of his subjects are horses, British wildlife and African Game.

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