Geoffrey Huband, RSMA
BIOGRAPHY
English artist Geoffrey Huband was born in Worcestershire in 1945 and studied at Stourbridge College of Art and Victoria College Manchester University graduating in 1967.
Taught for four years and then moved to Cornwall in order to paint full time. Best known for his cover art on the novels of Douglas Reeman/Alexander Kent.
Exhibited in the UK and Spain also with the Royal Society of Marine Artists since 1978 the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Institute of Watercolour Artists and with the Mystic Seaport Maritime Gallery in Mystic Seaport Connecticut USA since 2002.
Employed by Warner Bros at Leavesden Studios 2005 as Concept Artist on the feature film “Harry Potter“ “The Goblet of Fire”, conceived and designed the Durmstrang Ship.
Proposed as Candidate for the Royal Society of Marine Artists in 2014.
Elected Premier Artist at the Mystic Seaport Maritime Gallery in 2015.
Work has been commissioned by National Geographic and has also been featured artist in Classic Boats, Traditional Boats & Tall Ships, as well as Shipwright International Annual of Maritime History.
Employed by Universal at Shepperton Studios as Concept Artist on the feature film “Dolittle” The Voyages of Dr Dolittle in 2017.
Presented an Illustrated Research Paper to the BNRA Symposium at St Anne’s College, Oxford University 11 May 2019.
Awarded the Sir Robert Craven Trophy for services to Naval Research 9 November 2019. Elected Consultant Naval Artist to the BNRA in 2022.
Elected Vice-President of the Royal Society of Marine Artists 2022.
Currently exhibiting with:
The Royal Society of Marine Artist at the Mall Galleries London,
The Royal Institute of Oil Painters at the Mall Galleries London,
The J Russell Jinishian Gallery Stonnington, Connecticut, USA,
Julian Art Marine online at: www.artmarine.co.uk
Charles Mayes online at: www.marineartists.co.uk
Geoffrey Huband has wide ranging interests:
In 1994 he gained a Bsc.Hons from Exeter University
He has also enjoyed sailing his yacht with his family in the Mediterranean.
Geoffrey Huband has continued Book Jacket illustrations for the publishers Globe Pequot Publishing Group, for the authors:
Julian Stockwin, David Donachie, William C Hammond, Seth Hunter, Terry Mort, James L Nelson, Marcus Pulliser, Richard Woodman, Captain Frederick Marryat.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Since early childhood I have experienced an inexplicable fascination for the sea and all things maritime. Inexplicable because I was born in Worcestershire in the heart of rural England with no obvious nautical connections.
One of my earliest recollections as a child was of being lifted by my father to stand on a wind blown Cornish stone hedge, in order to see more clearly the rusting hulk of the battleship
H M S Warspite aground below the cliffs of Prussia Cove.
I remember also the excitement of a motor launch trip to view this leviathan when beached next to St Michael’s Mount for its final dismantling and at nine years of age, sketching the remains of this legendary and once formidable symbol of naval power, being divided into sections by salvage workers with flame cutters. Every subsequent holiday in Cornwall became a “wreck hunt” and for myself an increasing obsession with every aspect of the sea, it’s moods and associated history of romance and adventure. As a child I always created stories relating to my drawings or paintings and this childlike characteristic has gratifyingly remained with me.
The sea, the light and ships continue to present an exciting and seemingly inexhaustible source of inspiration and opportunities for evoking a narrative, maybe a simple statement, about mood or light or alternatively the capturing of a moment in time which tells a story, asking how we arrived here, what is taking place and what happens next, reflected in my concept and book jacket work.
There are two significant principles that I apply to my “imaginative” artwork. These are best expressed by firstly the naval fiction author Douglas Reeman who I had the pleasure of working with for over 30 years. He had served as a young commander of a motor gunboat during WWII and latterly with the Thames River Police, as a consequence he was accustomed to writing reports, he maintained that he applied the same principle as an author when writing reports “Time, Place, Action. The other principle was expressed by the feature film Production Designer Stuart Craig who advised that by keeping one foot firmly in reality, people would readily accept your interpretation of a narrative.
I ardently believe that first hand experience of the sea is essential. My own experience as a recreational sailor has inculcated a profound respect for the elements, as well as an insight and understanding of how the motion of a sailing vessel reacts to the variety of sea, wind and weather conditions.
I believe also that as an artist one must apply rigour to accuracy of detail in order to create a convincing interpretation of any narrative.
As I write I am now fortunate enough to see clearly from my studio window, just a few hundred yards away, the exact location of where H M S Warspite finally came to rest, the circle it seems is complete.
Awards & Commendations
2009
The Maritime Gallery Mystic Seaport
International Exhibition “Award of Excellence”
2012
The Conway Maritime Age of Sail Award 2012 “Collecting the Despatches”
2015
Elected Premier Artist – Mystic Seaport 2015 “Cutter & 1st Rate ship of The Line Putting to Sea”
2019
The Derek Gardiner Sea & Sky Award 2019 – The Levante Gale in Southern Spain”
2019
The BNRA Robert Craven Award 2019 for Services to Naval Research – “HMS Anson”
2024
Baltic Exchange Contemporary Shipping Award 2024 RMS Scillonian
The author Douglas Reeman
Commendation from Alexander Kent
(nom de plume of Douglas Reeman for the Richard Bolitho series)
geoffrey huband RSMA, marine artist
contacts
Email: geoffreyhuband@icloud.com
Call: 07742 711035
SOCIAL MEDIA
Please follow me on:
commission
Email: jt@artmarine.co.uk
Call: 07894 669649