oil painting artistoriginal oil painting information

The Artist William McLean Kerr

Artist's Work - Sun Setting on Island of Arran, ScotlandIwas born in 1952 in Fife and moved to Ayrshire in 1966. After attending Carrick Academy in Maybole I studied art at Jacob Kramer School of Art in Leeds and graphic design at Manchester Polytechnic.

After leaving further education my career included several years as a graphic designer with Central Television in the Midlands where, amongst other varied assignments, I was responsible for all artwork on three series of the award winning "Spitting Image". This was followed by seven years running a graphic design consultancy in Glasgow before I finally realised my life long ambition to work as a full time artist and to paint and illustrate for a living.

Artist's Exhibitions

Since setting up my Ayrshire studio in 1996, I have exhibited regularly at numerous galleries and joint exhibitions including the Royal Glasgow Institute and Paisley Art Institute and have held solo exhibitions at the Maclaurin Art Gallery in Ayr, the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock, The Untitled Gallery in Hampstead, London and the Annan Gallery in Glasgow.

I feel privileged to have been asked to carry out many private and corporate commissions, including work for Motherwell Bridge, the new National Museum of Scotland, Historic Scotland, Reader's Digest and the Forestry Commission. In 2007 I was honoured to be approached by the three Ayrshire Councils to paint a portrait of the retiring Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire and Arran, Major Sir Richard Henderson KCVO TD and, more recently, being commissioned by East Ayrshire Council to paint Dumfries House as a 60th birthday gift to HRH Prince Charles. My work over the years has gone far afield and is held in collections as far away as the USA and Australia.

Some of my paintings and drawings have also been published as fine art prints and greeting cards by international publishers and some of the work featuring black and white musical instruments was bought by the Sydney Opera House in Australia. I have also found time to write and illustrate a book on how to draw called ESSENTIAL DRAWING SKILLS and you'll find full details of this and how to buy it online here.

Scottish Landscapes and Seascapes

The West coast of Scotland - with its ever changing sea and sky - has always been a great source of inspiration to me as an artist and I am grateful to the galleries throughout Scotland which exhibit and sell my original work and prints.

Artist's Gallery 2

Artist's Work - Finnieston Crane, Glasgow 14 x 14 ins. Oil Artist's Work - Glasgow School of Art 15 x 15 ins. Oil

Artist's Work - Evening Light, Ayr 10 x 25 ins. Oil

Artist's Work - Fading Light, Arran 8 x 20 ins. Oil

Artist's Work - Towards Edinburgh Castle 10 x 16 ins. Oil Artist's Work - Resting Gull 6 x 6 ins. Oil Artist's Work - Rusty Winch 16 x 16 ins. Graphite 

This gallery of my paintings and illustrations includes (from left to right).

Have a look at the prints of my oil paintings and illlustrations or contact me if you are interested in commissioning a painting.