David Rowlands

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"Military art" can mean the study of combat in a professional sense, see military science for that connotation.

David Rowlands Military artist David Rowlands is one of today's finest and most accurate military artists. His atmospheric oil paintings present a realistic record of the dramatic events of war, and have won him many commissions from the British Army and Royal favour.

David has had a passion for sketching soldiers and their equipment since he was a boy. At school he drew battle scenes of the Napoleonic War in his exercise books, and visited regimental museums where the foundations of his knowledge were laid.

After completing his studies at Manchester University he joined the staff of the Reading Room at the National Army Museum. He began working full-time as a professional artist in 1977.

In 1983 the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers asked him to produce a painting of the Battle of Mons, where the regiment won the first two VCs of the First World War. Many other historical paintings have followed. Recently the Duke of Wellington's Regiment commissioned David’s painting of the Battle of Waterloo which now has pride of place in the Officer’s Mess.

All his paintings involve a huge amount of research into uniforms, equipment, tactics and whenever possible, a visit to the battlefield. He interviews veterans to gain an insight into their experiences and recollections, which help to create paintings of past events which are as accurate as possible.

Following widespread recognition of his work he has been commissioned to record the activities of many regiments in their roles today, and this work has taken him frequently to Northern Ireland, Germany, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Gibraltar, Oman and the Balkans. Joining foot patrols in uniform with soldiers in South Armagh and West Belfast he considers vital in order to feel first-hand the atmosphere and tension which he wishes to impart to his paintings.

In 1987 David had his first portrait sitting with Her Majesty The Queen.

Other portraits of members of the Royal Family have followed, and subsequently he has produced pictures commissioned by The Royal Collection.

In 1991 David was the only professional artist who was in the theatre of war in the Gulf at the invitation of the British Army

He joined a Warrior crew of 3rd Bn The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in the desert North-West of Kuwait and shared the experience of the soldiers in the front line, travelling across the battlegrounds and sleeping in bivouac alongside the armoured fighting vehicles.

With this eye-witness participation he was able to produce a series of authentic paintings for many of the units involved in the Gulf War, including the Army Air Corps, Headquarters 4th Armoured Brigade and 22 SAS Regiment. His painting of the tanks of 14th/20th King’s Hussars attacking enemy positions was officially unveiled in London by The Princess Royal.

Early in 1993 he was the first artist to visit Bosnia and record the work of British troops at the forefront of Operation Grapple. He travelled extensively and sketched the operations from Split to Vitez and Travnik, taking part in the patrols and missions to bring refugees to safety across the fighting lines

Another visit in 1995, at the invitation of the Multi-national Brigade Headquarters, enabled him to paint the Royal Artillery in action against the Bosnian Serbs around Mount Igman, near Sarajevo. The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps and the French Foreign Legion commissioned him on the spot to paint their activities in the war zone. David has also been commissioned by the SAS to paint a scene commemorating the Regiment’s 50th anniversary.

In June 1999 David accompanied the Army when it entered Kosovo. At the Centenary of the Irish Guards he was presented to The Queen and The Queen Mother for his paintings of the Regiment during that operation. Since then he has accompanied the Army on its operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, being hosted by 7th Armoured Brigade during Operation TELIC in April and May 2003.

In October 2001 David was commissioned by Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) to record Exercise SAIF SAREEA II in Oman, the largest British military exercise for many years. He was asked to complete a set of detailed, eye-witness drawings of all the aspects of the joint exercise, which were then framed and presented to the Omani Forces at its completion. While he was present in Oman, The Sultan’s Special Force (which is trained by the SAS) asked him to accompany them, and commissioned him to paint a picture of their soldiers and vehicles in the desert.

David was invited to Buckingham Palace on 14 November 2002, when the Air Chief Marshal presented his painting “Zero Alpha – Airstrip secure” as a gift to HM The Queen on the occasion of Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee and the 60th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force Regiment.

In 2005, David’s painting of Challenger 2 tanks of B Squadron, The Queen’s Royal Lancers in action in Basra was unveiled by HM The Queen at Catterick. On St Patrick’s Day 2006, David’s painting of the Irish Guards in action in Basra was unveiled by HRH The Princess Royal at Wellington Barracks, London.

In May 2006, David took part in Exercise SHARP POINT in Northern Kenya. Driving in a Land Rover across arduous terrain to the Forward Operating Base near Lake Turkana, the farthest North that British troops have deployed in the country, he sketched medical sections working in the desert and the mountains.