John Silver (born 1959) was in born in Macclesfield Cheshire, UK. He is a professional artist who is known worldwide for his canine artwork - though he also paints many others subjects including landscapes, equestrian, fantasy, nudes, figurative and street scenes. Silver has more than 100 limited edition prints that have been published by the major publishers over the last 20 years. He also has many self-published prints. His paintings are in many private collections worldwide, including British Royalty and celebrities. His artwork is licensed by the world’s most successful licensing company in the United States. He tends to paint in two distinctly separate styles of a more loose contemporary art style and detailed realism.
Silver is a self-taught artist who knew he wanted to be an artist by the age of five years. He is now an award winning artist who has travelled widely and has attended many art shows and exhibitions as a participant. His style is unique and often comes out naturally without any struggle. Most of his paintings are done using 500-year old techniques. He basically paints a monochromatic or a "Grisaille” underpainting and then glazes the colors over the top. Silver believes these old techniques are still the best and fastest to use with oils. He also regularly uses the Alla Prima technique with oils. He uses this whenever he thinks the paintings call for a “spontaneous” style to convey a fleeting moment or immediacy, as in some of his street scenes. Silver is a member of the Canine Art Guild and the Guild of Erotic artists.