Ralph Shephard

Biography

Ralph Shephard was born in 1954 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK.

He studied Fine Art at Leeds Polytechnic in 1975. Ralph trained to be a teacher, and got his first job in a large comprehensive school teaching art. Whilst he taught during the day, in the evenings he produced his own work, mainly hyper realist drawings. His work was first exhibited in galleries in Bradford and Manchester in 1978.

In 1979 Ralph became a freelance illustrator working in London and later for the Yorkshire Post Newspapers in Leeds for four years. By 1986 he returned to being a freelance artist working for ad agencies and design studios.

In 1998 he set up a design company which specialised in 2-D and 3-D work. However, in more recent years Ralph has returned to painting Fine Art. In 2004 he was made a Fellow of the British Society of Painters, a title held by only twelve other artists in the UK.

Since 2004 his exhibitions have included, The National Society of Painters, The Atrium, Gallery in London, The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Show, ‘The Art of Love’ at The Oxo Tower in London, Face to Face 2, Gracefield Art Centre in Dumfries, Scotland, Leeds Art Gallery Open Show, Holmfirth Art-week, Huddersfield Art Society Open Show, Huddersfield Art Gallery, Leeds Art Gallery Open Show, Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield, Ferens Art Gallery Open Show in Hull and again at Holmfirth Art-week in 2008.