A native of Staffordshire, England, Phil works locally from his home as a freelance illustrator and artist.

Through early adolescence to late teens Phil developed a fascination with historical battles and armies, coupled with the desire and an increasing ability to put down his thoughts and ideas in sketches and drawings. After leaving school it was a natural developement for him to pursue a career as an artist

Phil chose to study for a Higher National Diploma in Graphic Design & Illustration and during his studies, and a little to the surprise of his tutors, developed a skill base in traditional mediums, working in oils, inks and fine detail pencil. His choice of traditional mediums stems from his strongly held view that they allow an artist to portray real expression and spontaneity within a piece of work

During his development as an artist Phil expanded his battlefield interest to include the soldier 'away from the field' - that is to say, the real person behind the shield wall. This focus on the reality of the individual has remained with him throughout his career development and is the driving force behind his artwork

Phil’s aim is to breathe life into subjects long dead, to show the historic soldier in his element, both on the field and off. With history as the motivating subject behind his work, each project is taken as an opportunity to explore the rich past of our ancestors and offer up a glimpse of how these individuals really behaved.

Inspired by this rich history and the study of the figure, Phil works strongly out of his sketchbooks both in the studio & on location, with the belief that his artwork should be supported by an ongoing study of life in general that never stops. As a result of this, his canvases encompass a sensible mix of artefact reference coupled with drawings undertaken down at the local pub!

To date, Phil has produced commissions ranging from line studies of soldiers to oil portraiture and his work has been exhibited in a number of galleries and shows

Although his main focus is illustration, Phil often appears at art shows and in collaboration with other artists presenting work available in print and he is always looking for new ideas and challenges

Through the launch in autumn 2007 of his personal website Phil's goal is to present his work to a larger audience and further expand his artistic endeavours and achievements