Keith Siddle is a world renowned painter of Koi, a fine art trade guild member and has exhibited all over the world including being invited to visit Japan's top Koi breeders in Niigata. With such a reputation, it is surprising to learn that Keith is a self-taught artist and only began specialising in the study of fish as an art form in 1992.
Initially, Keith drew his inspiration from the inherent, vivid beauty of colour and movement found in nature and he soon developed a style of outstanding vibrancy and realism. However, he soon found himself drawn to the power, grace and infinite colour variations of Koi and decided to specialise. It is through this medium that Keith's reputation has grown rapidly, establishing him as one of the world's top Koi artists.
Often taking months to complete, each painting Keith produces is the result of a long, detailed process, involving considerable research and dedication. His imagery combines the painting of anatomically correct fish - each scale is hand-embossed then painted seven or eight times to produce a three-dimensional effect - with either realistic or abstract backgrounds, creating a totally contemporary and dynamic look that enhances the power, grace, movement and colour of Koi.
Keith notes a number of artistic influences including: the painting techniques of contemporary British artist Terrance Warren; the Japanese woodblack prints of Utagawa Hiroshige, Katsushika Hokusia and Utagawa Kuniyoshi; the draughtsmanship of Herge (George Remi), creator of Tin Tin; the passion of Van Gogh's paintings, and the detailed precision of 20th Century American artists Norman Rockwell and Bev Doolittle. However, it is through his diving that Keith is continually drawn to develop and push the boundaries of his work… and what better way can there be for a painter so inspired by fish than to learn from the very medium he tries to capture in his paintings?
Keith was very privileged to be invited to work as Artist in Residence at The Deep, Hull's £45.5 million Millennium Commission lottery project and the only Submarium in the UK.
Keith's world-wide reputation is fully justified. Whether exhibiting at shows internationally and in the UK, visiting aquarium centres, diving, producing large original paintings and one-off commissions or writing articles for Japanese, American, German and British publications, he is forever striving to learn more not only about the very things he paints, but also the people he paints for. And as his paintings justifiably show, he is an artist through which all of his experiences and passions for his medium are captured in the beauty of his work.
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 Crab and Asparagus |
 Gebtly Quietly |
 Hello |
 Triple Ascent |
 Devoted |
 Domino |
 Peppers, crabs and Oysters |
 Regal 1 |
 Two Prawns |
acrylic on canvas & intaglio prints
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