Gordon Allen
Though most of the thirty or so books he has illustrated are in the sporting genre, he recently illustrated "A Little History of the United States" for Yale University Press which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
With painting, he loves nothing more than spending the day outside behind the easel and experiencing the world, man-made or natural, in a studied way that is available to few but artists. His etchings are an extension of his illustrating career and are usually done in the studio at more deliberate pace than his plein air work.
Curlew In Flight
Etching and Drypoint
Bird up!
Etching and Drypoint
Gordon Allen
Born in 1954 Gordon Allen grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. His love of hunting and fishing is reflected in his beautiful etchings and oil paintings. Allen began his art career at age twenty when he illustrated his first book. In the next dozen years he went on to illustrate more than twenty books for New York publishers, most of them in the sporting genre. His work has also appeared in Gray’s Sporting Journal, The Atlantic Salmon Journal, Big Sky Journal, Fly Fisherman, Rod and Reel, Sports Afield, Field and Stream and Outdoor Life.
For the last ten or more years, Gordon has been busy with etching and painting and has done less illustrating. He divides his time between etching and painting and is devoted to painting from ‘life’ out of doors. Known as one of the finest printmakers of etchings of sporting scenes in America today, Allen is now establishing a similar quality reputation as a ‘plein air’ oil painter of landscapes, marine scenes, city views and ‘real life’ subjects.
His painting subjects range widely from the urban landscape of Savannah, GA, Maryland’s Eastern shore, to the salmon rivers of Alaska and maritime Canada where he has spent summers for the past several years. His paintings and etchings are now shown in major galleries across the country.
Gordon Allen is dedicated to conservation efforts providing work to raise funds for organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, The Ruffed Grouse Society, and The Atlantic Salmon Foundation.