About the Artist
In 2019 Ali Bannister won the Society of Art and Artists' 'Artist of the Year Award' in the Animal and Wildlife section and the 'People's Choice Award' in the Jackson's Open Painting Prize.
In 2010, her expert eye and attention to detail landed her the job as the Equine Artistic Advisor on Spielberg's adaptation of War Horse. This involved working on designs for the look of the horses as well as being head of the Equine Hair and Make-Up Department and producing sketches to be used in the film.
This lead to a commission from the author, of War Horse, Michael Morpurgo, to produce an oil painting of the horse 'Joey', to match the description of the painting that appears in the author's note at the beginning of the book.
In 2009 she was commissioned by Ringo Starr to do a portrait for his wife, Bond girl, Barbara Bach, and completed a commission of the legendary dressage stallion, Donnersong, for his owner and breeder, Kate Carter.
England cricketer, Derek Underwood, and the Rt. Hon. The Countess Bathurst are satisfied client and her work hangs in the homes of Frankie Dettori and Andrew Strauss. International commissions include work for clients in America, Australia, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Switzerland and Thailand.
The renderings of a war horse that she produced for the production 'Son et Lumiere' in Chepstow were projected 12 foot high onto the castle walls.
Television appearances include 'The One Show', 'The Alan Titchmarsh Show', 'The Book Show' (Sky Arts) and 'Rudall's Round-Up' on Horse and Country TV.
Radio interviews include BBC Gloucestershire.
In 2008 she was awarded the title of 'International Portrait Artist of the Year' by PictureDraw.
Having studied art and design in both England and New Zealand, Ali Bannister now lives in Gloucestershire . Her work covers a wide range of subjects but she specialises in animals.
"My aim is to produce drawings where the viewer is conscious only of the subject, not of any artistic style. The challenge I set myself is to create an exact likeness which captures the character of the subject. To do this requires a lot of attention to detail; but detail is what I love. I believe that, if a drawing is done well, it can evoke quite a different emotion from a photograph."
Ali sells both originals and prints of her work, and would be pleased to discuss special commissions.