Bio
Painting majestic sailing ships of the past, with a full set of sails in a running sea with dark clouds gathering, is a challenge not for the faint hearted. However, the thrill of bringing it all together on a canvas can be nearly as exciting as having been there.
Alan Sanders is NZ artist and oil painter specialising in ocean art paintings, seascapes, and sailing ship art. His large oil paintings of ships at sea feature traditional sailing windjammers are highly detailed and evoke the atmosphere and adventure of another era, while his racing and classic yachts capture the joy and excitement of water sports today.
Alan is especially interested in the stories behind the vessels he paints. His large clipper ships, in particular, remind us of the significance of the sailing vessel as an essential part of New Zealand’s and Australia’s early history. These ships carry the stories of officers and sailors who braved the elements to bring pioneering men, women, and children to a new life in the Antipodes—“stories of courage, hardship and seamanship.”
The ships that came to New Zealand and Australia had appropriate names like: Marlborough, Waimate, Waitangi, Invercargill, Waikato, and are an important part of the New Zealand story.
Alan has been inspired by watercolourist J. Spurling, who illustrated a number of books on clipper ships written by Basil Lubbock. These great illustrations capture the many ships that plied the waters between the UK, New Zealand and Australia with wonderful stories that tell their histories and final fates. Nearly all of Spurling's original illustrations were lost during the blitz of London in World War 2, but Alan has used some of the smaller illustrations as a starting point for his large oil paintings.
I have painted them in a much looser and atmospheric style, with my own interpretation of the sea and skies, to appeal to a more contemporary market.
Currently based in Auckland, Alan's former career was in the graphic design and advertising industry. He is a life member of the Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ) and a founding committee member of the 'Best' Graphic Design Awards. Alan retired from the design industry and is now able to concentrate on his main love of nautical canvas art.