Since the early 1960s David Shepherd has been internationally recognized as a wildlife artist. However, despite all of his fame that he has received from painting some of the most lifelike paintings of both marine life and wildlife in general, his painting career did not start out in a glamorous sense.
The funny thing is David Shepherd from the time that he was young had one ambition, and that was to be a game warden. Upon finishing his traditional schooling, he decided to take the path to fulfill his career goals and decided to seek out work for this position in Kenya. However, after being turned down for a career as a game warden, due to his lack of education in that particular field, Shepherd who was at the time 20 years old had to take a different path in his life.
David had painted pictures every now and then, but he never assumed that he could make a career out of it that would benefit him financially. After returning back to his hometown, David had two career choices that he could choose to go into. He decided he could either be an artist or a bus driver.
David decided to send a random bird painting to the Slade School of Fine Arts located in London in order to see if he had what it took to become an artist. The school surprisingly enough turned David down and told him that he had no talent. The school even told David that after reviewing over his work, there was no way that they could teach him to draw anything.
However, after overcoming his disappointment from being rejected for his dream career, David had a chance meeting with Robin Goldwin at a cocktail party. Goldwin was a professional painter, who specialized in painting marine life portraits. Even though he regularly did not take in any students to coach, for some odd reason Goldwin decided to take a gander at the work that David had drawn.
David studied all of the techniques that Goldwin used when painting his elegant pictures, and eventually began to master his craft. The turning point for his career came in 1960, when the Royal Air Force paid Shepherd 25 pounds for one of his alluring paintings. Ever since his first official sale for one of his paintings, the career of David Shepherd has continued to excel.
Presently, official David Shepherd paintings are viewed as collectors items. His paintings are sold all across the world, and one is not be able to obtain one of his luxurious designs for a mere 25 pounds anymore. Regardless of where you reside, or what type of career that you are presently engaged in, chances are that you have probably already feasted your eyes upon a painting that was done by David Shepherd.
The story of his career shows individuals both young and old to never give up on your dreams. There are going to be some people that may tell you that you are not good enough, but stick with your true desires and you will go far.