HOWARD MILTON

Howard Milton tells the tale of his first life drawing lesson at Hammersmith College of Art, under the influential eye of Ruskin Spear. Spotting Milton shyly peering at the model from the back of room, he led him gently to the front, whispering “you can’t draw what you can’t see”. Those first lessons taught him to find the tone, focus and geometry of whatever was in front of him.

Artist's CV

Howard Milton studied painting at the Hammersmith College of Art under the influential portrait painter, Ruskin Spear. But it was Graphic Design at the London College of Printing under the tutelage of Tom Eckersley, creator of many of the UKs most iconic graphic posters, which shaped his career.

Milton came to international prominence during the 1980s UK design boom, building the brand reputations for world’s leading companies. The work and history of his company ‘Alas, Smith & Milton’ was published in 2005. In 2008 he and his partner Jay Smith were recognised for a lifetime’s contribution to British design, in the Design Council’s Prince Philip award for outstanding creativity. But he never stopped painting. And returned to it full time when he moved to Cornwall and taught at Falmouth University of Arts. Milton has become a prolific painter over the past few years capturing the challenge of Cornish village life and the ever changing atmosphere of the coastal weather. Although his favourite subjects, the horse and hound, never stray far from his gaze. Currently Milton is exhibiting in Cornwall at the New Gallery, Portscatho and in London at the Osborne Gallery Studio, Motcomb Street, Belgravia.