Simon Smith
Simon was born in 1960 in Aldershot, England. The son of a military man, and brought up in an era of classic war films such as Zulu and the Battle of Britain, Simon quickly developed an interest in history and the armed forces.
He passed his A level Fine Art exam when still only 15 and after college went onto a Fine Art and Illustration course at Farnham and Reigate Art schools. After graduating with a First, he then went straight into commercial illustration work mostly for books and advertising.
He has been working on a number of military uniform books over the past few years covering subjects from the Roman Army to the armies of WW1. As a break from the commercial work, Simon began painting historical military and aviation canvases and was soon elected a full member of the Guild of Aviation Artists.
Simon has won the Guilds Nockold’s trophy a number of times and last year won both the Cross and Cockade WW1 aviation art award and the Flypast magazine award for excellence in Aviation art.
Simon has always enjoyed meeting the veterans of the second world war, some of whom have kindly signed editions of his prints. On one occasion he was lucky enough to have a ride in a Lancaster with three Dambuster crewmen, all who flew together on that legendary raid.
