About Keith Proctor
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1961, Keith Proctor's artistic journey began at the age of nine — illustrating his own hand-made book on British birds, already showing the observational eye and quiet dedication that would define a career spanning more than four decades.
Heavily influenced by his father Mark Proctor, a commercial artist, Keith developed an early fluency with line and form that led naturally to a professional life as a full-time artist. His early years were spent mastering wildlife, dogs, horses and the landscapes of the English countryside — building a reputation throughout the northeast that saw his work represented in galleries across the region, with over 100 original paintings in print as a self-publishing artist.
It was the dog portrait that made Keith a household name among collectors. Working first in watercolour and later in oils, he has painted well over 2,000 commissioned dog portraits from life and from photograph — a body of work that stands as a remarkable testament to technical skill and emotional sensitivity.
In time, the countryside gave way to the city. Newcastle's streets, its light, its people — the quiet drama of everyday life — drew Keith toward a new subject: the human figure in urban space. Social studies of ordinary moments, rendered with painterly warmth and honesty.
Then in 2009, everything changed. Keith painted his young son Jack — "Jack the Lad" — in his engine driver's cap, white vest, khaki shorts and black boots. It was, by his own account, a turning point. From that moment, the child became his muse. The paintings that followed — intimate, luminous, full of feeling — caught the attention of Washington Green, and then Demontfort Fine Art, the UK's largest fine art publisher.
Now, having parted ways with his publishers, Keith Proctor is free once more — free to paint what he chooses, and to bring his work directly to galleries and collectors without intermediary. This website is his first dedicated online home, and new works will be added on an ongoing basis.
Original oil paintings and limited edition prints — available direct from the artist.