Guy Harvey

Guy Harvey is a marine wildlife artist, scientist, and conservationist who was born in Bad Lippspringe, Germany on September 16, the son of a British Army gunnery officer. He grew up in Jamaica, where his English ancestors had settled in 1664, making him a 10th generation Jamaican of English heritage. As a child, Harvey spent much of his time fishing and exploring nature with his family in the Caribbean, and he vividly remembers his mother hooking a blue marlin that enchanted him with its beauty. His passion for marine life deepened after reading Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” for a school project in 1971, a novel he claims to have read at least 100 times since.
Harvey studied marine biology at Aberdeen University in Scotland, earning a first class honors degree in 1977 and later obtaining a doctorate in fisheries management at the University of the West Indies in 1986. While studying, the self-taught artist supplemented his income by selling artwork. In 1985, a successful solo exhibition featuring 44 original drawings based on “The Old Man and the Sea” launched his art career. By 1988, Harvey had become one of the world’s top saltwater game fish artists.
Harvey’s artwork focuses on realistic portrayals of warm water marine animals in their natural habitats, from sea turtles and dolphins to whale sharks and his favorite subject, the marlin. He began with pen-and-ink drawings using stippling and cross-hatching techniques, later expanding to watercolors, oil, and acrylic. His murals can be found at Fort Lauderdale Airport and Nova Southeastern University in Florida. Harvey is represented by Park West Gallery and continues working as an artist, scientist, conservationist, diver, and angler from his studio in Grand Cayman.