Self-taught artist and musician Andrew Kinsman sold his first piece of artwork when he was only twelve years old. He has painted commissions for celebrities and royalty alike, and has recorded soundtracks and albums with music novelties such as Noel Gallagher and English Rock Band, Kasabian. Currently spending his time between Italy and South London after years spent in Cambridge, Bath, Bristol and Cyprus, Kinsman continues to practice both art forms passionately, dividing his time equally between the advancement of his musical career and continuing to acquire new and reputable art commissions. 

It was during his formative years as an artist that Kinsman drew inspiration from a collection of books his parents owned entitled Great Artists. Within this collection, he found himself instinctively drawn to landscape painting,  particularly to the works of English Romantic painters John Constable and J.M.W. Turner. He also became interested in the use of symbolism and the incorporation of mythology utilized by the Pre-Raphaelites and the Aesthetes of the 19th century. As his art progressed and his technique became more refined, Kinsman turned his focus towards the 17th century Dutch School; it was within this genre that he found a deep appreciation for intense colour palettes, captured drama, and the realism associated with, and made exceptional by, the Dutch Masters.

 The trait Kinsman finds most captivating, which still influences his painting to this day, is the “ability to create a snapshot of real life”; to be able to paint the surroundings, emotions and thoughts enveloped in a single moment. After his first major exhibition aged twenty-one at The Victoria Art Gallery in Bath, Kinsman abandoned his art completely at twenty-five to focus solely on his music. In the following years, Kinsman devoted himself to the development of his musical talent and education. He began with the saxophone and would eventually learn to play the clarinet, flute and piano as well. Working long hours on an assembly line in a factory, Kinsman would bring his saxophone to work, transforming the cold room into a practice studio during his time off. Eventually he saved enough money to enable him to terminate his contract at the factory and went on to play as many music venues as possible, gracing stages and recording studios in Cyprus, Italy, and throughout the UK. 

As a result of his natural talent, Kinsman went on to build an impressive portfolio, playing and recording with noted bands from the British Pop/Rock scene including The Levellers, The Specials, Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals and Girls Aloud Nadine Coyle. In 2010 he was invited to go on tour with English Rock band Kasabian, completing the horn section with trumpeter and original band member Gary Alesbrook. Kinsman has played at a number of infamous venues including The London Coliseum, Brixton Academy, the Barbican Centre, the V-Festival for 85,000 people to name just a few. He also recently recorded on both Kasabian and Noel Gallagher’s new albums. In 2010, Kinsman was featured on the soundtrack of London Boulevard, a film starring Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley, and Ray Winstone in which he recorded the theme song, ‘The Green Fairy,’ with Kasabian. Eventually, it became apparent that Kinsman could no longer suppress his artwork for his music, realizing the necessity of both creative outlets in his life. 

He took up painting again, completing commissions for His Highness Sheik Mohammed, Sultan Al Thani of Qatar, American actor, Rolf Saxon, and celebrity chef, Eric Lanlard. Following his work for Lanlard,Kinsman was commissioned by London’s Halcyon Gallery in 2011 to paint a distinguished portrait of the Hariri Family, Lebanon’s wealthiest and most powerful ruling family. He was also asked to paint American actress Elisabeth Moss, while she was in London performing Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour, alongside British actress, Keira Knightley. He has been awarded numerous prizes for his artwork including the Holburne Portrait Prize 2006 and 2010 and the RWA Academy Painting Exhibition 2009 and 2010. He was one of thirty-five artists featured on the BBC2 Documentary, “Show Me the Monet” (Episode 7, 2011), and exhibited in May 2011 at the prestigious Royal Academy of Art in London.  

In 2012 Andrew received his biggest and most prestigious commission . He was asked by the Royal Mail to paint a series of eleven stamps to commemorate 150 years of League football. Some of the players featured were Sir Bobby Moore, George Best and Dennis Law to name a few. The series was a huge success and the stamps are still in circulation. He received great notoriety from this with interviews on Sky and BBC news, TV and radio coverage and articles in newspapers and magazines such as Four Four. This was an especially busy time for Andrew as only a few days after completing the paintings he was asked to join Noel Gallagher for his High Flying Birds UK arena tour. 

On the back of this commission Andrew was taken on by ‘Signal’ Gallery in Shoreditch where he did a group show followed by a solo show. The latter was the product of Andrew’s three month relocation to Paris. It was then that he began his bubble series. As Andrew had previously painted works for the Halcyon gallery in London he sent some examples of this new work from Paris to several of their Directors. They loved the new paintings and immediately contacted him and offered him a solo show when he was ready. Kinsman continued to work with Halcyon Gallery and their sister gallery ‘ Castle Fine Art galleries’ which are situated all over the UK for a further 7 years.

 In 2019 Kinsman decided to explore the portrait painting aspect of his art by not only painting the portrait but also adding short films expanding the story of each sitter. He became involved in filming and editing these films himself adding yet another perspective to the way he saw his subject. 

Like the excursion he did to Paris with his bubble collection, he wanted to explore  new terrain and so chose Italy, in particular to follow the Grand Tour, a pilgrimage that artists ( including Turner ) followed. He started in the North in Turin and was going to follow the route South when everything grinded to a halt when Covid hit Italy in February 2020, the country was in complete lockdown. 

Although the Tour was no longer possible this didn’t deter Kinsman, the germ of an idea was born, ‘Painted Lives’. When movement in the world was again possible, he filmed and painted portraits of notable figures in Tuscany including the Earl Gaslini. When he returned to the UK he followed this idea exploring the Life of the actress Sarah Winter who at the time was filming in the BBC drama ‘Versailles’. The film explored the life of  both the actress while simultaneous looking at the life of the character she played in the drama, Louise De La Valliere. The film shows the final painted portrait being unveiled in the beautiful surroundings of the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath. 

‘Painted Lives’ was born and completely changed the way Kinsman saw portrait painting. gaining more commissions throughout the following few years from more eminent sports figures including Professional Football player Ian Poveda, Olympic Gold medal winner Carl Hester and Olympic champion showjumper Joe Stockdale. He also gained a series of commissions from the Earl and Countess of Shaftesbury, these included a portrait of the couple, Individual portraits of their children which are now hanging next to their existing portraits, some painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. The biggest commission however was to paint two three meter murals in the main entrance of their stately home St Giles. This saw Kinsman returning to his early influences of landscape paintings of the 18th Century whereby he created two large paneled landscapes in the style of 17th and 18th century Italian Landscape painters and added elements of the Earls own twenty five thousand acre estate. The influences of his Grand Tour studying Italian art with the beauty of the English countryside. These panels are now a prominent feature in their home. 

In 2023 after painting the portrait of Carl Hester and his Horse Uthopia that won him gold at the 2012 Olympics in London, He was asked to make a separate study of Uthopia that would be auctioned off for the  ‘Lady Joseph Trust’. This study was signed by both Carl and Kinsman and sold immediately.  

This influenced Kinsman to raise more money for charities through his artwork. As he’d previously played for the ‘Teenage Cancer Trust’ concerts with both Kasabian and Noel Gallagher he thought this charity a great place to start. The works would be three meter canvases ( as he’d so enjoyed painting on this scale with the murals)  of the many musical legends and celebrities Kinsman had worked with and was in contact with to make this auction something really special. He also chose a new medium for the first time using Acrylic paint. This medium allowed kinsman to utilize more fluorescent pigments with faster drying times. The list of celebrities is ongoing but the final exhibition promises to be an incredible event as well as huge fundraising project for the Trust.