David Shepherd was an internationally renowned wildlife artist and conservationist. He utilised his success as an artist to raise awareness and funds for wildlife conservation and founded the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation in 1984. The DSWF continues to support conservation initiatives in Africa and Asia, fighting wildlife crime and defending the endangered animals which inspired and motivated Shepherd.
Further to wildlife, David Shepherd painted landscapes, aircraft, steam locomotives, and portraits. In 1969 he was commissioned to paint Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
In 1971 he was awarded an Honorary Degree in Fine Arts by the Pratt Institute in New York and, in 1973, the Order of the Golden Ark by HRH The Prince of The Netherlands for his services to conservation. He was made a Member of Honour of the World Wide Fund for Nature in 1979 and in the same year Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II presented him with the Order of the British Empire for his services to wildlife conservation. In 1986 David Shepherd was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and in 1988, President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia awarded him with the Order of Distinguished Service. In 2008 he revisited Buckingham Palace to receive his CBE.
David Shepherd held his first one-man show at the Tryon Gallery in 1962 and continued to be represented by the gallery before a hugely successful final show in 2014.