by Norman Arlott Death, Obituary – It was generally agreed upon that Norman Arlott was one of the most proficient bird artists working in Britain at the time. Norman was born in Reading in November of 1947, and he remained a resident of that same town throughout the entirety of his childhood. The city of Reading may be found in Berkshire County. Early on in his career, the late Robert Gillmor, who passed away in 2022, was an advisor and mentor to him. Robert Gillmor passed away in 2022.
Soon after that, he started to build a name for himself thanks to the extraordinary accuracy of his paintings of birds, particularly those that appeared in field guides. These paintings were particularly well known. These paintings were crucial in the establishment of his reputation. The first of his significant books to be made available to the general public was titled A Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa. It was written by John Williams and other people, and it was first made available to the public in the year 1980.
The years that followed saw the publication of a multitude of other guides, such as Rare Birds of the World: A Collins/ICBP Handbook Birds (1989), Birds of Southern Africa: The SASOL Plates Collection with Peter Hayman and Warwick Tarboton (1995), and the Complete Guide to British Wildlife, which received widespread acclaim. During the most recent short period of time, Norman has been focusing the most of his attention on the Collins Field Guide series. He has made contributions to the production of various volumes in this series.
These publications span a variety of locations all over the world, such as South-East Asia and North America, amongst others. He has contributed to the publication of these books. Because of this, the incredible Collins Birds of the World was created, for which Norman was responsible for the planning and painting of more than half of the birds, ensuring that they appeared on each plate in the appropriate proportion to one another. It is exceedingly unlikely that more than one person could have accomplished such a difficult endeavor while maintaining their sense of humor at the same time.
