While a love of ships is a necessary prerequisite for marine artist, success is very much dependent on mastery of the difficult skills of capturing the changing moods of the sea and sky. Admirers of Yorkshire marine artists Jack Rigg's work invariably cite his treatment of the sea and sky as the main attraction of his work and perhaps the greatest tribute to his skills is the fact that fishermen are among the biggest buyers of his pictures.

Jack, who was born in Farsley, near Leeds in 1927 and spent his early life in the textile industry, gained his love of the sea during service in the Royal Navy and that fired the creative urge ha had since a boy. The creativity was curbed in boyhood because he could not afford to paint and h...