author
Frank Howard
1805–1866
A British painter, illustrator, and art writer of the early Victorian period, he turned Shakespeare and other literary subjects into vivid images and practical drawing books. His work links studio training with the wider 19th-century effort to make art more accessible to students and general readers.
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About the author
Born in London around 1805, he was the son of the artist Henry Howard and trained both with his father and at the Royal Academy. He also worked as an assistant to Sir Thomas Lawrence, giving him a strong grounding in academic art at an early stage of his career.
He exhibited works at the British Institution and the Royal Academy, often choosing literary and historical themes, especially scenes from Shakespeare. Alongside painting and illustration, he wrote and produced instructional books on drawing, including The Science of Drawing and The Sketcher's Manual, which show his interest in teaching art as well as making it.
He died in Liverpool in 1866. Although he is less widely known today than some of his contemporaries, his career stands out for combining painting, printmaking, and art instruction in a way that helped bring artistic ideas to a broader public.