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“Sophie Green’s hyper-real portraits invite the viewer to stand eye to eye with some of the world's most endangered animals.”

- National Geographic

Sophie Green is a contemporary artist, environmentalist and conservationist from the UK, known for her hyper-realistic animal paintings. Green’s work, described by National Geographic as a bridge ‘between photography and reality’, raises awareness for issues surrounding animal welfare and the environment. In an interview with CNN, Green stated that she wanted her artwork to connect people with nature.

Green graduated from the University of Brighton with a first-class bachelor of arts degree and went on to become a full-time artist, after a career in the film and television industries.

Notable highlights of Green’s career include showcasing her artwork at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow and the Houses of Parliament, receiving the medal of excellence from the Artists for Conservation Foundation and featuring heavily in the media for her outspoken views on the use of art in raising awareness for conservation issues. In 2022 & 2023, Green co-hosted the Wildlife Artist of the Year Awards in association with the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation alongside actor Robert Lindsay and has been deemed highly commended in various awards such as; BBC Wildlife People’s Choice Award, Wildlife Artist of the Year, VAO International Emerging Artist, & Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize. Green was the winner of the Leisure Painter People’s Choice award several years running.

CONSERVATION WORK

Throughout her career as a fine artist and since founding the online gallery and art store, Art Basket, Green has raised large sums of money for wildlife & conservation causes, set up a project fund to support conservation projects worldwide and is heavily involved in encouraging future generations in both the art and conservation spheres. Green’s 2022 ‘Impermanence’ collection, which was exhibited at her 2022 solo show at the Oxo Gallery in London, raised £90,000 for conservation projects worldwide and was put into the ‘Impermanence Project Fund’, which was set up by Green to specifically support climate change-focused conservation projects.

Green is an ambassador of The Jane Goodall Institute UK and Helping Rhinos. She has collaborated with charities such as Tusk, IFAW, The Jane Goodall Institute UK, The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, Explorers Against Extinction, Marine Conservation Society and many more. In 2022, Green’s painting of an African elephant, ‘Broken’, sold at auction in New York for $24,000, all of which she donated to community and wildlife conservation projects run by Tusk and ACCF. Later, Green’s painting of ‘Wounda’ the chimpanzee, sold at auction at the Royal Geographical Society in London for $24,000, which was donated to The Jane Goodall Institute.

YOUTH INITIATIVES

Green is heavily involved in encouraging younger generations to take an interest in wildlife and the natural world and sits on the judging panel for several youth art and conservationist awards, such as the Sketch for Survival Junior competition, run by the conservation charity, Explorers Against Extinction. Green previously hosted the International Youth Art Contest, run by IFAW.

“It is impossible to admire the beauty of the natural world without also reflecting on its vulnerability.” - Sophie Green