An artist of rare ability, Angus McBride is best remembered for illustrating over one hundred books for Osprey Publishing, a military history specialist.
Angus McBride was born in London in 1931 to Scottish parents. His mother died when he was five, and his father when he was twelve. Upon completion of his schooling, Angus had already decided that he would make a living as an artist. Then, as now, art was not an easy career to break into, and Angus had to start at the bottom. He got a job at a London advertising studio, where he started as a coffee boy. Over the next thirteen years, Angus slowly worked his way up the corporate ladder until he got a position as a designer. It was a valuable apprenticeship, and during that time Angus learned much about the commercial art industry.
In 1951, Angus McBride made a bold move. He immigrated to South Africa, where the cheaper living conditions allowed him to set himself up as an independent commercial artist. Although successful in business, his true achievement in South Africa was the beginnings of a family. He married a young woman named Patricia, and soon the couple were blessed with a son, Ian.
As the years passed, Angus began to feel a need to combine his love of art with his love of history, but such a desire could not be supported by the South African publishing industry. So, in 1961, Angus brought his new family back to England. With his artistic skills continuing to grow, Angus soon found work as a freelance artist, most notably with the magazine Finding Out.
Angus McBride’s biggest break came in the early seventies when he was put in contact with Martin Windrow, the commissioning editor of Osprey Publishing, a small publishing house devoted to thin, illustrated books about military history. This initial meeting resulted in Angus writing and illustrating a book about the Zulu War, which remains in print today.
Quickly, Angus became Osprey Publishing’s most prolific and popular artist. Over the years he painted pictures of every type of fighting man imaginable from Mongols to Buccaneers and Conquistadores to Samurai. With a steady flow of commissions from Osprey and other publishers, the McBride’s felt safe in returning to South Africa.
Angus McBride would spend most of the rest of his life painting in Africa. In 2006, he moved to Ireland to be near to his daughter. Angus McBride passed away in 2007
Information for this article comes from Warriors & Warlords: The Art of Angus McBride, Forward by Martin Windrow, Osprey Publishing 2002 and The Master’s Brush by Angus Konstam from Battlegames Issue 8, 2007
