David More is a Scottish botanical illustrator.
David John More was born on 16 September 1954 in Dingwall, Ross and Cromarty. His mother was from Scalpay in the Outer Hebrides and his father from Wick, Caithness. He was educated at Sidcup School, Kent, then studied art at Orpington College. He worked in the hydrographic service of the Royal Navy and in the cartographic branches of an oil company and of the Department of the Environment, before turning to a career as illustrator.[1] He has been a botanical illustrator for many years,[2] and, as well as his books, has received commissions from institutions such as the BBC, the Oxford University Press, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the World Wildlife Fund, The Walt Disney Company, and the Irish Electricity Board.[1]
Notable books he has illustrated include Trees of North America (1982), with text by Alan Mitchell, the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees with text by John White (originally published as Cassell's Trees of Britain and Northern Europe, 2003), and the Collins Tree Guide: the most complete field guide to the trees of Britain and Europe (2004), with text by Owen Johnson. The first was superseded in 2014 by his two volumes, Trees of Eastern North America (covering 825 native and naturalised trees and taking in northern Canada) and Trees of Western North America (covering 630), both published by Princeton University Press.[3]
He has also contributed artwork for many other books, magazines and posters, including a design for the Natural History Museum in London,[4] has exhibited works at the St Mawes Art Gallery, Cornwall, and has worked as an art instructor.[1]
He works in pastels for botanical illustrations, and in oils for cityscapes and landscapes.