Meet the Morley graduate turned artist now painting for Leeds United star Georginio Rutter

After starting painting as a young child, 21-year-old Oliver Appleyard thought he had left his paints and brushes behind after becoming disillusioned during his later years studying the subject in school. Later switching out art for history and going on to gain a university degree in Economics.

But when 2020 and Covid-19 reared its ugly head, Oliver, like many, suddenly found himself with a new amount of time on his hands and it inspired him to once again start using his talents.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Oliver said: “I did it during school but then I stopped at GCSE as the teachers were sorting of making me do things I didn’t want to do and follow different styles. I switched it out for history at A Level, intending to carry it on at the side and she said ‘no you won’t, you won’t have time’ so that was a real motivating factor going into lockdown when I had a lot of spare time on my hands.

"I thought ‘I can really make something of this now’ and at first I sold them all to my friends, so I think each of my friends has one from when I first started but now I’m selling to big hotel chains, peoples parents so it’s really taking off.”

An avid Leeds United fan, Oliver contacted the current playing squad in the hope of doing a painting and was excited when French forward Georginio Rutter, who signed from Hoffenheim for a club-record fee in January, requested a specialised painting to hang in his home gym.

He said: “I messaged the first 11 on Instagram as I was hoping for a bit of exposure as an artist and I’m a Leeds fan so thought it would be quite cool to meet a player. So he replied saying the type of painting he would like and I said I would do it for free as it doesn’t take very long.

"Once complete he loved it. He came round to my house and I showed him around, where I did all the painting in my garage and he really loved the style of it.”

Oliver explained that from commissions it takes about three days of working five hours a day to get a piece of art work finished, and he is now getting into digital art, including designing for clothing brands. His ultimate dream is to collate a large enough selection of works to host his own art show.

Adding: “I’m taking commissions currently for personalised paintings so say someone supports Leeds United, their favourite film is Shawshank Redemption and their favourite drink Peroni then I can smash that all into one painting in my style."

Recently completing a piece of work for the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica, Oliver auctioned off one of his pieces for Movember, raising £800 in a raffle.