Andrew was born in 1964 and brought up in Edinburgh until his family settled in Cheshire.

Initially he worked as a graphic designer until he returned to college to study for a degree in illustration at John Moores University. As a student he won the Gorstella award for fine art and the Liverpool life painting open. On graduating he was asked to participate in a group show at the Gorstella gallery, Chester and since has mainly worked as a fine artist though he still accepts commissions as an illustrator.

Andrew Hood is an artist who has always achieved what is most important to a painter; that is he retains an individual and distinctive style but continues to push the barriers of his own discoveries. He is constantly progressing and searching for new ways to challenge himself as an artist and as a painter.

To categorise his style of painting one would have to say, contemporary impressionist with elements of expressionism. There is a great animation and a wonderful sense of life throughout his work. A painting of a figure walking in the morning will covey the light and freshness of this time of day though these are far from realist paintings. The ambiance and mood in Andrews work is achieved by making several detailed location sketches, in which he quickly captures the elements: weather, time, colour and atmosphere of the scene.  
When working in his studio apart from the conventional tools such as brushes and pallet knife etc. Andrew will make new implements as he paints using pieces of torn card, sticks, bits of plastic and what ever comes to hand. He will also work on the floor, painting from above, which may have encouraged many of the aerial views that feature in this exhibition.
In this new collection of work we see Andrew take another leap, the work is more expressive; colours are bolder; there is a higher contrast and at times he merges the boundaries of abstraction and realism.
The primary image is some what screened yet encouraged by a ‘Pollock like’ dripping and splashing of paint.  There are calculated layers, firstly washes of warm hues of oil on which rests painted street scenes with figures, façades and bustling traffic and then all of this is wrapped in lively strings and splashes of paint that recreate the freedom of his expressive drawing.  Although the works are busily painted scenes of places full of activity, Andrews graphic design background is evident as the spatial awareness is maintained and the compositions are kept solid and clean.  No line is left un-broken and the works seem to move like the streets they depict.

Robert Hayes 2009