David Gainford was born in South Africa in 1941 and came to England at the age of four.  At an early age, David showed a talent for drawing and won several National competitions and at the age of fourteen won a scholarship to Art School, where his formal studies in life drawing and painting were conducted by John Pisani, a Royal Acadamician and a painter of some renown.
 
From John Pisani, David acquired a thorough understanding of the painting methods of the old masters, and following a period of several years developing and refining these techniques David unashamedly employs that expertise in his own work today.