This ingenious R.A. was a native of Guildford, and the eldest son of Mr.
John Russell, bookseller, of that town. In early youth he evinced a
strong predilection for drawing, and was placed under the tuition of Mr.
Francis Coates, an academician of great talent, after whose decease “he
enjoyed the reputation of being the first artist in crayon painting, in
which he particularly excelled in the delineation of female beauty.” In
1789, Russell was chosen a member of the Royal Academy; and soon after
appointed crayon-painter to the King, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke
of York. Notwithstanding this constant succession of professional
employment, he devoted considerable attention to astronomical pursuits;
and his _Selenographia_, or Model of the Moon, which occupied the whole
of his leisure from the year 1785 until 1797, affords a remarkable
instance of his ingenuity and perseverance. At the time of his decease
he had finished two other drawings, which completed his plan, and
exhibit an elaborate view of the moon in a full state of illumination.
Mr. Russell died at Hull in 1806.