Brewtnall was a British genre, landscape and figure painter and illustrator born in London on 13 October 1846. He studied at the Lambeth School of Art Based in London, Brewtnall worked in both oil and watercolour, exhibiting, from 1868, at the Royal Academy, Society of British Artists, Grosvenor Gallery and the Royal Watercolour Society. He was made a full member of the RWS in 1883. Brewtnall had a particular interest in Folk tales and Ballads which became the subjects of many of his paintings