First exhibiting at the Royal Academy at the age of 16, Wardle, by 1938, had exhibited some 113 works there. Equally proficient in several media, he was elected to the Pastel Society in 1911 and The Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours in 1922. Exotic animals at the London Zoo inspired many of his works, but he is perhaps best known for his domestic animals, portraits, many of which hang at the London offices of the Kennel Club and in New York at the American Kennel Club.