Born in Bristol, Penny was trained as an artist at the Bath College of Art and then the Royal West of England Academy. He first worked as an engraver for a printing company and then traveled to Hong Kong with the Royal Tank Regiment as an army illustrator. Here, Penny won a six-months’ study with a Chinese watercolor master, gaining the oriental flavor that characterizes the unusual backgrounds for his bird pictures. Watercolor is his only medium, and he works from hours of observation of his subjects.