Artist and teacher, who gained a first-class honours degree in painting at Glasgow School of Art, 1976–80, and was highly commended, postgraduate studies diploma there, 1980–1; a Gillies Bequest, RSA Travelling Scholarship and Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Fellowship enabled him to work at San Gimignano, Italy, 1981–3. Among his many awards were first prizes at Castel Vecchio Drawing Competition, San Gimignano, 1982, and 4th Stoke Open, Potteries Museum, Hanley, 1990. Boyd was a senior lecturer in fine art at Staffordshire University. Group exhibitions included John Player Portrait Award at National Portrait Gallery, and RSA Summer Exhibition, both from 1983; Mercury Gallery, 1985; Mappin Open, Mappin Gallery, Sheffield, 1988; Stockport Museum & Art Gallery, 1990; East, Norwich Gallery, 1991; and Far From Perfect Strangers, Real Gallery, New York, America, 1998.