 He studied at the Birmingham Municipal School of Art under Edward R. Taylor (headmaster of the school) and A. J. Gaskin, becoming known in the 1890s as an illustrator in the black-and-white style of the Arts and Crafts movement.He specialised in pen and ink drawings of rural and urban landscapes, old buildings and their interiors, architectural features, and also designed bookplates.New provided illustrations for the English Illustrated Magazine and was commissioned by the Bodley Head publishing house (cofounded by John Lane) to work on critically acclaimed editions of books, such as "The Compleat Angler" by Izaak Walton and "The Natural History of Selborne" by Gilbert White.