Alison Hill - Fine Art

Memories Series - New Painting

2008-04-11T20:04:00.012Z

Anemone
12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

One of the things I'm interested in suggesting in this series is the way our memory creates links between the past and the present. Just like certain smells can instantly transport you back to the past, objects have the same power to evoke another time and place.

Detail of Finished work

Finished Painting

Almost Finished

2008-03-24T22:13:00.003Z

Untitled

16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas

I just have to work on bits of detail but other than that the painting is finished.

Detail

More Progress

2008-03-23T16:50:00.006Z

A little more progess today. I've done more work on the photos, finished all the envelopes and paper in the background and have started to work on the dried flowers - the colour of these may change a little as I continue working.

An Update

2008-03-21T20:17:00.004Z

Today's Progress

New Still Life Painting

2008-03-20T21:51:00.008Z

Possibly A New Series

Hydrangeas are still included in this new still life painting but are no longer the main focus. I liked the idea of combining the faded flowers with old photographs and letters in order to create a feeling of nostalgia. I'm intending to paint the majority of the still life in sepia tones and only add a touch more colour in the hydrangeas. I'm not happy with the blue area underneath the bottom right photograph as the colour is too strong, so I will be toning that area down. I can see this painting becoming the first in a new series, there seem to be many possibilities for some interesting compositions using this subject.

Hydrangea Series - mostly leaves

2008-02-29T20:27:00.010Z

Hydrangea IX

oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches

As I've worked through this series I've found myself drawn more and more to the twisted, dried up leaves so decided to devote at least one of the series to a study of the leaves (although a couple of flower bracts crept in). As the series has progressed I've moved increasingly towards a subdued palette and this one is possibly the most muted of all the paintings.

Hydrangea Series

2008-02-26T18:14:00.008Z

Hydrangea VIII

oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches

Another small painting in the series. With this one I chose to use a very restricted colour scheme in order to create quite a sombre, subdued mood.

Hydrangea VII

2008-02-26T13:19:00.004Z

Hydrangea VII - finished painting

oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches

Detail

Hydrangea VII - Stage One

2008-02-05T21:24:00.000Z

Hydrangea VII - Finished Underpainting

Just an update on the underpainting stage. Once this is dry I'll start to add colour, which I'm intending to keep quite subtle. I'm not sure whether to keep the skeleton flower in the foreground, I think maybe the composition is stronger without it, so that may change in the final painting.

Hydrangea VII

2008-02-02T19:07:00.000Z

Hydrangea VII - Work in Progress

This will be my second large (24 x 36 inches) painting in my Hydrangea series. I'm enjoying the change of scale having just completed three small paintings. I want this one to really capture the faded flowers with their bent stems and twisted leaves. I'm trying to include a little bit of the flower that has so deteriorated that all that remains is a skeleton of the flower, with only the supporting structure of the veins left behind. If I can manage to get that right, I think it will really add to the fragile feeling I'm trying create.

I started with a simple outline drawing then mixed ultramarine and burt sienna with varying quantities of white paint to produce a range of tones. I'm quite a way on with the tonal underpainting and will post the finished underpainting once it's completed.

Hydrangea Series

2007-12-24T14:18:00.001Z

Hydrangea Series - Small Painting Number Three

Another small painting, oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches.

The subjects for this painting are a few very dried up and largely faded hydrangeas which I cut and saved from last winter. I made an attempt in this painting to recreate the faded, almost dusty look and I changed my colour scheme as I progressed in order to achieve this. I also decided to include a flowerhead in the background and try to suggest depth by blurring this background image. The underpainting was produced using a mixture of ultramarine and burnt umber with the addition of varying quantities of white paint.

A Couple of Small Hydrangea Paintings

2007-12-04T15:36:00.002Z

Both paintings are 16 x 12 inches, oil on canvas. I started each painting with my usual underpainting focusing on the main shadows and tonal relationships. I've included photos of the stages in each painting and a couple of detail shots for painting one. I'm particularly interested in the subtle colours evident in the dried flowers but I don't feel I've yet captured the faded fragile look I'm aiming at which no doubt means there will be more to come in this series

Painting One

I struggled to get an accurate photo of this one, the actual painting has more depth than is evident from the photo

Finished Painting

Details

Painting Two

Finished Painting

The final stage consisted of adding glazes here and there to indicate the red tinges.

Both Paintings Together

Summer's End

2007-10-29T22:33:00.001Z

Summer's End

oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches

For this painting I decided to work on a larger scale than I've been used to and I'm now keen to try some more larger paintings as there are advantages to working on this scale, not least that I can more easily add detail.

I returned to one of my favourite subjects, hydrangeas, and in this painting I wanted to focus on the changes from the fresh, vibrant summer flowers through to the faded dried flowerheads (saved from last autumn). I love the way the flowers go through a whole range of colour changes, both when left on the shrub in the garden, and when cut and allowed to slowly dry out. Last years flower heads still have slight touches of blue and pink here and there. I intend adding these subtle touches of colour using glazes later when the paint has dried, but for now here's the painting from the initial underpainting to the final result.

2007-09-10T19:53:00.000Z

Impending Storm

Another painting inspired by the dramatic landscape and changing skies of the Scottish Highlands. The underpainting was completed using burnt sienna mixed with ultramarine and white. Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches.

Melvaig - Finished Oil Painting

2007-09-10T11:59:00.000Z

Melvaig

Here are photos of the progress of the work from the underpainting using burnt umber and white to the finished painting. The work is oil on box canvas, 18 x 24 inches.

Scottish Landscape

2007-08-20T14:05:00.000Z

Melvaig, Wester Ross

This is number one in what I hope will be a series of landscapes inspired by my trip to the Scottish Highlands in July. The first piece is an ink and coloured pencil study of the hillside at Melvaig which is about nine miles from the little town of Gairloch. I'm now in the process of translating that into an oil painting and have so far completed the underpainting using white and burnt umber to create a monochromatic rendering.

Ink and Coloured Pencil, 16 x 12 inches

Oil on Canvas, 24 x 18 inches

Details of Underpainting

Another Portrait - Stage One

2007-07-07T19:25:00.000Z

Isaac

16 x 12 inches, acrylic and oil on canvas. The initial painting was done with very thin acrylic paint, almost like watercolour. When that was dry, I painted a simple tonal image using white and burnt umber oil paint. The next stage will be to introduce colour.

Finished Work

Close up of Detail

New Portrait

2007-06-27T15:49:00.001Z

Portrait of My Dad

This is the first stage of the painting. I started with just a very simple sketch in acrylic before moving on to a tonal painting in oils using white and burnt umber. When this layer is dry I'll start to add colour and hope I don't lose the likeness in the process.

Finished Hydrangea

2007-06-27T15:32:00.001Z

This didn't turn out quite as I'd planned, I intended it too look faded and brown with just subtle touches of colour, but here's the finished piece:

Update

I did a bit more work on this piece to try to get more muted colour in keeping with my original aim.

Work In Progress - More Hydrangeas

2007-05-11T11:25:00.000Z

I think I have a hydrangea fixation.

I saved these two flowerheads from last autumn and I've already painted one still life, Hydrangea II, with these as the subject matter. What I love about these is the way they change from such robust, showy flowers to these delicate, fragile things. I want to show this in my drawing, yet it's this fragility that I find so difficult to capture.

Here's the work so far:

And a detail:

Faded Clematis

2007-04-22T12:17:00.000Z

I've been busy preparing work for an exhibition at the Weekend Gallery in Hastings, East Sussex from May 12 to June 17 2007. I've also managed to complete two new paintings which will be included in the show in May. Here's the first of them.

This work is part of my Winter series, in which I try to impart some of my own feelings about the change in season, with shortening days and diminishing light, and relate this to general feelings about death and decay. I hope by my choices in colour, form and composition to imbue the work with a feeling of melancholy.

Faded Clematis, 15 x 11 ins (38 x 28 cms), ink and coloured pencil on bristol board,

And here are some of my sketches/photos used in preparing the work:

The Visitor Series

2007-02-23T20:27:00.000Z

Since January I've been working on a series of paintings based on the theme of a face distorted through textured glass. I'm really drawn to glass as a subject and will certainly complete more paintings focusing on these sorts of distortions and the abstract qualities of such a subject matter.
Here are the progression pictures for the fourth in the series which I completed today. The other paintings can be viewed on my website.

Hydrangea

2007-02-20T21:32:00.000Z

I was trying to capture the fading beauty of the flowers and the delicate touches of colour as they gradually change from pinks and blues to the dried brown flower heads of winter.

oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches.

Sempervivum

2007-02-20T18:30:00.000Z

I love both the structure and colour of these little plants and have a few different varieties in my garden. Another reason I chose this subject matter was that I enjoyed the contrast between the rich colour and spikey textures of the sempervivum against the smooth, pale, sea-washed pebbles.

This painting is in oils on canvas 16 x 20 inches.

Heuchera - Progression Pictures

2006-09-28T19:56:00.000Z

Oil on canvas, 10 x 14 inches. This study is in preparation for a larger oil painting of the same subject

Finished Study