Leisure Painter editor's choice

Meet Barry Hill, the Leisure Painter editor's choice winner for October 2023

Barry Hill Rapeseed on a Walk to the Tipputs, oil on wood panel, (40.5x51cm)

Each month the editors of The Artist and Leisure Painter select their favourite artwork from the Painters Online gallery to feature in the magazines. For Leisure Painter in October 2023 this is Rapeseed on a Walk to the Tipputs by Barry Hill.

Barry’s paintings are often inspired by moments experienced while out walking. Here he describes how a magical moment on a walk near the Tipputs Inn, near Nailsworth, in Gloucestershire, was the inspiration for this glorious rapeseed field, which he painted back in his studio.

‘I have painted since my early 20s, and have lived in Stroud since 1972, but family and a teaching career intervened until retirement, when I began taking my watercolours outdoors to nearby locations. Being self-taught, I felt the need for professional guidance, so I owe much to artist, Julia Christie, whose Garden Studio group I joined in 2008 until she left for Skye.

‘My paintings reflect a keen interest in the natural world and a lifelong love of landscapes in all their varied forms. Most of my work captures scenes from the beautiful hills and valleys around my home area, but I’m also captivated by the drama of the wild, rugged beauty of more remote places, especially the Scottish Highlands and islands. Walking the entire South West Coast path also proved very inspiring and provided a rich source of material.

‘Each composition is planned to create an element of drama heightened by light and space. I prefer studio work as it allows time to explore techniques and effects, so my landscapes are never entirely representational. I now paint mainly in oils, often on 3mm MDF board, which I can cut to any size. I use Winsor & Newton and Jackson’s Artists’ paints, applied with a range of Pro Arte Series A hog brushes. A palette knife may be used to create interesting marks and effects.

‘My paintings are all initially inspired by a magical moment on a good walk, such as here as we neared the Tipputs Inn, near Nailsworth. We’d already sheltered from one storm and now the thunderclouds were darkening as another approached. The rapeseed glowed under the remaining blue sky. Beneath the trees, the path was lined with fresh blooms of cow parsley, my favourite springtime flower.

‘Back in the studio I toyed with the composition, based on photos. It was easy to employ the rule of thirds, which I normally apply to my work. The curve of the path creates depth and leads the eye around the scene. Having determined the shape and size for a support, I decided to use a wood panel, which I prepared with a coat of white emulsion and two coats of gesso, before applying a watery yellow ochre acrylic wash. I often draw a basic grid to help sketch a quick outline, but the simplicity of this scene meant that wasn’t needed, so I quickly drew the scene with a small round brush loaded with burnt umber thinned with Gamsol, an alternative I prefer to turpentine.

‘Thin mixtures of ultramarine and burnt umber were laid in to establish the tones. With a limited palette of ultramarine, cadmium yellows (medium and pale), yellow ochre, raw sienna, burnt umber, raw umber and titanium white, the painting then developed in layers starting with thin colour washes to build up the underpainting and to further develop tonal contrasts. I like to complete the sky first as it can establish mood early on. For the rapeseed it was important to give an impression of the darker greenish tones beneath the yellow flowers. I always mix vegetation greens from blues and yellows, in varying proportions, to encourage harmony. Final layers may be applied with some Michael Harding oil paint medium.’

See more from Barry in the gallery by

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