About Samantha Greenhill
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Painting and animals have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, I am equally passionate about both. As a child I volunteered at local stables just to be close to the horses and creativity has always been a form of self expression, relaxation and meditation for me.
I was born in London, grew up in Bournemouth and am now living in Southport in the North West of England; my longstanding dream of becoming a professional wildlife artist has come true and I could not be happier. It is truly wonderful for me to spend hours and hours doing the thing that I love most and being able to gaze into the eyes of a tiger without either of us feeling threatened!
When I paint it is my aim to capture the sheer awe that I feel whenever I look at nature. In my opinion no animal is without beauty and I am constantly amazed and inspired by nature’s pure genius in giving each animal the tools and adaptations to survive in such diverse climates and habitats.
I attempt to depict the very soul and essence of every animal that I paint; it is this sense of connection to the animal that I want to shine through in my work. I believe that animals feel as deeply as humans and I want to capture that, to respect and pay my own personal homage to each of them.
I work in a realistic style, preferring to let each animal speak to the viewer and tell their own tale. I love painting all the little details that make each portrait totally unique to the subject. It is a joy to use highly detailed photographs and to be able to study each animal as it’s not always possible, desirable or sensible for us humans to get too close to a wild animal in their environment. I want to encourage others to take a close up and personal look at the amazing wildlife of our planet, to feel a deeper connection with them and to take an interest in their continued survival and if through my art I can safely narrow the gap between human and animal then I am a happy artist.
My Process
I use meticulously chosen photographs to produce my highly detailed work and I spend many hours searching for the perfect image, from some of the world’s top wildlife photographers. It’s difficult to put my finger on what inspires me about a particular photograph, but it always has to resonate with me on an emotional level and speak to me of the innate characteristics of that particular animal. Usually I just know when I’ve found the one; it can be a look in the animals’ eyes, the light, posture or usually a mix of all these, and sometimes it can be a combination of several images.
Once inspired I make some sketches to confirm my composition before drawing it onto the board. Next I make an ‘under painting’ to get all of the tones and light correct to provide a road map from which the many layers of details emerge. I build those layers to create as much depth and realism to the animal’s fur, feathers and hair textures as possible. I am always experimenting with different tools to create more varied mark making and am constantly striving to improve upon my work and the visual and emotional impact that it creates. The whole process can take up to 100 hours for a large painting.
Take a look at some time-lapse videos below showing Samantha creating these striking paintings from start to finish!
My Materials
Pastels
Over the years I have painted and drawn in many mediums until I discovered pastels and was totally smitten. Having always been obsessed with colour and the way light affects it, I recognised that pastels gave the highest concentration of pigment of all the mediums. It is this sumptuous saturation of colour that I adore, allowing me to recreate the depth of colours and tones that I want. With their softness and blending properties they enable me to describe the many different textures and lighting effects required to depict the wide variety of animals that I want to paint. They are a pure delight to work with and I know that the colours will not change as the painting ages. I find the longevity of pastel painting particularly relevant and satisfying when portraying endangered wildlife.
I use only the highest quality art materials. Predominately I work in Pastels on ‘Pastelmat board’ which is a sanded pastel paper attached to a rigid board. This surface does a wonderful job of holding the many layers of pastel so that spraying with a fixative is unnecessary. All the materials that I use are of archival quality and so once framed all of my paintings will last a lifetime and more.
Charcoal
Although I have worked almost exclusively with pastels for the last seven years I have now added a range of Charcoal paintings to my portfolio. Charcoal is one of the oldest drawing mediums known to man. Cave drawings using it can be found all over the world dating back as far as 28,000 years, showing what a lasting medium it really is!
I have always admired the sensitivity and drama that can be created by a drawing using charcoal and have been inspired by many artists work. Until recently I only used it to work out compositions for larger pastel pieces. While looking back over some old studies I came to realise that these pieces have a power and presence of their own and so I decided to spend some time really experimenting with the medium and found that I loved every minute and the results it produced.
The immediacy of line and the rich tonal values as well as an ability to erase and use negative shapes allows me to capture a real feeling of light and texture within a piece. These dramatic, rich marks create some really expressive paintings that have a timeless elegance and power.
