Site user and mountain artist Jamie Hageman has been painting landscapes for over thirty years, and has made it his living since 2008. His trademark hyper-real style and dramatic subject matter will be familiar to UKC/UKH regulars. So what does it take to produce these images? Here Jamie looks at the long process both on and off the hill that goes into building a finished painting.

I start winter with a meticulously planned list of possible viewpoints to get to, mountains to see and climb and multi-day trips for that immersive experience, all in the name of new painting ideas. However, as usual, various spanners get thrown into the works and now with the snows melting yet again, I am beginning to evaluate another poor season and am looking ahead to a summer of work in the studio with some concern.

What being an artist does give me, though, is the ability to use my imagination to fill in the blanks and make things happen on the canvas that perhaps haven't happened on the hill. I will have to use all my cunning to produce the work I want to this year, and keep busy.  

The thought process is ongoing from start to finish, and things can change quite late on in the painting because of this. I like to keep my options open. But I will only start a painting when I have a pretty clear idea of the kind of image I want to end up with.  

My latest painting, just completed, is of the Ben Nevis plateau from near the top of Number 4 Gully. This shows the cloud burning off and mist sweeping across and down into the shadowy depths below, revealing a pristine ice and rock vista. I'm particularly fond of the glow you get when an opposing sunlit face reflects light onto an otherwise dark and shadowy precipice. Sometimes it's green, sometimes amethyst. Always delightful.

The painting began with sketching up on the mountain and taking plenty of photos to help with getting things looking convincing back in the studio.  

Sketching on the hill is to try to get some of these thoughts on paper quickly, mostly to do with composition and ideas on different angles of a similar scene. This is where I might decide what to include, what to focus on, what to leave out (or cover with clouds!) and how to create a picture that brings everything together in harmony. My sketches are quick ideas, not designed to necessarily look great in their own right. The sketches carry on when I'm back home again as part of the honing process.  

In the mountains, a retractable pencil and A5 sketch pad are the main items, but I've been using watercolours more recently if I want to settle down for a few hours. In the long winter hours in the tent, having watercolours to keep busy is very enjoyable.  

I don't use photos to plan the composition of the painting as I much prefer to do that up in the mountains where everything is exciting and fresh. But I do like to get some accuracy in to areas of my paintings like climbing routes or prominent recognisable features. That's when photos come in handy, though much of the time my brush darts around the canvas purely going on instinct and seemingly not controlled by me!

When I prime my canvases, I purposely leave a nice textured 'tooth' to the gesso primer. This means I can drag the side of a brush across an area resulting in interesting and random shapes and marks - perfect for chaotic rocks, ice formations and heather and grass. From those, I can work them into a believable scene.

More happy accidents (I think that's a Bob Ross term) occur when I use big fluffy makeup brushes to add cloud or blend skies. They don't always give a smooth blend, and some interesting shapes and phenomena can then be worked into a piece. Sometimes these can be very natural looking but otherworldly. I then have to be careful not to do one too many brush strokes and erase them!

One of my trips last month was to the Fannichs to view the very beautiful Sgurr nan Clach Geala. Mountain architecture and composition have to meld together to form a complete idea, so it was with great excitement that I decided to camp high on the north-east ridge, right there immersed in the landscape and hoping for a spectacular sunrise.

It was a wonderful experience and I was in heaven, but I have decided that my painting will be from further back on the slopes of Carn na Criche, my reasoning being that the peak appears at its most elegant with the high hanging coire cradled between rock ridges. This will allow me to add successive layers of aerial perspective looking across the great cliffs, to give depth and atmosphere. The shapely Sgurr nan Each will also feature.  

Living out in the hills, if only for a night or two has become central to my appreciation of mountains. The spiritual connection with the landscape is priceless, and it is that which inspires me as I draw and paint.

Here's the Fannichs painting in early stages of production:

I also like to study maps, visualising the landscape before I even set foot on a mountain and sketching what I might see and what angle/altitude might be best. Here is my impression of Beinn Dearg and Cona Mheall from somewhere across the valley. I'll see how close I am when I finally get there!

My wife and I have chosen to be self-employed and there are certainly aspects of that way of life that are rewarding, but it can be a struggle. We want to give our kids a good upbringing while trying to further our careers and juggle all the other stuff that is life. Painting mountains seems to get more serious and important to me as the years go by. I have so many plans and ideas, my mind is a often a blur. Maybe we'll meet in the hills!

• For more of Jamie's work see: 

jamiehageman.com

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