Hazel Soan is a British artist best known for her expressive watercolours. In her work, she combines technical precision with a keen sense of light, atmosphere and human presence – often inspired by travel, everyday scenes and encounters. As a lecturer and author, she shares her knowledge worldwide in workshops and publications and is considered a defining voice in contemporary watercolour painting.
Your enthusiasm for Schmincke – 10 questions for Hazel
What’s your name, where are you from?
Hazel Soan, I am British and live in London, with studios in London and Cape Town
Since when and in which techniques do you mainly work?
I am known best for watercolour painting, which I have pursued since Art College and am known for my rich wet into wet technique which focusses on creating paintings with the minimum number of pigments and layers possible. I also paint in Oils, and sometimes, but rarely, in acrylics.
Do you have favourite themes? What inspires you?
I live through my eyes and am drawn to paint the things that attract my immediate attention: these are usually patterns of light and shade, contrasting values, subtle and strong, interesting shapes within these patterns and the presence of movement. Many subjects act as my inspiration, therefore, and I travel widely, always on alert. Thankfully, my eyes are never ‘off duty’, except when asleep, so I always have more things to paint than the time to paint them! I paint a lot of African subject matter, particularly wildlife in remote places, but I also love painting people, everywhere - on beaches, in cities, in silhouette, and especially in groups, where the pattern created by the figures, their shadows and the gaps between them become a means to suggest context and narrative.
And where do you prefer to paint?
Preferably in warm sunny places with a strong clear light, en plein air and in my studio.
Do you still remember your first Schmincke colour?
It was a whole set of colours, but I think the first ones I used were Prussian Blue, Yellow Raw Ochre, Indian Yellow, Burnt Sienna (there was no Transparent Sienna then!) Ultramarine Finest and Mauve (Schmincke Violet was called Mauve in those days!)
What are your favourite colours (name, number)?
‘Favourite’ may be the wrong adjective, because I love many Schmincke Horadam watercolours with equal passion (whichever one I am using is my ‘favourite’ at that moment!) but the warm and cool blues that work for me on a regular basis and that I would not want to be without, are Ultramarine Finest 494 and Prussian Blue 492 . For yellow I love the warmth of Indian Yellow 220 and the coolness and slight opacity of Aureolin 208 , and with the Earths I will always want Yellow Raw Ochre 656, Raw Umber 667, and Transparent Sienna 653, and I never want to be without the wonderful single pigment secondary colour, Schmincke Violet 476.
And what is special about them?
Horadam Watercolours are reliably consistent, whether from the tube or the pan. The transparency and pigment rich intensity of the colours, the ease with which they lift from the pan and the speed with which they dry when the palette is closed, make them perfect in every way. I especially appreciate the numbers of single pigment colours available in the range, a valuable asset for the watercolourist.
How can we learn from you?
I take small groups on painting holidays and trips in Europe and Africa, mainly with Studio56Boutique and Millie Summers Travel; I teach online classes and mentorship programmes for Terracotta, the online Art School, via the Zoom platform; and I hold occasional in-person workshops at my studio in London and other locations.
And where can we see your works?
I have my own studio and Gallery in London at Soan Studio, Crookham Road, Fulham, London SW6 4EG,UK
I exhibit with Dalloz Contemporary, 57Abbeville Rd, Clapham, London
My work can be viewed on my website: www.hazelsoan.com / www.allsoanup.com
