About
Ellisa Hague
Alla prima & Grisaille Traditional Oil Painter
In one life, Ellisa is a business consultant specialising in Global Organisational Change Management.
In another other life, she has a passion for oil painting.
Both lives are wonderfully fulfilling, each bringing it’s own set of challenges and triumphs.
From an early age, Ellisa was encouraged to be creative and was taught the basics of painting by her mother. Over the years she has continued to paint and in 2018, switched from acrylics to traditional oil paints.
“Oil paints really are beautiful, the creamy consistency, blend-ability and longer drying times give me the results I want.
I knew that using traditional oil paints require a good understanding of mediums and techniques so I spent a long time researching, practicing and finessing different materials and approaches.
Whilst I use both indirect and direct painting techniques, I am increasingly using the more classical Grisaille (indirect) – a monochrome underpainting that focuses on the values before applying colour glazes.”
Why Chiaroscuro?
Pronounced key-ah-ross-score-oh
Using a variety of subjects, Ellisa’s paintings are boldly lit and feature high contrast imagery. She uses the classical Chiaroscuro style to give each piece a dramatic effect, creating strong values of light and dark and often with the subject emerging from the shadows.
“Whilst the Chiaroscuro style is bold, it’s magical too. Everyday items transform into dramatic versions of themselves and with their high contrast and intense values, become immensely interesting to paint.
I love to focus on the details in the spotlight and work on helping the image to emerge from the canvas, the deep shadows being just as important as the light areas. There’s a lot going on in the shadows which, once the eye has adjusted to the darkness, add depth and an element of mystery.”
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