Our demonstrator was Hillary Scott.
The meeting was held in the Guild Hall, First Congregational Church (middle side door), Sanborn Street, Reading, Wednesday February 11th, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Hillary demonstrated her oil landscape technique.
We have some photographs of the event in case you could not make it there in person.
Hillary always starts her paintings with a Grisaille.
By the time she finishes the underpainting, she has a complete painting.
Here is a closeup of the underpainting.
She did this one using burnt sienna and spirits.
To get her colors correct, she uses color charts
that she made in workshops.
Hillary paints things that she has seen in real life rather than
relying only on photographs. When painting En plein air she makes
small sketches to capture the essence of the scene.
This is the small sketch that she made for the demo painting.
Painting in the sky using thin paint. She has added the warm yellow near
the horizon to tie the painting together.
Hillary uses subtle grays in most of the painting.
Her grays are all muted colors, nut just black and white.
The painting so far, with a small study on the easel.
Hillay points out the sky holes in the trees.
Painting the snow in the middle ground.
It is high key to show the reflections of the sun, but
not so bright as to detract from the sun, which is
the center of interest.
A closer look.
Hillary continued refining the trees to make some of then
recede into the background and others to come forward.
It's looking more like a finished painting.
Working on the trees.
This is the what the painting looked like at the end of the demo.
Hillary Scott (b. 1979) is an academically trained landscape painter from northeast Massachusetts. She earned her BFA from UMass Lowell (2002) in studio art with a concentration in illustration. She illustrated books for many years before making the transition to landscape painting in 2014. Hillary has an affinity for coastal scenes, wetlands, and skies and finds endless inspiration in the beautiful New England landscape. Since she began exhibiting her oil paintings a few years ago she has been accepted into numerous juried shows and won several awards. Her paintings are in private collections worldwide. Most recently she has been recognized as one of PleinAir Magazine's 15 most influential landscape artists on Instagram and took 2nd place in the previous two International Artist Magazine's landscape competitions for her paintings, "Morning Mystique" and "A Dusting of Magic". Hillary is a signature member of the American Tonalist Society, a signature member of Oil Painters of America, a master artist member of Newburyport Art Association and represented by the Todd Bonita Gallery in Portsmouth, NH, Valerie's Gallery in Newburyport, MA, and Martinhouse Gallery in Blowing Rock, NC.
Artist Statement
As a former illustrator, my technique and goals have evolved. I've long admired painters like Maxfield Parrish, who successfully created a perfect balance between realism and fantasy. Thus, the purely magical scenes I once painted have been incorporated into realist images sourced from plein air studies, photos, visits, memory and imagination.
In my latest series of paintings, I strive to capture the fleeting moments of morning and evening light. I'm fascinated by the effect of light on landscapes and attempt to convey a sense of space, season, serenity, and nostalgia. My compositions are designed to evoke an emotional reaction from the viewer; I consider a visceral response from my audience an important measure of success for a painting. Though I consider myself a realist, the minute details of a place are secondary to the mood and lighting they capture.
You can see some of Hillary's work at her website: https://www.hillaryscottfineart.com/