64 Artists & Illustrators
DEVELOPING PHOTOS
hands on shoulders or they’re facing the other way. I want
you to stop, catch a glimpse of someone and then you’re
gone, so it’s this feeling of passing through the picture.”
“I will always have the original photo there and then I’ll
take it away,” she adds. “Sometimes I’ll get too excited and
push it too much. I remember getting so excited about the
sky in one painting that I actually painted a guy’s head out!”
Aside from the mysterious figures, it is the settings for
Anne’s paintings that also lend them that almost cinematic
atmosphere. Again they will often be inspired by a real
experience – roaming the Kerry coastline by moonlight or
taking a night-drive home through the Sussex fields – but
then that memory or sensation will be matched to a
reference photo, often drawn from vintage travel albums.
“I love this old book of Spain,” she says, reaching for the
shelf. “The depth of the darks on the photos, the way it fills
in. You get a sense of light and drama. It reminds me of a
Sally Mann photograph, it’s magic.”
Her paintings mirror that distinctive finish, a rich, chalky
quality akin to an old fibre-based print. “I don’t like sharp
edges,” says Anne, by way of explanation. “I like things a
little bit hazy and I’m trying to get a bit more movement
into it. I want to feel when I’m painting that it is almost like
I am working in charcoal. I want it to be totally matt, almost
like you want to touch it. I use oils that dry very quickly,
because they give texture so there’s a drybrush feel to it
after a while. It’s really important and I don’t know why.
As I get older, I feel free as a painter to just obsess about
the things I obsess about.”
And perhaps, this is one of the crucial points about
the way in which Anne develops her ideas: she is not
only interested in the subjects of a photo, but also the
overall look of the medium itself. It is fitting then that her
paintings emerge in much the same way as a traditional
film photograph: beginning meditatively, slowly pulling into
focus, and eventually revealing themselves to the world
like darkroom print in the developing tray.
A Sense of Someone runs from 17 October to 9 November at
John Martin Gallery, London W1. http://www.annemagill.comABOVE On the
Breeze, acrylic on
panel, 40x50cm
LEFT A collection of
found photos Anne
bought on eBay
BELOW LEFT
A spread from
Anne’s vintage
Spain travel book