I have been producing aerial landscapes and cityscapes since the mid-1980s when I studied Fine Art at Birmingham Art School. My degree exhibition in 1986 featured an 18ft-long triptych of the industrial Black Country, the factories and coal-burning power stations near Dudley.
My London aerial views are a mixture of reality, but with the unnecessary/uninteresting detail taken out. 80% of the work is as accurate as possible but there's allowance for artistic licence and scale. The research takes me several weeks. I start by getting together as many images from different angles and perspectives as I can of the area that I'm working on. I then visit the area and take photos and notes, writing down key observations: colours, unusual buildings, monuments and other items of interest. I sketch and add notes to remind me of my observations.
Next I roughly sketch out the main drawing. This can take a whole day, involving changes and rubbing out until I'm happy with the composition. I then work on the drawing for up to six months, fine-tuning it with the last stages being all the hidden details, i.e. stories, influences. classic cars, people, names or designs on buildings, lorries, vans or boats. This helps to keep the viewer interested. Once they find one hidden unexpected detail they continue to search for others.
Predominantly monochrome, the drawings also often feature occasional elements of colour for contrast and depth enhancement. These small splashes of colour help the viewer's eye move around the artwork. The red iconic Routemaster buses represent London and I have special memories associated with them, as my father was a bus driver. I used to sit behind the driver's seat with my mother and sister.
'St Paul's 2024' was commissioned by a lovely woman who works for British Airways. She and her husband saw my Clapham Junction drawing at the Summer Exhibition in 2023 and loved it. The woman asked me to create a surprise drawing for her husband who works close to St Paul's. One of the requests was to add a British Airways 747 on its way to New York — the clients met there and have special memories of NYC. Putting in the 747 was a challenge as I didn't want it to dominate the artwork. I also placed a red apple (i.e. the Big Apple) on the side of a lorry.
As with most artists, my most recent work is my favourite. Hampstead 2025 was finished and signed on 1 Jan 2025. It took almost six months to complete. In reality it is impossible to capture what I have, because Hampstead Heath, Kenwood House and the High Street area and Heath Street face different directions. But the image is still believable and true to Hampstead. I also added in the Holly Bush, Spaniards Inn, Everyman Cinema, Kenwood House and people flying kites on Hampstead Heath and swimming in Hampstead Ponds.
When I was 17 and 18, I met Henry Moore several times. Even at that age I was amazed with how passionate he was. By then he was in his early 80s but was so focused on his work. He showed us his small studio where he was filling and shaping his small stone maquettes. He had rough sketches everywhere and was clearly working out what he wanted to achieve. He took us to the larger studio where assistants worked on scale pieces of the maquettes in polystyrene. From these prototypes the bronze large scale pieces would be produced, and at each stage Moore would tweak and change his ideas until he was happy with the finished product.
As I have matured as an artist I have realised that, like Moore, I enjoy the creative process of making art and working out the challenges along the way more than having a finished piece of work.
Paul Hiles' exhibition London Stories is at Lauderdale House, Highgate, from 5 February-3 March 2025. Entry is free. Check out more of Paul's artworks on his website.
All images © Paul Hiles
