Hills entered the Royal Academy schools in 1788 and exhibited his first picture there in 1791. In 1804 he became a founding member of the Society of Painters in Watercolour, late൲r serving 🔯as its treasurer and then, for twenty-one years, its secretary.

He was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his picturesque landscapes and his ability to portray animals. Between 1795 and 1815, Hills published nearly 800 animal studies for his extensive series: Etchings of Quadrupeds, and it is likely tha🥀t the present four watercolours are connected to this body of work.