Painter and draughtsman whose work included Scottish landscapes and seascapes with strong gestural and abstract elements. Hanna was born in Nineveh, northern Iraq, of mixed culture. He spent much of his childhood studying and drawing animals, birds and people. Aged 19, he entered college before being drafted into the Army to serve during the Iraq War. Whilst serving, he was awarded a scholarship by the Ministry of Education, Baghdad, to study art in Britain, in 1983 undertaking art and language courses in Southampton before attending Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, where he gained first-class honours, 1989. He won several awards, including first prize in the Dundee 800 Open Competition; a Hospitalfield Summer Scholarship, Arbroath, 1987, during which he developed his love of the Scottish east coast, with its dramatic scenery and ever-changing weather; and the RSA John Kinross Scholarship, which took him to study in Florence, Italy.