Battling the Elements

I had quite a battle with this one - 50 mph winds and frequent blustery showers.
I managed to find a bit of shelter under a low cliff, and worked on a small watercolour block on my knee. Even so, it was difficult to hold the brush steady against the wind.

Onshore Wind, Crosskirk Bay
Watercolour, 7 x 10 inches

Big Rollers at Dounreay

I was painting near Dounreay Nuclear Power Station the other day and there were some big waves. Every so often two or three very big ones would come in, with foaming crests and wind-blown spray.
It was a challenging subject and I could only do it by carefully watching for a while, and then quickly getting an impression down on the paper.
Looking at the finished painting, it occurs to me that something profound could probably be said about the contrast between the power of Nature, in the foreground, and the man-made power behind.

Big Rollers at Dounreay

Watercolour, 10 x 14 inches

Standing Tall

Standing Tall

Line-and-Wash, 10 x 14 inches

When I don't have much time for a painting, or the weather is bad, I often use line-and-wash. This has the advantage that I don't have to spend time mixing paint for the darker tones, the ink lines take care of that. For the drawing a pen is useful for convenience, but I like the expressiveness of a brush, so I find that a brush-pen gives me the best of both worlds.
I was on my way to somewhere when I caught site of this structure, which I think is a fertilizer hopper. It was such a striking feature in the flat landscape that I had to do a quick painting of it.