PAINTING ON THE EDGE

Spear Head, Scrabster

2012-02-20T10:51:00.000Z

Spear Head, Scrabster

Watercolour

18 x 25 cm

More of the wonderful coastal scenery of Caithness. This is just a short distance north of the ferry port of Scrabster, but it could be miles from any human habitation. There are just dramatic cliffs, rock stacks and sea caves, and the ever-present seabirds gliding by effortlessly on the thermal up-currents.

Winter at Loch More

2012-02-08T22:58:00.000Z

Winter at Loch More

Watercolour

18 x 25 cm

On the same day as the previous painting, I also did some sketching. This watercolour was painted from one of those sketches. It was a bit earlier, when the clouds were just beginning to clear, allowing the warm sun to break through.

Winter Afternoon in Strathmore

2012-02-02T22:35:00.000Z

Winter Afternoon in Strathmore

Acrylic

20 x 25 cm

Another acrylic painted using my pochade box. This was a quiet afternoon in Strathmore, at the point where the River Thurso opens out to form Loch Beg. I just finished before the sky clouded over and changed all the colours.

Sunset at Latheronwheel

2012-01-25T22:43:00.000Z

Sunset at Latheronwheel

Acrylic

20 x 25 cm

This winter has been very different from the last two. So far, instead of snow and ice we have been having mostly wet and very windy weather. The other day there were heavy showers of hail and wind gusting at over 60 mph. It was very noisy at home, so I decided to go over to the more sheltered east coast in search of some peace and quiet. I took my pochade box with me and found a good painting spot in the car park at Latheronwheel Harbour. Even at the foot of the hill the wind was still blustery, but using the box I was able to paint from the comfort of my vehicle.

As it happens, with the wind coming off the land, the sea was quite calm and there was nothing else in the subject to indicate the rough conditions. It just looks like a calm sunset!

Sunshine in the Dales

2012-01-12T22:40:00.002Z

Having just painted a large watercolour, I then had a commission for a large acrylic as well. It was also to be on a gallery-wrap canvas, which was something I hadn't tried before.

The brief was for a painting based loosely on a photograph of a Yorkshire Dales landscape. I used to live in that area, so it was a subject I was very familiar with.

Stage 1
I did a few pencil sketches to try out different compositions and then drew the outlines onto the canvas.

Thumbnail sketches

Rough outlines

Stage 2

I started the painting by establishing all the darkest areas.

Stage 2

Stage 3

Then I covered the rest of the canvas with loosely applied paint for the middle-valued areas. The lightest values were left as white canvas.

Stage 3

Stage 4

From this rough groundwork I then continued to build up thicker and stronger colours.

Stage 4

Stage 5

Stage 6

Stage 7

At this point I reassessed the painting and saw a few things that needed changing. The woodland on the hill was too dark in tone, so I scumbled over it with white and a little bit of blue to make it look more distant. The middle-distance fields looked a bit empty, so I added more field boundaries to break up that area more. I also repositioned the barn. In the foreground, I felt that the colours were too bright and the river was too straight. A few glazes took care of the colours and a few stony areas made the river more interesting. The final touches were some birds in the sky and sheep in the fields.

Sunshine in the Dales

Acrylic

51 x 76 cm

Finally, I had to paint the sides of the canvas, so that the painting continued around the edge. I probably should have done that earlier, but I didn't want to stop to take the canvas off the easel.

Reflections of Strathy Point

2011-12-18T11:04:00.000Z

Reflections of Strathy Point

Watercolour

25 x 50 cm

This is the larger commissioned painting that I mentioned recently. It's another view of Strathy Point Lighthouse, but on a calmer day when the sun was shining. On days like that it's nice to wander around the headland among all the rocky outcrops, with wonderful views along the coast in both directions.

The lighthouse has been automated now so there are no longer any lighthouse-keepers living there. The cottages have been sold to private owners. It must be an interesting place to live and maybe a bit frightening sometimes, especially in a storm with 100 mph winds like the one we had recently.

Happy Christmas to all my readers

Another View of The Corr

2011-12-09T11:10:00.001Z

A Caithness Longhouse

Watercolour

18 x 25

Another view of The Corr. This gives an idea of how it was built to be low in profile and hugging the contours of the land. The ridge-line and chimneys really are crooked and indicate why it needs some preservation work urgently.

A Scottish Longhouse

2011-12-09T11:06:00.001Z

The Corr

Watercolour

25 x 35 cm

I came across this old building a while ago. It has a thatched roof and looks very old. A local farmer told me that, until fairly recently, it was live‌d in by two elderly sisters. I have since discovered that it is a very rare example of a surviving longhouse, a type of dwelling once common in Scotland. They were simple buildings with only one or two rooms and an animal byre. The walls were very thick and they were set into the ground to protect them from the wind and the cold.

This one, known as The Corr, is being offered for sale, but at a price of £200,000 I don't know who is going to be interested. I think it will cost a lot to renovate it and there will be a lot of planning restrictions. It really needs a national conservation organisation to take it over.

Stroma

2011-12-05T09:46:00.001Z

Stroma

Watercolour

25 x 35 cm

Stroma is an island just off the north coast of Caithness. At one time it had a small self-contained community, but no-one lives there any more. The abandoned houses can be seen clearly from the mainland, giving the island a ghostly atmosphere. The only inhabitants now are the sheep, which are taken over by boat to graze on the grassy pastures.

This painting was a recent commission. It was for someone who had visited the island and was left with a lasting impression of it.

Strathy Point

2011-11-28T22:43:00.001Z

Strathy Point

Watercolour

25 x 35 cm

Strathy Point lies on a rocky promontory and gives good views of the northern seaboard of Caithness and Sutherland. On a clear day it's possible to see all the way from Dunnet Head, in the east, to Cape Wrath, in the west. This is also a good place for spotting the whales which are often seen off the coast (I never seem to be there at the right time!).

This painting is one of several of mine which will be exhibited at Caithness Horizons throughout December.

Autumn Moorland

2011-11-18T20:22:00.001Z

Peatlands at Stemster

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

Sunny autumn days are so wonderful for painting moorland landscapes. The clear light brings out the colours so much better than the bleaching sunshine of summer. Also, with the sun low in the sky, the features of the landscape throw longer shadows, which create a greater range of tonal values. Unlike the summer, there are no biting insects as well!

A Big View for a Big Painting

2011-11-11T23:42:00.001Z

The Cuillins from Elgol

Watercolour

36 x 51 cm

I have a commission to do which is going to be a half-sheet painting (14 x 20 inches). I haven't painted at this size recently, so I thought I should get some practice. I searched through my sketchbooks for a suitably dramatic subject and chose this famous view of the mountains of Skye. It's a view that's been painted by many artists of the past and it still attracts painters today. It's one of those timeless places where nothing seems to change very much.

Hen Harrier

2011-11-04T22:21:00.000Z

Hen Harrier

Watercolour

18 x 26 cm

Hen Harriers have suffered a lot from persecution in Britain. Their diet of small moorland birds, hasn't endeared them to gamekeepers concerned with maintaining large populations of grouse. We are lucky here in Caithness that this is one of the areas where they still breed, probably helped by the large RSPB Reserve at Forsinard Flows, and another at Broubster Leans. They are a magnificent sight, skimming over the moors looking for prey. The females are a dull brown colour, but the males are pale grey and can look almost white in bright sunlight. This was painted from a sketch I made earlier in the summer.

When Time Stands Still

2011-10-27T10:28:00.001+01:00

The Old Croft at Balavreed

Watercolour

18 x 26 cm

Have you ever found yourself in a place where time seemed to stand still? Where you had no desire to leave and all that seemed important was the present moment. I found myself in a place like that recently. It was a nice day and I went out to the moors. I hadn't intended to go far, but I just kept walking and eventually I came to the remote ruined croft at Balavreed.

The sun was shining and the breeze was gentle and nothing else in the world seemed to matter. The views stretched out in all directions and I just sat and sketched and felt that I could stay there for ever. The moment did pass eventually and I headed for home, but the sketches will always remind me of that perfect time.

The painting has references to time and it's passing: The profile of Morven in the background is a constant feature of the Caithness landscape. Throughout the history of human presence in the area, people must have looked out on the same distinctive, timeless shape. On the other hand, the ruins are now only a memory of where people have lived out their lives. Generations have come and gone and each one has left it's mark, from the Bronze Age to the 20th Century. Few people live out on the moors now, but Morven still stands there unchanging.

Castle Sinclair

2011-10-18T22:05:00.000+01:00

Castle Sinclair

Watercolour

18 x 26 cm

There can't be many castles in Scotland with a more spectacular setting than Castle Sinclair Girnigoe. It seems almost to be part of the cliff that it's perched on. The strange name comes from the fact that it used to be thought that there were two castles. In fact it was just one with a moat and a separate gatehouse. Originally it was known as Girnigoe, but the name was changed in the Seventeenth Century to Castle Sinclair.

Painting Rainbows

2011-10-09T10:25:00.000+01:00

Rainbow in the Strath

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

Rainbows must be one of the hardest things to paint in watercolour, although it ought to be the ideal medium for them. The problem is that it's tempting to try to include all the colours and paint a full arc. The result, more often than not, looks like something from a Walt Disney creation.

The colours in a rainbow have an intangible quality, which needs to be painted with a soft and light touch. Here I dampened the area to be painted and used a wet-in-wet technique. I didn't attempt to paint all the colours I could see, but just used a few of the brighter colours on my palette to hint at them. I also faded out both ends into the background to suggest the fleeting nature of a rainbow.

I was painting this from a sketch and there was one thing that I forgot: If you look carefully, you will see that the sky is always slightly darker outside the curve of a rainbow than it is on the inside. It's only a small point though and I'm probably being too critical. In any case the painting has been sold, so I won't be tempted to fiddle with it!

Painting from a Photograph

2011-09-20T20:28:00.000+01:00

Caroline, at To Regions Solitary, had a photograph that one of her students had lent to her. We were discussing how to paint from it and she suggested seeing what I could do. I don't usually like to use a photograph that I haven't taken. So much of my painting is about my own response to the landscape. However I like a challenge sometimes. As this was a bit of a technical exercise, I thought it might be interesting to explain my working methods.

This was the photograph I had to start with and, as it stands, it wouldn't have made a good painting. The composition is very cramped and unbalanced, and all the colours have an unnatural pinkish hue. I tried to imagine how I might have looked at the view if I had been standing in front of it. Then I made a sketch based on the photograph. This was now a much better basis for a painting.

Materials used

Paper:

1/4 sheet of Saunders Waterford Extra White, 140lb (300gsm) Rough.

Brushes:

Colours (Winsor and Newton Artists' Watercolours):

Manganese Blue (hue)
French Ultramarine Blue
Permanent Rose
Raw Umber
Burnt Sienna

Stage 1

I began by drawing a few lines to indicate the main forms, but not putting in any detail. Too much detail in a drawing can lead to a tight painting which lacks any expression.

Stage 2

I brushed clean water over the whole sky and down over the mountain on the right. Then, using the large wash brush, I painted in the clouds at the top with a mixture of Permanent Rose and French Ultramarine. I continued with a wash of Manganese Blue, brushing it into the clouds and down to the top edge of the mountain. This would leave a hard edge where the sun was reflecting off the snow. In places I carried the wash down over the mountain, where I wanted a softer edge. I also painted the water of the loch at this stage. I added a little Permanent Rose to the wash and painted it over most of the mountain, leaving unpainted paper for the snow, and added French Ultramarine for the darker area at the bottom.

The sky area was still damp and I went back and painted in some shadows on the clouds with a stronger, and drier, mix of French Ultramarine and Permanent Rose.

I covered the foreground with a wash of Raw Umber, leaving a slight gap at the top so that it wouldn't run into the blue of the loch. Burnt Sienna, added to the wet wash in places, gave a bit of variety. I was careful not to paint over the trunks of the trees, which I wanted to leave as white paper. This had all been done as one continuous operation and I now let all these washes dry completely.

Stage 3

Next, I changed to the size 12 brush and started to give a bit more form to the mountain. Where the warm light was catching the snow, I brushed in touches of pale Permanent Rose. Then I mixed French Ultramarine with a little Burnt Sienna and painted all the shadow areas. I added a little water and some Permanent Rose and carried this over the rest of the upper slopes, softening the edges with a damp brush. I made a dry mixture of the same colours and dry-brushed some texture onto the lowers slopes. Next, I used Burnt Sienna, with a little Permanent Rose and French Ultramarine, to paint the lower hill and the band of trees in the middle-distance. I added touches of stronger colour in places to indicate areas of shadow and distant woodland.

While these washes were drying, I painted some darker areas in the foreground, with various mixtures of Raw Umber, French Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna.

Stage 4

I now started working on the trees. I didn't like the space to the left of the main group, so I added a smaller tree in the gap. This also helped to make them seem less isolated. Using the side of the size 12 brush, I painted the smaller branches and twigs just as areas of colour. This was Burnt Sienna with a touch of Permanent Rose. I added French Ultramarine for the shaded areas. The dark undergrowth around the base of the trees was Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine. I also added some indication of foreground detail with touches of Raw Umber or Burnt Sienna.

Sgurr à Mhuilinn

Watercolour

26 x 36 cm

The painting was almost finished now apart from some final touches. Using the size 8 brush, I painted in a few branches and some detail on the trunks of the trees. This was with a dark mixture of French Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna. I felt that a bit of stronger colour was needed, so I put in some Permanent Rose on the trees and in a few places in the foreground. Nothing more needed to be done. There was just enough to give an impression of sunlight on a winter landscape, without any fussiness or overworking.

Although the painting is based on a photograph, it is more about my collective experience of mountain landscapes in winter. Without that knowledge I don't think I could have produced more than a dull copy of the original image.

Sunlight on a Ploughed Field

2011-09-03T10:30:00.000+01:00

Sunlight on a Ploughed Field

Watercolour

18 x 25 cm

This is the kind of simple subject that catches my eye when I'm not really looking for anything. I liked the strong effect of the light on the field and the background hill. I think the blue in the sky could perhaps have been a bit stronger, but it would be risky to do anything about it now and I don't think it's too bad.

Moorland Fire

2011-08-27T21:30:00.000+01:00

Moorland Fire

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

There is a definite feeling of approaching autumn now, with some cooler days and more unsettled weather. It hardly seems any time at all since the spring, when there was a long spell of dry weather and the moors were tinder-dry. There were a number of serious fires at the time and several nature reserves were badly damaged. I think they were mostly caused by accident or carelessness this time, but unfortunately there are people who seem to get satisfaction from starting fires deliberately.

The fire in this painting is of a different kind. Every year between, autumn and spring, shooting estates burn off small patches of moorland to leave a patchwork of heather. This encourages the breeding of grouse, with the old growth providing cover and the new shoots providing food. The operation has to be done very carefully, because fires can easily get out of control, and once the underlying peat starts to burn it can burn for days and is very difficult to put out.

Loch an Ruathair

2011-08-18T22:33:00.000+01:00

Loch an Ruathair

Watercolour

18 x 25 cm

This is another view in the Forsinard area. The loch is on the edge of the Flows at the head of Strath Kildonan.

Forsinard Flows

2011-08-11T23:08:00.004+01:00

Forsinard Flows

Watercolour

18 x 26 cm

One of the best places to find out about the Flow Country is the RSPB's 'Forsinard Flows' nature reserve. This extensive area of peat bog is the nearest we get to true wilderness here in Britain. Large parts of it have been planted with commercial forestry in the past, but the RSPB are working to clear the trees and return the bog to something like its natural state.

Click HERE to see a 40 minute film about The Flow Country and its wildlife.

A Passing Shower

2011-08-07T22:44:00.000+01:00

I was interested in the soft, sinuous lines in this shower cloud, which made it look as though the whole thing was being sucked down into the ground. It was difficult to get the shape of the lines, working wet-into-wet, but I think the overall impression is right.

A Passing Shower

Watercolour

18 x 26 cm

There is an accidental effect in this painting which, once you have seen it, you won't be able to get out of your mind: The white cloud in the centre of the painting looks like a head in profile, The effect is of a figure moving across the sky from right to left, giving the 'Passing Shower' a whole new interpretation.

Haymaking

2011-08-01T22:23:00.000+01:00

Haymaking at Loch Calder

Watercolour

18 x 25 cm

It's that time of year again, when there is a sudden flurry of activity to get the hay in while the weather is good. I was talking to a farmer the other day and there seems to be a lot of skill and judgement involved in hay-making. Apparently, the grass has to lie in the field for a few days after it has been cut, in order to dry out. If it's left too long though it goes off. There is no problem when the weather is fine and settled, but when some days are wet the whole process becomes a gamble: Whether to bale up the hay today, even though it's still a bit damp, or wait until tomorrow and hope that it doesn't rain. Even a bit of fog overnight can spoil things, so in our changeable climate it must be very difficult.

After the Shearing

2011-07-26T23:01:00.000+01:00

After the Shearing

Acrylic

20 x 36 cm

My second outing with the pochade box. This time I dipped my sleeve in some Titanium White! Lesson Two - 'Roll up your sleeves! The box worked well again though.

It was a grey day and I was struggling to find an interesting subject. Then I saw these sheep. They had been shorn recently and, unusually, they actually looked white with their clean wool - brilliant white, in fact, in the cool light.

Trying Out a Pochade Box

2011-07-23T23:39:00.000+01:00

I had an old box for storing photographic transparencies that wasn't being used any more. It was just the right size to make a good pochade box, so I thought I would see what I could do with it. I fitted out the lid to hold two 8 x 10 inch panels, with the base holding the paints and brushes and a palette holding everything in place.

For its first trial I took it out to the same location as the previous post. This time it was raining, so it was an ideal opportunity to see how I would get on painting with the pochade inside my vehicle. It worked very well in the cramped conditions and was very easy to use.

When I had finished I just closed the lid and went home. Later, when I opened the box again, I found a blob of Pthalo Green right in the middle of the painting! I think the wood that I used for the palette was too flexible, so it had got pushed up into the lid. I was using acrylics, so normally it would have been easy to wash the green off. Unfortunately, I was trying out Atelier Interactive acrylics, which can be reactivated when they are touch-dry. Wiping the painting removed some of the paint underneath, so I had to repaint that area.

I think I have solved the palette problem by using a thicker piece of wood. At the moment I am using greaseproof paper taped to the wood for easy cleaning. I have also modified the lid so that I can carry a wet painting face-down, so the surface should be protected. Hopefully that will prevent any future disasters.

The Moorland Road

Acrylic

20 x 26 cm

The Lark Ascending

2011-07-16T23:41:00.003+01:00

The Lark Ascending

Watercolour

26 x 36 cm

There can't be many things more peaceful than painting on the moors, in warm sunshine, with a skylark singing in the sky.

Thanks to Ralph Vaughan Williams for the title, and Bruce Sherman for the inspiration.

"The Lark Ascending" by Ralph Vaughan Williams

Afternoon Twilight

2011-07-14T21:46:00.000+01:00

Sunset and Blue Hills
Acrylic
20 x 26 cm

The necessary consequence of having very long summer days is that winter days are very short. The sun never gets very high in the sky and sets not long after the middle of the afternoon. I sketched this view at 3.30 on the afternoon of Boxing Day, a couple years ago, and made this painting from it recently.

Simmer Dim

2011-07-07T22:55:00.003+01:00

Simmer Dim
Watercolour
26 x 36 cm

At this time of year in these northern latitudes it never gets very dark at night. The sun sets late in the evening and then the afterglow remains throughout the night, until it gradually turns into the sunrise. In Shetland they call this time the 'Simmer Dim'.

An Experiment

2011-06-30T23:15:00.000+01:00

Cliffs at Polouriscaig
Acrylic
20 x 25 cm

I was looking at a piece of hardboard that I'd cut to size for a painting panel. The back seemed to be less rough than usual and I thought "That looks a bit like canvas, I wonder whether I could paint on it", It was worth trying, so I prepared it with two coats of acrylic gesso primer and then coloured it with raw umber.

The surface seemed very similar to a coarse canvas and made rough strokes easy to achieve. However, unlike canvas, the pits in the surface were much deeper. This meant that the paint didn't penetrate so well and dried leaving lots of tiny holes.

I think hardboard could possibly be used in this way for larger paintings, but at this size the texture is too assertive for me. It might have a use for rough sketches, but I think I will continue to use MDF, or possibly canvas on MDF.

On the Ramparts

2011-06-25T10:27:00.000+01:00

On Stob Coire an t-Sneachda

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

This is another view of the edge of the Cairngorms plateau. On this northern side there is a series of deep corries, like the ramparts of a castle surmounted by rocky battlements. The sun barely reaches into these deep places and snow often lies here throughout the summer. Coire an t-Sneachda means 'Corrie of the snow'.

The Hills Which Turned Blue

2011-06-17T23:45:00.000+01:00

Crags on Cairn Lochan
Watercolour
26 x 36 cm

The old name for The Cairngorms range of mountains is 'Am Monadh Ruadh', or The Red Hills. The name probably refers to the pink colour of the granite, which makes them glow red in the setting sun. However, in modern times the whole range has come to be known by the name of one of its mountains, Cairn Gorm.

This has led to an amusing paradox: Cairn Gorm means 'Blue Hill', so The Red Hills have now become The Blue Hills! Also, signs in the National Park are in Gaelic and English, so the mountains are red or blue, depending upon which language is used.

Geology of The Cairngorms

2011-06-13T14:57:00.000+01:00

Below the Fiacaill Ridge, Cairngorm
Watercolour
36 x 26 cm

Around 500 million years ago, in the area which now forms The Cairngorms, a vent in the Earth's crust allowed magma to rise up and collect a few kilometres below the surface. This then cooled and turned into granite. Later movements in the crust formed an uplifting in this area and it became subject to erosion. The softer rocks were gradually worn away, but the harder granite remained, forming an extensive plateau containing some of the highest mountains in Scotland.

Duncansby Head

2011-06-06T21:44:00.001+01:00

Below the Stacks at Duncansby Head

Watercolour

26 x 36 cm

There is a popular sporting challenge, which involves walking or cycling the length of the British mainland. The usual starting point is the rugged coast of Land's End, in Cornwall, in the far south-west. The finishing point is John o' Groats, but it really ought to be Duncansby Head, the most north-easterly point in mainland Britain. However, I believe that Lands End now has a theme park, which must distract from the experience for those who are looking for a sense of natural drama. Fortunately, Duncansby Head is unspoilt, so long may it remain 'Land's End to John o' Groats'!

Geology at Dunnet Head

2011-05-31T23:07:00.000+01:00

Along the Cliffs at Dunnet Head
Watercolour
26 x 36 cm

Another painting of the dramatic cliffs at Dunnet Head, a suitable setting for the most northerly point on the British mainland. The rocks here are sandstones, but there is a surprising variety of colours, from pale greys to red-browns. It was these colours that attracted me to this view.

Sunshine at Sandside Head

2011-05-23T23:13:00.000+01:00

Sunshine at Sandside Head

Watercolour

18 x 26 cm

This was a day of bright sunshine at Sandside Head, when the light was almost dazzling. The cliffs here are topped by an ecologically important area of maritime grassland. There are large numbers of Scottish Primroses, which are only found in the North of Scotland and Orkney. At this time of year the cliffs are alive with breeding seabirds, especially guillemots. It's a wonderful place to sit and relax and get away from cares and worries for a while.

Fog at Dunnet Head

2011-05-19T21:36:00.000+01:00

Fog on the Sea at Dunnet Head

Watercolour

18 x 26 cm

Continuing the theme of cliffs and coastlines, this is Dunnet Head on a day of sunshine and sea-fog. I painted it quickly, and left it a bit rough, to give the impression of shapes constantly appearing and disappearing.

Caves, Geos and Stacks

2011-05-13T21:35:00.000+01:00

Sea-cave at Strathy

Watercolour

26 x 18 cm

Sea-caves are common along the coasts of Caithness and Sutherland. They are the first stage in a dramatic form of coastal erosion. With a straight line of cliffs, the cave gradually gets deeper and eventually the roof falls in. This leaves a deep chasm, which is called a geo in this area. When the cave is on a promontory, the sea eventually breaks through at the back to leave an arch. This then gets eroded until it collapses, leaving a sea stack. All of these features can be seen around the coastline here.

Enjoying the Sunshine

2011-05-08T21:47:00.000+01:00

Enjoying the Sunshine

Acrylic

20 x 25 cm

It's that time of year again and the fields are all full of lambs. The sunny weather of the last few weeks has been perfect for them.

Dragon Rock

2011-05-04T22:51:00.000+01:00

Dragon Rock

Watercolour

26 x 18 cm

I expect that most people enjoy looking for shapes in clouds. I find that my eye is often caught by similar shapes in rocks. I found this one on the cliffs at Holborn Head, near Scrabster. With the green colour, it reminds me of a dragon or sea-serpent. On a more prosaic level, I was struck by the sense of great space behind the foreground crags.

Hoy from Stromness

2011-04-29T22:25:00.001+01:00

Hoy from Stromness

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

The final part of our short journey to Orkney takes us into the approaches to Stromness. These sheltered waters are quiet now, but during both World Wars they must have been very busy. Scapa Flow was an important naval base and there would have been constant movement of ships out to the Atlantic and back. The old concrete bunkers and gun-emplacements can still be seen lining the shore.

Kame of Hoy

2011-04-21T23:01:00.001+01:00

Kame of Hoy

Watercolour

16 x 26 cm

Continuing on our journey to Orkney, we pass around the Kame of Hoy. Here the rampart of sheer cliffs comes to an end and soon the first farms appear, with fields leading down to the coast. We are now entering the Hoy Sound, one of the narrow waterways leading to the sheltered anchorage of Scapa Flow.

St. John's Head, Hoy

2011-04-14T22:37:00.000+01:00

St. John's Head, Hoy

Watercolour

16 x 26 cm

The ferry crossing from Scrabster to Stromness in the Orkney Isles must be one of the finest in the UK. There is the usual excitement of a journey over the sea to an island, but this one also has the bonus of the spectacular cliffs of Hoy. When the tide and sea conditions are right, the ship sails quite close to the coast, giving a good view. The most well-known feature is the sea-stack of The Old Man of Hoy, but surprisingly it is completely overshadowed by the 351m cliffs of St. John's Head, which are the highest in Britain.

Scaraben in Winter

2011-04-01T21:48:00.000+01:00

Scaraben in Winter

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

Unlike the rest of the county, the southern part of Caithness has a few hills and they all have distinctive shapes. Morven is like a great upturned pudding bowl; Maiden Pap, as the name suggests, is conical in shape; Scaraben when seen from the north, as in this painting, has a serpentine ridge like a sleeping dinosaur. I painted this earlier in the year, when there was still snow on the hills and the moors were frozen.

Heading for the Hills

The Castle of Mey

2011-03-28T20:59:00.000+01:00

The Castle of Mey

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

The Castle of Mey is one of the main visitor attractions in Caithness, and closely associated with the late Queen Mother. She bought it in a run-down state shortly after the death of her husband King George VI. Over the years she supervised renovation works and the construction of a garden, which is one of the popular features of the castle. The property is now managed by The Castle of Mey Trust, but HRH Prince Charles maintains the Royal connection by visiting for a few days each year.

For me, the attraction is not the tourist trail, but the solid presence and sense of history of the castle in this bleak northern landscape.

Dunnet Bay

2011-03-20T12:29:00.002Z

Sand Dunes on Dunnet Beach

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

One features of the north coast of Scotland which is maybe not so well-known is the beautiful beaches. There are lots of little sandy coves and a few broad bays and, because of their remoteness, it is unusual to see more than a few people on them. One of the biggest beaches is at Dunnet Bay, in Caithness. It is two miles long, with a large area of sand at low-tide. On windy days lines of big waves crash into the shore, with spray blowing off their tops. The wind has also built some high sand dunes and, behind them is a flatter area of machair-like pasture. This forms the Dunnet Links National Nature Reserve.

Arctic Spring

2011-03-13T09:45:00.000Z

Arctic Spring

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

Spring is slow to arrive, in these northern latitudes, and there are often a few false-starts before it becomes fully established. The snow is slow to melt in the deeper hollows and shady places, giving the landscape the appearance of Arctic tundra.

As I write this, the daffodils have started flowering and there is frog spawn in the ponds, but we have had more snow and everywhere is white again.

The End of the Road

2011-03-06T10:05:00.002Z

The End of the Road

Watercolour

16 x 26 cm

This is another abandoned farm, although it isn't a ruin and the barns and fields still seem to be used. It lies at the head of Dunbeath Strath (a "strath" being the name for a valley in this area). A rough stone track leads up to it, from the village on the coast, and goes on to a few fishing huts. There are a few ruins and small fields along the way, but the landscape becomes increasingly wilder. Beyond the farm there is just a vast area of moorland and bogs, with a few small lochs. The transition seems quite sudden: on one side there are walls and buildings with sheep grazing, while on the other there is wilderness.

Peat Workings

2011-02-28T09:55:00.002Z

Peat Workings

Watercolour

25 x 35 cm

Peat bogs are common throughout Northern Scotland. They are are formed when the ground is wet and plants, especially mosses, don't decay fully. Instead they form layers of dark fibrous material, at a rate of about 1mm per year, to a depth of as much as 4m. In geological terms peat is the first stage in the formation of coal.

Since ancient times, people have dug up and burned peat to heat their houses and this small-scale use has generally been sustainable. However, in some parts of Britain and Ireland large scale operations, extracting peat for use in gardening products, have resulted in extensive damage to sensitive environments. Large areas have been stripped bare and the peat will take thousands of years to build up again. Fortunately, although there has been some commercial digging in Caithness in the past, it has been for fuel and the area involved is small.

When small areas are cut there is little damage and there can even be benefits for wildlife. The holes that are left fill up with water and form pools, forming a habitat for amphibians, and aquatic plants and insects.

Gone Forever

2011-02-17T21:51:00.001Z

On the Hill at Latheron

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

I think I have written before about abandoned farms. Wherever you go in Caithness and Sutherland you will find these ruined houses, even in the most remote places. The people who lived in them must have been tough and self-sufficient, but they also had a strong community spirit. Their descendants are still around today and they keep their history alive through stories of the old times.

It's sad to come across these ruins and think about the generations of people who have lived in them. To think about the family homes now crumbling and the fields now overgrown. I don't suppose people will ever live there again. Maybe it's wrong to be sentimental though, after all it must have been a hard life and few people would want to live like that now.

The Old Man of Hoy

2011-01-30T22:45:00.004Z

The Old Man of Hoy

Watercolour

16 x 26 cm

I painted this watercolour in a bold manner, which suited the rugged subject matter. I started with the dark areas on the rock stack and let these run into the cliffs behind, which I painted in one wash. Then I continued with the hillside, also completed while it was still wet. While these areas were drying, I painted the background coastline and the sea in the foreground. I completed the rock stack with a wash of pale colour and put a bit of dark detail onto the cliffs. Finally, I painted the sky and a bit of detail in the water.

Snow

2011-01-19T22:53:00.002Z

Tracks in the Snow
Watercolour
16 x 26 cm

Winter at Keiss
Watercolour
16 x 26 cm

It's only a week or so since the snow all disappeared, but already it seems a long while ago.

I wonder what it is that is so attractive about snowy landscapes. I think it might be that detail is simplified and contrast is enhanced - the same things that I like in a painting really.

Winter Sunset

2011-01-10T21:38:00.003Z

Winter Sunset, Morven
Watercolour
16 x 26 cm

The cold, dry weather is making the air much clearer at the moment. The result is some wonderful sunsets and beautiful night skies filled with stars.

Fresh Snow

2010-12-20T22:50:00.001Z

Fresh Snow

Watercolour

16 x 26 cm

As predicted, the snow has returned, and it's deeper this time. It's nice having the roads free of traffic, but I wouldn't mind a spell of better weather now, so that life can get back to normal for a while.

Best Wishes to everyone at Christmas.

Pine Trees in Glen Quoich

2010-12-15T23:15:00.002Z

Scots Pines in Glen Quoich

Watercolour

25 x 16 cm

The snow suddenly disappeared in much warmer weather, but after a brief respite, arctic weather is set to return in the next few days. Meanwhile, here is another painting of the Cairngorms. This pair of pine trees, in Glen Quoich, was just across the river from the group of trees I painted earlier.

Causeymire Windfarm

2010-12-09T23:52:00.001Z

Sunset at the Windfarm

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

Travelling north to Caithness much of the road hugs the coastline and is hemmed in between the sea and the hills. However the route to Thurso branches off and crosses a vast area of peat bog , known as The Causeymire. It is an amazingly empty landscape and comes as a complete contast to the coast road. At the northern end of the open country, there is another contrast as the road passes the twenty-one turbines of the Causeymire Windfarm. A landscape which feels almost primaeval gives way to another which couldn't be more modern.

I was driving home one afternoon on snowy roads, worried about getting home, when I saw the last of the sunset over the wind turbines. Fortunately I had my camera with me, so I stopped and took a few photographs before the light finally faded.

Sheep in the Snow

2010-12-06T10:09:00.001Z

Sheep in the Snow

Watercolour

16 x 26 cm

I was walking up the road and this simple subject caught my eye. I liked the yellowish colour of the sheep against the grey/blue of the sky. We tend to think of sheep as being white, but when you come to paint them you soon realise that they very rarely are. Most of the time they look yellowish brown or grey.

Farmers are having a difficult time here at the moment. At this time of year the sheep would normally be eating grass, but with deep snow on the fields they are having to be fed on hay. That means that the farmers are using their winter feed stocks, when the season has only just begun. As a result the price of hay has gone up a lot. Also the sheep are often in rented fields, a long way from the farms, so there is a lot of travelling to and fro on snow-bound roads.

First Snow

2010-12-02T22:04:00.001Z

Snow at Calder
Watercolour
16 x 26 cm

What a difference the arrival of winter can make to a landscape. This is the same view that I painted a few weeks ago in autumn sunshine. Now it's covered in a blanket of snow.

Glen Quoich

2010-11-28T09:54:00.002Z

Lochnagar and Glen Quoich
Watercolour
25 x 36 cm

The glens of The Cairngorms have some of the last remaining fragments of the Great Caledonian Forest, which once covered much of Highland Scotland. More trees have been cut down in Glen Quoich than in some of the others, but it still retains the feeling of a wild forest. I have seen it referred to as a "Chinese Watercolour" sort of a glen' and I think that is a very fitting description.

Colour palette

2010-11-25T09:35:00.001Z

On my last post Caroline asked about the colours and papers I use, so I thought I would take the opportunity to give a few details.

My usual palette consists of seven colours:-

Raw Sienna
Burnt Sienna
Permanent Rose
French Ultramarine
Winsor Blue (Green Shade)
Winsor Green (Yellow Shade)
Burnt Umber

Occasionally, for flowers or bright objects, I add Winsor Yellow and Scarlet Lake.

The colours are all transparent and are spread evenly around the colour wheel -

I find that this gives me the greatest number of possibilities for mixes. Most of the time I only have to mix two colours together. I can make a good range of warm greys with Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna, or cool greys with Winsor Green and Permanent Rose. Both mixes produce a very dark grey at full strength. In fact Winsor Green/Permanent Rose will give me as close to black as I ever need. I have Burnt Umber for dark mixes as well, but I tend to forget to use it because Burnt Sienna seems just as good for that purpose.

I don't always need to use all of the colours. In fact I have often only used Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna.

I used to follow the maxim that you should always mix greens from yellow and blue, and never use a ready-made green. However, I found that the mixes were often a bit opaque and nearly always involved using a bit of red to get the right colour. Since I started using Winsor Green (which is the pigment Pthalocyanine Green), I have found that I can get a good range of transparent greens by mixing it with the earth colours. Also I usually only need to use two colours.

The papers that I use at the moment are Bockingford Rough and Fabriano artistico in Rough and Not (Cold-pressed). I like these papers because they are not heavily sized and the paint flows on better. Sometimes I use other papers, like Arches or Saunders Waterford, but I find that they don't take the paint so well and it tends to dry lighter.

The paper is usually 300gsm (140lb) and unstretched. It does curl up a bit if I am doing a very wet painting, but it isn't usually too much of a problem. If it doesn't dry flat, I dampen the back and press it between sheets of clean paper overnight.

Trees in Glen Quoich

2010-11-22T22:26:00.002Z

Trees in Glen Quoich
Watercolour
16 x 26 cm

Glen Quoich is a beautiful valley with some dramatic views, but this subject caught my eye simply because of the range of colours in the trees.

Autumn at Braemar

2010-11-14T23:08:00.001Z

Autumn at Braemar
Watercolour
25 x36 cm

When I visited Deeside I was hoping to see some wonderful autumn colours in the trees and I wasn't disappointed. There is a hill above Braemar, called Morrone, which has it's lower slopes covered with birch trees. A short climb leads to a viewpoint with a panorama of the Cairngorm Mountains.

Old Brig o' Dee

2010-11-10T21:56:00.002Z

Old Brig o' Dee

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

I have a wonderful book of Diploma Paintings by members of the Royal Watercolour Society - The Glory of Watercolour by Michael Spender. One of the paintings in the book is "The Old Brig o' Dee" by Samuel John Birch, so when I was in Deeside I was keen to see the bridge for myself and make some sketches of it. The trees have grown a lot in a hundred years, so the view is less open now. Birch may also have used a bit of artists' licence to show more of the bridge. That's certainly what I did for this painting; when I sketched it I couldn't see the left-hand arch. I have made a pencil sketch of Birch's painting for comparison.

Sketch of the painting of

"Old Brig o' Dee"

by Samuel John 'Lamorna' Birch

Autumn Sunshine

2010-11-04T20:59:00.001Z

Autumn Sunshine
Watercolour
16 x 26 cm

Among all the gales and rain we are still having some sunny autumn days here.

Cairngorms in Autumn

2010-10-26T21:16:00.001+01:00

We've been down to the Cairngorms and had a wonderful week with all the autumn colours. Here is a selection of some of the photographs I took.

Trees at Braemar

Cloud-inversion over Braemar

Ben Macdui from Morrone, Braemar

Glen Quoich

Lochnagar and Glen Quoich

Glen Callater

Loch Callater

Abernethy Forest

Coire an t-Sneachda

Carn Etchachan

Munsary Peatlands

2010-10-06T20:55:00.001+01:00

Munsary Cottage

Watercolour

16 x 26 cm

This is one of the more remote places in Caithness. It is a large area of blanket bog, owned and managed by the conservation charity Plantlife. Apart from a small farm, there is no human habitation for miles and there is complete peace and quiet. The only sounds are the birds and the wind, and an occasional dragonfly as it flies by.

The cottage was built originally as a shooting lodge, but it's used now as a field studies centre.

Insh Marshes

2010-09-24T23:46:00.001+01:00

Insh Marshes

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

Travelling north from Perth to Inverness the route goes over a high mountain pass (The Drumochter Pass) and then, at Kingussie, it suddenly opens out into a broad flat valley. This is the flood plain of the River Spey and 10 square kilometres of it are covered by the Insh Marshes, an important wetland area owned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

This was one of those paintings where I had to tell myself to put my brush down before I spoiled it. I felt that the foreground could have been darker, to show up the patch of sunlight better, and I was tempted to put on another wash. I like the transparency of it though and another layer of paint would make it heavy and dull, so I think it's probably best left as it is.

Tranquillity

2010-09-16T22:59:00.002+01:00

I was exploring the area beyond Loch Caluim, recently, and I spent a night camping beside the loch. The weather was calm and dry and there was a feeling of complete tranquillity. I woke early to the sounds of ducks on the water and a Red
Grouse clucking somewhere close-by. I lay there for a while, listening to the day come alive and watching the sky get lighter, then I noticed the first rays of sunlight catching the hills in the distance. It would have been nice to have sketched the scene, but the inevitable midges would have made that a far from tranquil experience! Instead I took a quick photograph and then retreated into the tent, behind the netting door.

This is the painting I made later, at home, to try to convey my feelings on that morning.

Tranquillity, Loch Caluim

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

When Things Go Right

2010-08-31T23:01:00.001+01:00

Boathouses on Loch Scye

Watercolour

16 x 26 cm

Some people like to really work at their watercolours; sponging, scraping, scratching, moving paint around, until they have the effect that they want. I have what I feel is a purer approach, reminiscent of Oriental painting perhaps. I like to lay on the washes as cleanly and simply as possible, retaining their transparency and only over-painting where necessary. There are fewer opportunities for correcting mistakes with this method, so not every painting is successful, but when things go right there is a beautiful glow from the light reflecting through the paint, almost like the effect of a stained-glass window.

Forgotten Roads

2010-08-23T23:31:00.001+01:00

Bridge over Torran Water

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

This bridge is on a track that leads out to Loch Caluim, a remote loch in the Flow Country. While I was searching for information about other routes, I discovered that this one is an ancient road linking Caithness with Sutherland. It was known as the Ca na Catanach. I'm tempted to try to walk the whole length of it, but it's hard to see on the ground in places now and conifer plantations cover other parts. I find these old roads fascinating, with their echoes of a forgotten world. Many are little more than overgrown paths now, but in previous centuries they must have been the main highways between communities.

The Road to Loch Caluim

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

More information on Heritage paths of Scotland.

A Royal Invitation

2010-08-13T23:05:00.001+01:00

I had an exciting day last weekend. I had a phone call from The Castle of Mey to say that The Prince of Wales would like to see me. They said that he liked my paintings and he would be interested in seeing any that I had, framed or unframed. I wasn't sure how many to take, so I loaded up the van with as many as I could manage and drove over there.

When I got there I was directed through the police cordon and met, at the gate, by Prince Charles's equerry. He took a handful of paintings from me and led me through passages and up winding stairs to the private rooms, where HRH was waiting. He was very friendly and informal and we were soon spreading paintings all round the room on the furniture. He asked questions about some of them and we talked a bit about painting (he paints as well when he can). Then he said that he liked the one that he bought last year and would like to buy another. He chose this one of 'Peedie Sands', which I've shown here before. I think he liked the way that I had scratched out the seagulls against the cliff.

Cliffs at Peedie Sands

Watercolour

32 x 23 cm

It was all over fairly quickly, because I think he was due to leave to travel south to Balmoral. I think he had just managed to find the time to see me, but I feel very honoured that he thought of me when he has such a busy schedule.

Up in the Clouds on Foinaven

2010-08-11T09:48:00.003+01:00

I went for a two-day walk over Foinaven recently. I didn't have time for sketching and the midges were too bad to stay in one place for long, so I only have photographs and memories from the trip. The weather wasn't as good as I'd hoped for, so I was in cloud for much of the time. I'll definitely go back in better conditions sometime.

The walk in along Strath Dionard.

Loch Dionard.

It soon got very boggy.

Midges!! I'm glad I remembered to take gloves, even though it's summer.

A close look at midges!

There were some good examples of the amazing geology of the area.

Getting up into the mountains now.

Deer. I told them to keep their heads down now that the shooting season has started!

Up on the ridge.

Lord Reay's Seat.

A mountain shelter on Cadha na Beucaich.

Still more climbing to do.

The cloud cleared for some views down into Coire na Lurgainn.

Heating soup on the summit.

Off the mountain and across the moors.

The Kyle of Durness.

Doocot at Westerdale

2010-08-04T21:40:00.001+01:00

Doocot at Westerdale
Watercolour
25 x 36 cm

Another subject beside the river at Westerdale. This one is a doocot (dovecot) belonging to Dale House. Doocots are common throughout Scotland in the grounds of big houses. They housed doves, which were used for food and for their eggs.

Ackergill Tower, Ebb Tide

2010-07-27T10:22:00.001+01:00

Ackergill Tower, Ebb Tide
Watercolour
16 x 25 cm

There are some popular subjects, which I find myself painting frequently. The problem with these is how to maintain the interest. In this case I set myself the challenge of using just two colours: French Ultramarine and Burnt Umber.

Beside the Thurso at Westerdale

2010-07-19T23:27:00.002+01:00

Beside the Thurso at Westerdale

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

While I was painting this watercolour I kept thinking of Constable's "The Hay Wain" and "Willy Lot's Cottage". It was because of the shape of the building, surrounded by the trees, and that was what attracted me to the subject in the first place. I managed to resist the temptation to paint in a hay wagon!

Sun and Rain at Dounreay

2010-07-12T21:25:00.002+01:00

Sun and Rain at Dounreay

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

I thought it was about time that I did a painting of Dounreay Nuclear Power Station again.

The site is being decommissioned and the whole process is expected to take 35 years or more. I've heard that they are planning to dismantle the famous golf-ball-shaped containment building. I hope that's not the case, it's such an iconic feature. It would be nice if they could clean it up and make it safe enough to turn into a visitor centre. I think it's just as much a symbol of our time as castles and other old buildings are of theirs.

Across the Moors to Morven

2010-07-04T23:00:00.002+01:00

Across the Moors to Morven

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

Morven is one of the prominent features of the Caithness landscape, especially in the vast moorland area of Strathmore. I had to walk for miles to get this view and I still wasn't half-way to the foot of the mountain.

Spring Flowers

2010-06-08T21:56:00.001+01:00

Spring Flowers

Acrylic

20 x 26 cm

When I saw this little group of flowers in the garden I just had to paint them. I used a raw umber ground colour again and I was pleased that it worked just as well for a bright painting.

Grey Day at Ackergill

2010-05-28T21:33:00.002+01:00

Grey Day at Ackergill

Acrylic

15 x 20 cm

Reading an article by Frank Edwards led me to experiment a bit more with coloured painting surfaces. For this painting I used a Raw Umber ground colour. I blocked in all the really dark areas, without any under-drawing, with a transparent mix of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna. Then I built up thicker opaque paint on top, leaving some of the ground colour showing through. I think the cool, grey painting surface suited this kind of subject very well.

Quinag

2010-05-07T09:42:00.001+01:00

Quinag
Watercolour
25 x 36 cm

Quinag is the most northerly mountain in Assynt. It is actually a range of peaks, in the form of a forked ridge, and includes three Corbetts (mountains over 2,500 feet). The highest summit is Sail Garbh at 808 metres. This wild landscape is now protected by the John Muir Trust.

Fisherfield Forest

2010-04-30T22:24:00.002+01:00

Beinn Dearg Mor
Watercolour
25 x 36 cm

I painted this from a sketch I made on a short walk up Gleann Chaorachain, below An Teallach. Beinn Dearg Mor is one of the mountains of the Fisherfield Forest, which is a remote mountainous area in Wester Ross, between Kinlochewe and Dundonnel. It is sometimes known as 'The Great Wilderness' and, although it is called a forest, it has few trees now.

Duncansby Head Lighthouse

2010-04-28T22:18:00.001+01:00

Duncansby Head Lighthouse
Acrylic
20 x 25 cm

Duncansby Head is the most north-easterly point in the British Isles and it really feels like the end of the mainland. The view looks out over the Pentland Firth and the next land in sight is the islands of Orkney.

Forss Mill

2010-04-26T22:31:00.001+01:00

Falls at Forss Mill

Watercolour

25 x 36 cm

I've tried to paint this subject a few times before. Each time I've ended up over-working it because of all the detail. This time I concentrated on what interested me most, which was the waterfall, and tried to paint the rest as simply as possible.
The mill is no longer working, but fortunately it was acquired by the Highland Buildings Preservation Trust. They have converted the building for residential use, while retaining most of the original features.

Ruthven Barracks

2010-04-22T22:52:00.002+01:00

Ruthven Barracks
Watercolour
25 x 26 cm

Ruthven Barracks, near Kingussie, was built to garrison troops during the Jacobite uprisings of the Eighteenth Century. It was one of a number of fortifications, including Fort Augustus and Fort William, which were set up at strategic points on the new network of military roads.

Ben Klibreck

2010-04-18T22:26:00.001+01:00

Ben Klibreck and Loch Naver
Watercolour
16 x 26 cm

Ben Klibreck is the second most northerly mountain on the Munro list. It stands in a fairly isolated position, so although I don't think it's a very interesting mountain to climb, it does have tremendous views.

Ben Hee from Ben Klibreck

Ben Loyal from Ben Klibreck

The last time I was there, when I got close to the summit, I came across a ptarmigan. She was looking very agitated and appeared to be trying to distract me away from a nest.

Ptarmigan on Ben Klibreck

Coire an t-Sneachda

2010-04-16T08:42:00.002+01:00

Coire an t-Sneachda
Watercolour
25 x 36 cm

This is Coire an t-Sneachda, one of the northern corries of the Cairngorm Massif. The name means 'The Corrie of the Snows' and because of its north-facing position, snow can often be found here well into the summer. It's easily accessible due to its proximity to the ski station, and there is a good path around to it. A very steep path (The Goat Path) leads up from the back of the corrie onto the plateau above.

Ben Nevis

2010-04-12T22:35:00.002+01:00

Ben Nevis

Watercolour, 25 x 36 cm

Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Great Britain, at 1344 metres (4409 feet), and this is possibly the best-known view of it from Corpach, near Fort William. The 'tourist' path goes up on this side, from the right, and it's a fairly straightforward climb. The north side is different altogether, with sheer cliffs and some serious climbing routes - more information.

Two Old Men

2010-04-06T23:27:00.002+01:00

The rocky coast of Scotland has lots of rock stacks, where the sea has worn away the cliffs and left isolated pinnacles. Two of the most famous are the Old Man of Stoer, in Sutherland, and the Old Man of Hoy, in the Orkney Isles.

The Old Man of Stoer

Watercolour, 16 x 25 cm

The Old Man of Hoy

Watercolour, 16 x 25 cm

The Art of the Précis

2010-03-29T22:39:00.002+01:00

Glen Sligachan, Isle of Skye

Watercolour, 16 x 25 cm

When I was a child at school, in English Grammar classes we were given an exercise called a précis. This involved taking a page of prose and reducing it to a paragraph. We did this by eliminating any unneccesary words and restructuring sentences. The idea was to convey the essential meaning in as concise a way as possible.

It occurred to me that this is exactly what I try to achieve in my paintings. I want to paint the subject concisely with the minimum of brush-strokes. In order to do this I have to ignore any detail which doesn't contribute something useful to the overall effect. I may also have to rearrange some elements for the sake of clarity or composition. I am not always as successful at this as I would like to be; it's not easy to do in front of a subject full of the detail visible to the human eye. I do feel though that the best paintings are usually the ones that are simple unfussy statements.

House of the Northern Gate

2010-03-25T21:40:00.002Z

The House of the Northern Gate

Watercolour, 16 x 26 cm

The House of the Northern Gate stands high up on the moor above Dunnet. It's an imposing building and it has tremendous views in all directions. The position is very exposed though and the roof must rattle a lot when there is a gale blowing.

John o' Groats Hotel

2010-03-14T20:39:00.001Z

John o' Groats House Hotel
Watercolour

25 x 35 cm

The settlement of John o' Groats gets its name from a Dutchman, called Jan de Groot, who ran a ferry from there to the Orkney Isles in the early 16th Century.

The striking John o' Groats House Hotel was built in 1875, near to the site of Jan de Groot's house. It's in a run-down state at the moment, but there are plans to renovate it and to improve the area generally.

Canisp

2010-02-22T19:53:00.002Z

Canisp from the Road to Suileag Bothy
Watercolour
25.5 x 35.5 cm

This was painted after a recent trip to Lochinver. The village is the largest settlement in Assynt, in Sutherland. There is some wonderful wild country around there with some good walking routes. Suilven is the mountain which dominates the area with its dramatic shape, but it's not really all that high, at 731 metres, Canisp is more than a hundred metres higher. One of the routes into the hills goes past Suileag Bothy, one of many shelters in the Highlands which are maintained by land-owners or the Mountain Bothies Association.

Suilven

Canisp

Canisp and Suilven

Suileag Bothy

Snow on Ben Loyal

2010-02-06T22:38:00.002Z

Snow on Ben Loyal
Watercolour
25.5 x 35.5 cm

Ben Loyal must have looked spectacular in the recent snow. I would have liked to have got over there, but the narrow twisting roads were too icy to attempt the journey. By the time the roads were clear most of the snow had gone, but the mountain still looked imposing, looming over the grey waters of the Kyle of Tongue.

Sunburst

2010-01-28T22:07:00.001Z

Sunburst at Achaguie

Watercolour, 10 x 14 inches (25.5 x 35.5 cm)

The snow has all gone now, so this might be my last white painting for a while. I don't know whether we'll have any more wintry weather. There was snow in February last year, so it's quite possible.

A Lane in Winter

2010-01-23T22:19:00.004Z

A Lane in Winter

Watercolour

6.5 x 10 inches (16.5 x 25.5 cm)

The recent snow was fun to start with. Everywhere was quiet because there were few vehicles on the roads, and the snow was soft to walk on.

A Welcoming Light

2010-01-20T20:34:00.003Z

A Welcoming Light
Watercolour
22.5 x 35.5 cm

It's nice to be out in the snow, but on a cold dark day a welcoming light and a warm fire are good as well.

Icy Roads

2010-01-14T21:52:00.001Z

Snow Shower over Achaguie
Watercolour, 25.5 x 35.5 cm

Caithness seems to have missed the worst of the recent winter weather. Other parts of the Highlands have had a metre or more of snow and temperatures of -20 Centigrade. There has been plenty of snow here too, but the main problem has been with ice. We had a period of settled weather with sub-zero temperatures which froze the snow which had already fallen. The roads were in a dangerous condition and have only just become clear again.

This road was especially bad and has steep verges on each side. Several vehicles skidded off it and got stuck on one day.

Season's Greetings

2009-12-23T22:21:00.004Z

Midwinter, Watercolour, 25.5 x 35.5 cm

Season's Greetings

and Best Wishes

for the New Year

Slioch and Loch Maree

2009-12-03T22:42:00.003Z

Slioch and Loch Maree
Watercolour
9 x 13.5 inches (23 x 34 cm)

I have just been watching a television programme about the wonderful wildlife of Loch Maree - White-tailed Sea Eagles, Black-throated Divers etc. - so I thought I would show a painting of the loch.

Loch Maree lies between the Torridon range of mountains and the Fisherfield Forest, also known as The Great Wilderness. The steep slopes of Slioch (The Spear) dominate the north side, to the south is the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve and the village of Kinlochewe is at its eastern end.. The area around the loch has some of the last remaining scots pines of the Great Caledonian Forest.

The Oil Sketches of John Constable

2009-11-27T00:04:00.000Z

Willy Lott's Cottage by John Constable

41 x 56 cm

Of all the books in my possession one of my favourites is one about the paintings of John Constable. It was just a cheap book from a supermarket but it is a constant source of inspiration. What interests me most is the numerous examples of Constable's oil sketches. These were often painted in front of the subject and seem to me to have more feeling than the large exhibition paintings. The brushwork is expressive and the subject is stripped down to the bare essentials, but the sketches are full of light and atmosphere. They were frequently painted on a brown-coloured paper and this shows through the rough brush-strokes. Constable painted these quick impressions nearly two hundred years ago, but they have quite a modern look to me and show how far he was ahead of his time.

More sketches by Constable:

Autumn Sunset

17 x 34 cm

Flatford Lock

19 x 24cm

The Valley of the Stour at Sunset

12 x 28 cm

View towards the rectory, East Bergholt

16 x 25 cm

A Windmill near Brighton

A Sluice on the Stour

Strathmore

2009-11-18T23:05:00.002Z

View from Strathmore Lodge

Watercolour

9.5 x 20 inches (24 x 51 cm)

I've been working on a few commissions recently. This one was a view of Strathmore from Strathmore Lodge. It caused me some problems because it was in a wide landscape format, whereas I usually paint what I can see more or less in my field of view. I knew how I wanted to compose it, but I had several attempts at it and each time I ran out of space on the paper. It didn't help that I needed to move the hills a bit to the right in order to get the river in front of them. The solution in the end was to treat the two halves of the view as separate sketches and then join them together. Then I was able to transfer the whole image to the watercolour paper.