Sketching and Painting Holidays
Spring arrived early this year. March in the western Highlands is usually a lacklustre, grey-brown month with weak light and too much cold dampness to think about sketching outside. If I’m not overseas in Morocco or La Gomera with a painting group I’m normally up in my attic studio looking for inspiration or hand-painting ceramics … Read more
The most important – in fact, vital – component of watercolour painting is water. This may seem obvious, or if you are used to working in a different medium then perhaps you think it’s an overstatement, yet while the ‘colour’ component is clearly necessary, the key to success in the medium both starts and finishes … Read more
First of all I’d like to wish everyone a very happy new year, and may 2022 be the year we can all resume the travel we would like to do, the meetings we need to have, the holidays we are eager to take. During the dreary months here in Scotland, where the days are too … Read more
The pastel blue sky and perfect reflections of Lochinver in the glassy bay outside my window this morning were deceptive. I certainly needed my polo-neck sweater and duvet jacket on my walk. A thin layer of frost covers everything and, as the sun has already reached its zenith, it’s unlikely to thaw this afternoon. It … Read more
Hands up…. who’s ready for a sketching holiday somewhere warm and toasty?Somewhere you don’t have to rush to the window as soon as you wake up in order to decide what clothes to put on, and in how many layers? Somewhere you’ve never been, or a favourite haunt you’ve always wanted to paint…. if you … Read more
Meet the locals What’s the most important part of a painting holiday?The wonderful subject matter, the tuition and advice, learning a new medium or honing your skills?The chatting and laughing, friendship, inspiration and encouragement from your companions?The weather, scenery and relaxation? The food, the fabrics and immersion in a different culture – and the chance … Read more
Let’s face it, the last couple of years have been a bit of a nightmare for everyone. There will not be many corners of the world left untouched by Covid 19, and whether you have been unlucky enough to fall ill yourself or have lost a loved one; suffered financially, mentally or emotionally, it’s almost … Read more
The disappointing drizzle which, although obscuring the mountaintops, had begun to fill the rather paltry waterfalls after a long, dry spell, began to clear as we pulled into the beach car park for our first glimpse of the long crescent of white sand. Watching the still-glowering sky, we decided to leave our packed lunches in … Read more
What to do when you were hoping to paint the landscape on location but it’s blowing a hoolie, raining horizontally and the mountains are having a duvet day, as we say here on the West Coast?Perhaps you have an injury or disability which prevents you from walking far, or you just don’t fancy sitting on … Read more
With the popularity of ‘staycations’ this year, it’s inevitable that Assynt is busier than I have ever known it, as news of its beauty, tranquility and warm welcome reach previously uninitiated ears.In fact I’d go as far as to say it’s pretty inundated, and not always in a good way. You may have seen reports … Read more
