Literature & Lighthouses

Did these two drawings in the space of a matter of hours, and again, its amazing the variety of weathers Scotland can throw at you on a whim, from blazing sunshine to a storm in a teacup, (or whisky glass being Islay).

Painting not great as not done on watercolour paper but as had nothing else to hand, I couldn't resist trying to capture the dark clouds racing north from the Irish coast. The lighthouse is a Robert Stevenson one, built in 1825, the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson of 'Kidnapped' and 'Treasure Island' books. It was a family business building lighthouses, and Robert the younger bucked the trend and went off to test his literary leanings. I was actually named after one of his books, so I feel a lot of sympathy with him in doing what was definitely not expected of him. A man after my own heart...

Highlands and Islands

Finally gotten around to posting again. Been here, there and everywhere, both physically and mentally as past few months been an upheaval in all senses of the word. In between all this, managed a trip to Islay and the Outer Hebrides, and the far north of Scotland, so over the next wee while I'll be trying to post a few drawings from the very inspirational trip.

All fired up with lots of painting ideas and designs, but in the meantime here is my first drawing of one of the 8 whisky distilleries on the island. Experimenting with my ink again, after a breezy lunch in the sun by the harbour, and while everyone else went off shopping I thought I'd spend the time catching the rays and a view or two. Though no drams were had in the making of this....