Scotland

I've just returned home after 18 days in Scotland, traveling with my husband and 6 dear friends; a trip of a lifetime! Even though prepared for rain and wind, our weather was extraordinary: at least a bit of sun every day! There was wind, usually more than my painting easel could handle, so when there was a couple of free hours I would set up in the room of whatever lodging we were in that day and referenced photos we had taken.

Troon, Scotland...just happens to have a view of the Irish Sea!

I have to confess that I am still a lot more confident working from photos than painting plein air, but am trying to apply as many of the lessons I've learned every time I paint. The promise I made to myself before the trip was that I would ONLY paint from photos taken ON the trip...all Scotland and nothing else. These are the results...1-2 hour small "sketch" paintings that I can use to reference larger paintings later on. It was so great to be able to play with brushes and color on the long trip and my traveling buddies even allowed me to present a little art show with the results!

A little technical side note: I used 4x6 linen Centurion panels for 4 of the paintings and kept the wet panels separated by using circle "wall protector" buttons; the 2 castle paintings are on 6x8 linen canvas pad which did not accept the paint well at all but dried much more quickly. Always experimenting!