One of the great things about the bays as beaches of the West Coast are that they are often visible before arriving. This is especially visually pleasing if the road approaching is raised above the bay thanks to the natural undulations of the coastline. 

The beaches and bays are dotted intermittently, without much distance between, along the coastline and of varying visible length, depending on whether it is high or low tide. 

Although there were some little bays before this, this was the first beach we stopped at. The earlier ones had caravan sites right next to them so although perhaps accessible by the public on paper, parking on the sites themselves was obviously restricted solely to patrons of the sites so the beaches could only have been accessed by parking a couple of miles further up the road and walking back along the narrow country road. Instead of that, I went for the easier option of going to a beach which was more straightforward to access! 

Here is a picture of this first bay I stopped at. It was empty and peaceful, just as I like it. The tide was completely out allowing for many skerries and rocks to be seen, uncovered by water. 



Although uncovered by water, these rocks and skerries were full of evidence of their typical marine surroundings. Strewn with seaweed and covered in molluscs, mussels, and other shellfish who make the surface of them their home. The area provided great examples of coastal ecology like this. I don't think I have ever before seen a beach with so many shells on it and due to the temporary nature of the tide being so extremely far out, many of these shells were still inhabited by the shellfish. 
The picture above gives an idea of how much of the rocks' surfaces are covered by seaweed and organisms. They are quite the micro-ecosystem! It also shows wonderful Small Isles on the not-so-very distant horizon. Rhum and Eigg are the two visible Islands in this photograph. If you are wondering how to pronounce the names just think of the drink 'rum' and the food 'egg' as that is how they each sound. It's funny how us Scots gave Islands 'food' sounding names. We must really like our food. (I did in fact eat an egg sandwich while looking out to Eigg but certainly wasn't drinking so had water rather than rum!) 

Anyway, back to the scenery. The contrast between the shape of the vertical plane of the Islands (Rhum on the left, and Eigg on the right) is very noticeable and enticing artistically. I composed the above photo using the rocks to provide 'natural framing' and the scene provides the inspiration for a watercolour painting. The below collage of photos shows you some of the stages of painting and gives an insight into my creative process. 




And here are two little sketches I did of the views from the car when it was too cold to sketch outside:
The view in one direction... 
...and the other 

It may have been sunny but you could definitely feel the coolness of the October climate. The warmth did appear later though which allowed for sketching where I like it most, outside and fully immersed in nature. 

I'll continue my journey along the coast in part 2.

Connect with me on Twitter: @HCRart 
or Instagram: @HCRart

You can also see more of my art on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HCR.art and on my website: www.hcrart.com

Hx 


After the stop at Glenfinnan to see the loch and Jacobite railway (see last post) it was full steam ahead to the coast (sorry, couldn't resist that pun). As the road across from Glenfinnan to the West Coast is so scenic I made a couple of pit stops at aesthetically positioned lay bys on the way there. Although unplanned, I feel that when travelling anywhere it is impossible to stick to a rigid plan or route. Spontaneity and travel tend to go hand in hand.
'All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.' Martin Buber







One of these lay-bys had information about the famous Glencoe massacre (1692), one of the darkest points of Scottish history. In a place of such majestic magnificence it is sad to think of what happened there so many years ago but thankfully episodes like that are confined to history in and around Glencoe. 

While stopped at one of the lay-bys I did a quick sketch in my ever-trusty Moleskine sketchbook. After standing sketching for a little while I found that if I went back a bit and leaned against the back of the car I could sketch with surprisingly comfortable support! The late-morning sun was pleasantly warm directly above me so I felt I was in the prime spot for sketching at that point. 
It was a view from further into the photo below that I was sketching. The focus of my composition was the viaduct you can just about make out in the upper left quadrant of this picture. 
 
Although I was enjoying the suns soothing rays I knew I needed to get to the coast as soon as possible to catch the best of the day there. I hoped to time my visit to the coast when the weather conditions allowed for the water to appear turquoise and the sand to be as white as possible at the beaches there. Ever since passing that part of the West Coast on the train as a child when I saw the water there for the first time in all its beautiful turquoise glory I have wanted to go back to the area and not just pass by but be able to walk along the beach and embrace the surroundings. It amazes me that despite Scotland being located where it is in the world, an area that no-one could ever think of as being 'tropical', it has bays and stretches of coastline that one could easily mistake for belonging to a tropical country. Only visually, that is; the climate is the continual reminder that the beach is in fact in Scotland and definitely not a tropical country! 

It was time to continue the journey to the Coast in search of tropical-looking waters and white sand.
  
***

Read more in my next post

Hx

Feel free to follow me on Twitter: @HCRart 





This time last week I was a few hours into the drive across to the West Coast of Scotland. It's really rewarding setting off in darkness and then being greeted by the rising sun part of the way in your journey. The Autumn sun casts a wonderful rich dark orange-red-y hue over everything in it's path. 
 


It was a good thing West was the direction in which I was heading. Look at the brightness of the low, rising sun behind. It created such blinding light in all the car mirrors. 
 
Travelling along such a scenic route has great positives. As the road unfolds in front of you, so too do the hills which surround you. Driving through valleys and glens is never boring for me. There is always something of interest whether it be the often severe contrasts in light depending upon from which direction sunlight is coming or where large clouds are looming. On that day, though, there was many clear blue skies dotted with intermittent cotton-wool clouds.



The low mist seen in the photo above was something I had never actually witnessed before. Despite how sunny it was the stubbornness of this mist meant cars were quite enveloped by it for a few stretches of part of the road. I'm going to have to try to capture the atmosphere it created with paint. I always enjoying trying my hand at painting different subjects.

Fast forward quite a lot of miles on from the stretch of road with mist, I reached my first stop: Glenfinnan. This little village has become pretty famous in recent years due to it being a filming location for some scenes from the Harry Potter series. Recognise this scene below?! The red steam train crossing the viaduct? I'm not a particular fan of Harry Potter but I do like the choice of filming location and enjoyed the clips in the film. Arriving early in the day meant I could get some sketching done without coach loads of tourists arriving! I must have timed it perfectly for it was not long into my second sketch that I heard the undeniable sound of the Hogwart's Express (!) (aka Jacobite Steam Train) arriving and crossing over the viaduct. Unfortunately as I wasn't prepared for it coming all I managed to get was a quick uncomposed snap of it on my phone but you get the picture. 
Here's a few of photos of my sketching pursuits while there...
Stay tuned for the next installment of my 'Highland Getaway'... 

In the meantime, you can search for #HighlandGetawayOct on Instagram to see some more photos or you can follow my account @HCRart on there or Twitter (@HCRart) 

Bye for now! 

Hx




Earlier this week I went on a trip deep in the heart of the west of Scotland for a couple of nights getting plenty of artistic inspiration. Leaving before dawn on Monday morning I set off for what would be one of the best trips away I've had. It made me fall in love with this country even more! The weather was fantastic for October, even better than Summer this year, according to the locals in the area I was staying. My intention before going was to get photos and sketches of the west coast beaches, mountains, and lochs and I think I was successful in my mission. I took plenty of photos and the new empty Moleskine sketchbook I took is now practically all filled with sketches. I visited Arisaig, Mallaig, Fort William, Kinlochleven, Glencoe Village, Glencoe, and some other really small secluded places with gorgeous hidden beauty spots. So many memories of a lovely trip. Autumn is definitely my favourite season when the weather is decent. The low sun of this season seems to cast a redder hue over everything and the sunsets are spectacular especially when they are framed naturally by the silhouettes of mountains and reflected in the water of lochs below. Cloudy days are lovely too, naturally brightened by the ochre, orange, and red tones of the changing leaves on trees covering much of the landscape.
'Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.' - Albert Camus
Here is one of my favourite places from the trip. It is a photo of Loch Leven. I managed to time my arrival at this loch perfectly as the water was unbelievably still creating an absolutely mirror-like reflection. Truly wonderful natural beauty.



Admiring the wonderful general revelation. This also shows the scale of the mountains surrounding the loch on all sides. 

'The mountains are calling and I must go' - John Muir 
 
My next post will show the first of my sketches en route to the lovely guesthouse in which I stayed for the couple of nights I was away. 

In the meantime, I'll post where you find me on various social media sites so you can follow my art if you wish:
Twitter: @HCRart
Instagram: @HCRart
Facebook: /HCR.art
Tondo: www.tondo.com/hcrart






Powered by Blogger.