The gorgeous heatwave that Scotland and the rest of the UK has been experiencing seems to be on its way out in Scotland. Saturday past, however, felt like I was somewhere other than Scotland with the temperature soaring and clearing clouds making way for strikingly blue skies. I took advantage of this weather by spending the afternoon outside watching Wimbledon followed by the World Cup third-place play-off. It was my second time in a week watching the football on the big screen in The Pear Tree pub's beer garden though the atmosphere was considerably less tense as there was not so much at stake. Less tension made the sun even more enjoyable and created a real summer vibe.

As a creative, I couldn't let this unintentional colour-coordination go unphotgraphed...! 

After chilling - I mean melting - in the beer-garden, my friend and I grabbed some food before I headed to Holyrood Park for a wonderful painting session surrounded by nature. While sketching I reflected on the previous time I had been there last year; I had been in the midst of my postgraduate dissertation and it had provided me with great escapism. This time I could fully enjoy the setting without dissertation deadlines looming! The temperature was perfect for sketching, still really warm but not overly so, and with a refreshing breeze. I also managed to get a bench to sit on which is always a bonus when sketching outdoors.

I painted a view towards the east to give my face a break from being in the sun (wanted to avoid the "lobster-look") and, more importantly, so the details of the view I was sketching were fully illuminated by the sun. The warm sun cast a distinctly orange hue over the landscape almost as though a giant photo filter had been placed in the foreground.

As usual, I started by sketching out black, fine-liner outlines of the landscape. In this I focused on convey the general shapes of the incredible landscape and its various textures and patterns. 

After I was satisfied with the appearance of the outline, I began adding light washes of watercolour paint to provide a base layer of the landscape. For the moment, I left the sky blank. That was to be the final part I painted.


After adding the initial light washes, I gradually built up the depth by increasing the concentration of paint. This has the effect of boosting the painting's saturation which gives a much richer finish. Painting in the sun makes this deeper saturation easier to achieve as the heat ensures the paint dries quickly allowing for 'wet-on-dry' painting which always results in a more intense outcome.

While in my painting happy zone, a bunch of teenage boys decided that nearby the bench on which I was perched was the best place to hang. The peaceful sounds of nature were quickly replaced by grime and trap music and their chat! It didn't bother me much though as I can block out distraction when painting and when excerpts of their conversation were registered by my ears, it was interesting to hear what this, obviously unrepresentative sample, but sample nonetheless, of teenage boys spoke about.

I bet you wouldn't be able to guess, so I will just say it. Ready? Foxes and hedgehogs. No, not "the birds and the bees" (*cringes at that phrase*), but actual foxes and hedgehogs in the literal, not metaphorical in any way, sense.

Anyway, just as the prime of the evening sun was dissipating, I finished the painting, took my customary "end of painting" photo, and left to enjoy the hour or so walk back home in the last remaining moments of daylight.

The bright natural lighting actually made for an annoying photo as it has washed out the colours spectacularly as well as giving it an overly yellow tone... Rather that due to a heatwave than a wash out with rain though! 

Thanks for reading!

Read another post about me making the most of the heatwave up the east coast of Scotland here

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I also recently created a blog called Mental Health Intersections where I write articles about the intersections of a number of areas and mental health. One of the intersections I explore is Art and Mental Health, so check it out if you're interested.

First off, forgive the silly title; I can't resist a pun.

Last weekend I took a trip up the coast and did my first outdoor watercolour sketch of the year. On reflection, I should really be taking more advantage of the current, surreal heatwave conditions the UK is having but I have been out in it a lot, just not actually painting. I have a tan to prove it - an odd one where my hands are a few shades darker than the rest of my skin - but a tan nonetheless. 

The location of my outdoor painting was a small village on the east coast of Scotland called Inverbervie. It's south of Aberdeen and north of Dundee to give some general spatial idea of the geography. On setting off to Inverbervie it was really warm and sunny but not long after I arrived at the village's bay, fog started to arrive. Well, to be more accurate, a haar (sea fog), which was slowly drifting across the water and towards the coast. 

Things like that are one of the reasons I enjoy sketching outdoors so much - you never know what will happen. Weather is so interchangeable which can create lots of changes to lighting, visibility, and shadows etc. This affects how a scene is depicted in any art.

On this occasion, it made me sketch my fine-liner pen landscape image somewhat quicker than I'd intended. By the time I'd finished the haar's persistence lessened up a bit.

I then got going with adding the colour using one of my trusted travel sets of watercolour paints. I can't believe I hadn't painted in watercolour for so long before the weekend! Despite not having painted outdoors for ages, I drifted into a wonderful creative flow. It's definitely a sort of meditative state as even though I'm consciously moving my head up and down to switch between the landscape view and the view of my sketchbook, I'm fully focused on painting and nothing else around distracts me. It really helps the sense of being completely in the present moment, very mindful if you're into psychology like I am. 

The subject of my sketch was the unusually shaped hills approaching the cliff-bordered coastline. Due to the heatwave, much of the green in the landscape was more of an ochre. Landscapes really speak volumes about what's going on around them; another reason I love painting the natural world!

Notice I'm stood facing away from the camera so as to hide the awkward patch of sunburn on one of my legs...! My Scottish skin is clearly not used to the heatwave climate.

Here are some more photos from the trip:

Walking on a pebble beach is a great workout. It's like being on an unstructured cross trainer!

With the dissipating of the haar, the dense blue of the sky got ever richer.

Hope you enjoyed this wander along the beach, for more of my art, follow my mostly daily-updated Instagram account @HCRart. Not on IG? No problem. I also use Facebook and Twitter

Hx

It's more than halfway through the first month of 2018 now. It's gone really fast, right?! Anyway, with a new year, it's good to do something new. Some people make resolutions. Ok, a LOT of people do. And these are often to do with getting fit / eating healthier. Personally, I don't set resolutions but I think it's nice having ways to mark the new year like buying something new for your house. Anyone else feel like that? Wondering what to get? I may just have something that could help... Enter, my new online shop. I have added a selection of my Wavy Landscapes series of acrylic paintings, prints of watercolours from my sketching out and about, and, last but not least, cards with my Glencoe winter series on them. 

Have a browse and see what you think. I'll be adding more over the coming weeks and will be sharing each one on Instagram so follow me there if you want first dibs on a piece!