June - Torwoodlee Tower

I've always been interested in ruins and decided to look at the local map to see which ruins, if any, were in the area. To my surprise, I discovered there were several in the area. A friend recommended Torwoodlee Tower, so I decided to go there first.

First sight of the tower

The day I went was beautifully sunny which showed the colours at their best. Along the path, I saw a beautiful Orange-tip Butterfly and it landed long enough for me to take quite a close-up photo:

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the groundsman cut the grass regularly which made access much easier. There was also an information board with some interesting history on the tower:

(Click picture to enlarge)

This tower dates back to 1601 and much of it is still standing. I decided to use this opportunity to take a variety of photographs for reference when I got home.

I took about 50 photos on this trip so when I got home, I went through them and decided on the size of canvas board I wanted to use. I chose 18 x 24cm as it is the biggest I can do that will fit on our scanner - that way I could turn it into "postcards" later.

I used Inktense pencils and water-brushes to add the colour and texture to my painting. This was the first painting that my tree technique actually worked, so I was REALLY happy with it! I then used a fine-liner to add the brick detail and to define the edges of the trees and the tower.

Torwoodlee Tower

18 x 24cm

Please leave a comment below to let me know what you think...