The first painting I did was one that I'd been wanting to do for a few years and I' really glad that I made it a priority this year. One of our family's favourite "haunts" is Balnakeil Bay and one of the routes there takes us on what we call the "Ben Hope road" where there can be some large herds of deer which really add to the Highland experience! There is also a (ruined) Broch by the burn/river which I've always thought was quite mysterious and sort of enchanting, but anyone who has read some of my previous posts will know that I have a bit of a thing for ruins!
Without further ado, this is the first painting I did of Dun Dornaigil Broch, near Ben Hope.
The second painting I did was of the more northerly end of Dornoch Beach, another of our more recent "haunts". We've been going to Dornoch beach for many years but only started frequenting this part in the last five or so. One of our favourite parts is the tall wooden pole (probably a telegraph pole or something, but we refer to it as the "Mast" because who doesn't love a good shipwreck story).
Anyway, here is "Standing Tall", The Mast, Dornoch beach (north).
I decided to do another painting of the Ben Hope Broch, this time from the other side.
This year one of my cousins stayed with us for a while and we shared some of our favourite places with her, including Balnakeil Bay. I did this painting as a souvenir.
One of the scenic routes we often use is along Loch Fleet where we can usually see some seals and water birds etc. There is also a large ruin on top of a small(ish) hill which I recently learned is called "Skelbo Castle". This isn't the first time I've tried to draw this but this time it turned out much better.
I did this painting of "Skelbo Castle, Loch Fleet" in my A3 sketchbook.
Beware the Midgies!!! Another place we visit every year is Cassley Falls. I decided to use one of my square canvas boards for this one to make it look very different to some of my other paintings. I think using the canvas board in this way makes it more dramatic and I'm sure I'll use others like this in the future.
Towards the end of our holiday, my mum and I went to Gunn's Wood on the outskirts of Lairg. It's a nice woodland walk and this little painting is of one of the views from Gunn's Wood.
It's not particularly detailed but I wanted to try a more simplified aesthetic and I think it works quite well. I feel it nicely reflects the calm and peaceful atmosphere of Gunn's Wood (at least on the day we went!).
I really enjoyed being able to do so many paintings of places near and dear to me and my family. I thought about giving this "series" a title - "Highland Heart" but maybe I'm not quite ready for that yet...
If you have any questions, feedback or just want to say hi, then please leave a comment below...
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