Tag Archives: Scotland

Harrison Park in the Snow

As the snow may be here soon I thought I would share this sketch I made just over a year ago. I forgot to add it to my website and to the Etsy page so now I have rectified that, and signed prints can be bought via the link below.

The drawing was made with black india ink and a brush pen. I enjoyed being restricted to a single colour, you can see the layers of ink in the tree branches as they overlap each other and create darker and light shades.

The prints are on lovely watercolour paper, each one is signed and mounted and then enclosed in a protective sleeve. I have three sizes available at the shop below.

Harrison Park in the Snow, Edinburgh. A Signed Print in a Card Mount and Protective Sleeve. From an Original Indian Ink Drawing. – Etsy UK

WhereArtI Quiz 27th November

Where have I sketched this week?

A room with a view, but what building am I looking towards?

Leave your answer as a comment below, your entry will not show up until I reveal the answer in 24 hours. I will pick a random winner from all correct entries to win a prize, which this week is a set of three Edinburgh Christmas cards.

Keep an eye on my facebook and twitter feeds for clues if they are needed, and remember you can also see my weekly competition in the printed version of the Edinburgh Evening News each Monday.

Keep looking up and noticing the beauty in the everyday, you never know where I will be sketching next!

My Edinburgh sketched merchandise and high quality prints are available on my Etsy shop and I am available for commissions too.

Email me at contact@www.edinburghsketcher.com for more details.

Sign up to my monthly newsletter.

Keep up to date with my sketches as I share a more personal look at what I get up to and what I have planned, with competitions, offers and news about upcoming live events and workshops. 

WhereArtI Quiz 30th October

Where have I sketched this week?

A strange sight on a street with an odd name.

Leave your answer as a comment below, your entry will not show up until I reveal the answer in 24 hours. I will pick a random winner from all correct entries to win a prize.

This week’s prize is a cotton tote bag featuring one of my sketches.

Keep an eye on my facebook and twitter feeds for clues if they are needed, and remember you can also see my weekly competition in the printed version of the Edinburgh Evening News each Monday.

Keep looking up and noticing the beauty in the everyday, you never know where I will be sketching next!

My Edinburgh sketched merchandise and high quality prints are available on my Etsy shop and I am available for commissions too.

Email me at contact@www.edinburghsketcher.com for more details.

Sign up to my monthly newsletter.

Keep up to date with my sketches as I share a more personal look at what I get up to and what I have planned, with competitions, offers and news about upcoming live events and workshops. 

WhereArtI Quiz – 26th June

Where have I sketched this week?

Have you passed by these stationary figures?

Leave your answer as a comment below, your entry will not show up until I reveal the answer in 24 hours. I will pick a random winner from all correct entries to win a prize.

The prize is a cotton tote featuring one of my sketches.

Keep an eye on my facebook and twitter feeds for clues if they are needed, and remember you can also see my weekly competition in the printed version of the Edinburgh Evening News each Monday.

Keep looking up and noticing the beauty in the everyday, you never know where I will be sketching next!

My Edinburgh sketched merchandise and high quality prints are available on my Etsy shop and I am available for commissions too.

Email me at contact@www.edinburghsketcher.com for more details.

Sign up to my monthly newsletter.

Keep up to date with my sketches as I share a more personal look at what I get up to and what I have planned, with competitions, offers and news about upcoming live events and workshops. 

WhereArtI Quiz – 1st May

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Where have I sketched this week?

A corner tower hidden away, but do you recognise it?

Leave your answer as a comment below, your entry will not show up until I reveal the answer in 24 hours. I will pick a random winner from all correct entries to win a prize.

The prize is a set of six Edinburgh post cards, each featuring a sketched scene from the city.

Keep an eye on my facebook and twitter feeds for clues if they are needed, and remember you can also see my weekly competition in the printed version of the Edinburgh Evening News each Monday.

Keep looking up and noticing the beauty in the everyday, you never know where I will be sketching next!

My Edinburgh sketched merchandise and high quality prints are available on my Etsy shop and I am available for commissions too.

Email me at contact@www.edinburghsketcher.com for more details.

Sign up to my monthly newsletter.

Keep up to date with my sketches as I share a more personal look at what I get up to and what I have planned, with competitions, offers and news about upcoming live events and workshops. 

Watercolour skyline

Layering washes of watercolour can be tricky at first, but results in faded, hazy views of a skyline

I do love to create a watercolour only painting, layering the washes of faint colours on top of each other and slowly seeing the view in front of me emerge from the paper.

Below are photos of the process as I sat sketching on Arthur’s Seat recently, looking at the magnificent Edinburgh skyline.

Have a go layering colour but wait a few minutes between each layer to make sure the paper has dried. By the time I had taken these photos and posted them on social media the paper was ready for another wash!

Like a foggy memory of the scene this resulting piece will remind me of a windy, rainy and at times dull view of the city I love.

Mother of pearl skies

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Mother Nature put on quite the breakfast time display for us, with rainbow clouds the highlight

These are apparently Nacreous clouds and only form in the coldest of conditions and high (12-19 miles) up in the sky. Extremely rare outside of polar regions and usually seen a couple of hours either side of sunset or sunrise and, being so high, they are still lit by sunlight which makes them appear even brighter in our evening sky.

Formed in air that is around minus 80C, sunlight reflecting off tiny ice crystals in the cloud give it the pearly colours -the reason why they are also called mother-of-pearl.

And very pretty it was too. Thanks to the BBC for the information, read more HERE.

St Andrews Day Sketch

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A saltire in the sky for this year’s St Andrews Day sketch.

I was recently at the Palace of Holyroodhouse to sketch Scottish symbols and run a couple of workshops. While there I learnt plenty of interesting facets I wasn’t aware of.

Like the legend that states in the ninth century a Pictish king, Angus mac Fergus, adopted St Andrew as the patron saint after seeing a Saltire appear in the sky, immediately before his victory in battle at Athelstaneford.

An army of Picts and Scots under King Angus invaded the Lothians, which was still Northumbrian territory at the time. It found itself surrounded by Saxons led by Athelstan.

Fearing defeat, King Angus led prayers and then saw a cloud formation of a white Saltire in the blue sky. The king vowed that if, with Andrew’s help he won, he would make him the patron saint of Scotland.

The Scots won and the Saltire became the flag of Scotland. So although there were no aeroplane trails in the skies back in the ninth century, I imagine the skies looked a little like my sketch!

Thanks to VisitScotland for the details above, you can read more on there website HERE.

Also I have been asked to make this sketch available as a print so here it is, as a great quality signed and mounted print available with free UK postage on my Etsy shop HERE.

WhereArtI Quiz – 28th November

Click to zoom in

Tunnel view but where in the city am I?

Where have I sketched this week?

Leave your answer as a comment below, your entry will not show up until I reveal the answer. Get your answer in before 9am tomorrow morning and I will pick a random winner from all correct entries to win a prize.

This week’s prize, and throughout November, is a set of six Edinburgh Christmas cards, each featuring a sketched scene from the city.

Keep an eye on my facebook and twitter feeds for clues if they are needed, and remember you can also see my weekly competition in the printed version of the Edinburgh Evening News each Monday.

Keep looking up and noticing the beauty in the everyday, you never know where I will be sketching next!

My Edinburgh sketched merchandise and high quality prints are available on my Etsy shop and I am available for commissions too. Email me at contact@www.edinburghsketcher.com for more details.

Sign up to my monthly newsletter.

Keep up to date with my sketches as I share a more personal look at what I get up to and what I have planned, with competitions, offers and news about upcoming live events and workshops. 

Castle lights bring the festive spirit

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This week I was invited to witness the start of the Castle of Light festival at Edinburgh Castle.

Bursting with colourful illuminations and stories from Edinburgh’s rich history the castle is once again open for a festive walk around the battlements, with fantastic views across the sparkling city.

New for this year the animations follow this year’s Kingdom of Colours theme, showcasing the castle’s stories as ‘defender of the nation’, the historic moments dating back 800 years.

The view above is from the Castle esplanade, thumping music and a spiralling mosaic of illustration and colour hits you straight awayt and leads you in through the castle gates.

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Above shows the Earl Haig statue outside the War Museum, on which was projected a beautiful dancing figure made of snow. Calming classical music matches the rythum of the dance as people stand entranced in the view.

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I loved the laughter and family festive vibe that followed me around the roughly 60 minute walk from area to area. Children stood in awe looking up at the engaging light show and story telling. Even if you have been in the past I would recommend revisiting, I left feeling I’d been to see a great show, well done Edinburgh Castle.

Adults are £20, Children £12 and if you are a Historic Scotland member there is a 10% discount here:

https://www.edinburghcastle.scot/whats-on/castle-of-light