Here are all my sketches from a fantastic night at the closing event from Edinburgh International Festival for 2019

On Monday night I headed into town for my last bit of Festival fun this year, a trip to Virgin Money Fireworks Concert in Princes Street Gardens.

I have been before a few years ago and sat in the gardens with friends, watching the fireworks and listening to the orchestra without actually seeing them play.

However this year I was lucky enough to be right in front of the Ross bandstand to hear Edinburgh-born mezzo soprano Catriona Morison and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra entertain the crowds.

In the first part of the concert there are no fireworks so as everyone listened to the beautiful sounds I sketched a few castles, leaving space for the fireworks to be added later. Including the above Castle watercolour from before the sun fell behind Princes Street.

Then as darkness surrounded us and everyone got more excited the first of the fireworks exploded above us. I really recommend being in the gardens and as close to the bandstand as possible as I really felt like I was surrounded by light, colour and music.

It was a great experience, and as I watched and quickly tried to capture the colour and movement in my drawings with watercolour. In the above piece I tried to paint the iconic waterfall firework which looked amazing bouncing down the rock face.

The above red drawing was drawn in a red gel pen which I had in my bag. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and fireworks artists Pyrovision put on an excellent show, working together with the EIF and Edinburgh Castle to create a wonderful experience that I will not forget.

There are links below to the Edinburgh International Festival website and I am not sure if you can yet but would recommend booking for the band stand next year, which is on August 31st 2020.

If you would like to buy any of the sketches from the night then leave a comment below or email me at contact@www.edinburghsketcher.com Prices start at £18 for a signed print in a mount.

Edinburgh International Festival website.

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