Yesterday I was near to the Meadows park in Edinburgh’s South Side when I noticed the beautiful reflections on the tall tenement windows.
As the sun began to set over Edinburgh’s central park, the houses that run around the edge shone with a beautiful gradient of colours, with dark angular shapes showing the mighty trees hanging on to their final leaves.
Often wen sketching, knowing when to stop can be a difficult task. An over worked line drawing can look too dark, messy and leaving the white areas can be just as important as marking the dark. Adding colour can be the same, often I add watercolour to the whole image only then wishing I had left more white to show the contrast.
So on this sketch I asked social media, should I add colour to the sandstone or leave the sketch with only the window panes coloured?
If was a close thing with the ‘leave it like it is’ option winning 22 : 18.
So here it is once scanned. I like the fact the windows are highlighted by being the only part coloured in, sometimes it is good just to step back from the picture and leave it for a while. You can always come back to it later.
This sketch was drawn on location with a 0.3 fineliner and watercolours.
There’s a wonderful show of colour currently in Edinburgh, as Autumn waves a magic wand over all our trees.
I walk through this park outside the Scottish Parliament most days, but today the colours of these five trees stopped me in my tracks.
This sketch is of the bright and colourful blossom currently on show in front of the Canongate Kirk on the Royal Mile.
A quick lunchtime sketch of the Balmoral Hotel clock tower, poking above some trees. Seen from Cranston Street which runs down from the Royal Mile towards the railway station.
It was still darkish, or just getting light 😉 when I left the house to catch the bus into town this morning.
