Simon White Art

I wanted to paint a bothy in a Scottish landscape with a nice sky, but I couldn't find a picture of the exact scene I pictured in my mind. I had a picture from a trip North, and it had the bothy and hills I wanted but it was a dreich, rainy day so the colours were muted and sky just grey. Also the composition of the picture wasn't the best (from a car window!) having half a loch on it. I thought I could incorporate the aspects I like - bothy, hills, general form of it and include a 'nicer' sky, ditch the loch, and last minute I added a tree (because I like trees, and had never painted one before!). Lets put a tree in! So I've included a series of images of the painting. I like the sky, bothy and tree! But that kind of tree although nice (in my mind) isn't quite right, as its unlikely to be growing next to a bothy in this particular setting.  Overall its a a step forward in my painting, but I don't think the whole image sits comp...

The skies here in the Highlands are magical but I can't really quantify why. I was informed that the sky is everywhere (true - sort of) and its possibly not different here... but I beg to differ. Various projects... all about the sky! There's a vastness to it, the clouds roll in and out all day long, perpetually changing shape and size. The brightness, clarity, air quality are notably more vivid. The colours are magical, from bright blue sky, through moody greys, brooding reds, oranges and majestic purples. sky over the sea at Rosemarkie, Black Isle In this (Black Isle) area I wonder if its also because we are in the rain shadow of the mountains to the west and weather rolls in from this direction over the hills, drops its rain and then breathes a sigh of relief and calmly moves over this area of farm land and the Moray Firth and out to sea in the East... A copy of a James Morrison painting (he paints in oil) to try and develop my technique Must keep painting....

I naively thought that watercolour would be the easiest paint medium to start with, but a few folk started telling me that this isn't the case when I started.... Ben Loyal (from photo) - very disappointing painting! Immediately I was very unhappy with my results. If I look at my Ben Loyal painting I hate it! It's all wrong, the colours are too bright, nothing fits together, no depth... Horrible, horrible, horrible.... but with every wash or dip of water and paint I learnt something. I know exactly how I wanted things to appear but simply couldn't achieve this... why did I think that I would immediately good at this I don't know. watercolour sketch (from picture) But I'm persevering and for the past month I have painted for a short time pretty much every day after work and have become obsessed with the skies and trying to paint them. I love this little painting I did of a bothy and sky! (totally made up whilst doodling!)

After the week away I continued to draw and set about drawing all sorts such as studies of my hands, chairs and boats! I've always had an obsession with wooden fishing boats, particularly tired old ones seen out of the water at docks, in gardens, wherever really. I churned out quite a few and really enjoyed adding a splash of colour on the buoys.  A wedding present boat! Can you spot the crab..? I also really wanted to paint a picture for of Chalus a medieval village in France where my friends live, but I knew that I had no skills to pull this off so drew the village instead. I was really pleased with the drawing and putting washes over it would have certainly ruined it at this stage!  Chalus - France

I've had a yearning to paint or draw landscapes for an age but its been a lingering thought.... a whisper that came and went over the last 5-7 or so years, I can't remember when it started. I wanted to capture the light and feel of what I saw through my own eyes. First sketch - Oban from the ferry I think I somewhat fulfilled this private aspiration with my photography. I love taking pictures when out on adventures. Sure I'm no expert at this but I like to think that I could capture some 'okay' shots, and I am reasonably satisfied with my results always taken 'on the fly' and not set up. So in May 2017 I was heading to the Western Isles on a cycle touring trip riding from Bara to Butt and last minute on a whim I threw in a sketchbook and pencils. Immediately on the ferry from Oban I became engrossed and maybe obsessed with drawing, initially liking architecture within nature. I realise that these sketches are pretty basic, and I wasn't ha...