Pencil Sketches, A6 Sketchbook (and A Pebble Holding The Page Flat).

Pencil sketches, A6 sketchbook (and a pebble holding the page flat).

I'd like to thank @edinburgh-by-the-sea for the help that have unknowingly given me.

I was struggling to draw landscapes because I couldn't simplify them until I found photos by @edinburgh-by-the-sea .

The composition of their photos is wonderful, they have an 'eye' which is distinctively theirs and it really appeals to me.

So I studied their photos and made super quick, shape sketches of them and now I'm able to see in a way that can simplify a landscape.

Huge thanks again to @edinburgh-by-the-sea, your creativity has made such a difference to me.

P.S. I hope you don't mind me posting my versions of your photos. I forgot to ask first and they don't do your photos justice at all.

Dunollie Castle sketch.

6B pencil on drawing paper.

A preparatory sketch of the ruins of Dunollie Castle, Oban, Scotland seen from Gallanach Road.

“Kisimul Castle, Isle of Barra”.

Pastel on white drawing paper, approx 146mm x 90mm.

Subdued colours and dark tones make for a brooding and moody interpretation of Kisimul Castle, protecting the village of Castlebay.

Pencil sketch, 6B pencil on paper.

The Isle of Mull behind the silhouette of the Isle of Kerrera. A view from Oban, mainland Scotland where the sunsets are spectacular.

“A Break in the Rain at Loch Brittle.”

Pastel on smooth, white 300gsm paper, approx 102mm x 113mm.

We’d been confined to our tent all day as it had been raining heavily. Then just before sunset the rain stopped and we celebrated with a walk along the loch, thanking the weather gods.

Kisimul Castle sketch.

6B pencil on drawing paper.

There wasn’t much going on in the reference photo so I changed the orientation to portrait and added some foreground diagonals and colour notes.