Scottish Landscape Art – Scottish Landscape Paintings

Last Wednesday afternoon at about half past four I stood back from the big Glen Rosa drawing and decided that it was probably finished.  When I planned the project, all I knew was that I’d have around 35 days in which to complete it.  To be honest I really wasn’t sure that it would be enough time but there was really no way of knowing.   Over the previous 18 months I’d done eight or nine double A1 size “test” drawings to see amongst other things, just how long it would take me to do this size drawing using graphite pencils.  These smaller pieces took around 5 days work…..so I kind of figured that I should have enough time to do the large piece.

Glen Rosa drawing, detail

Regardless of how much I planned, there were however, still many unknown factors when it came to the large drawing.  One of these was of course, how much time I spent talking!  Working in a public gallery in a busy arts centre meant that many people would be walking by watching the drawing develop.  This was an important part of the project but before starting I just didn’t know quite how busy it would be and quite how much time I’d spend talking rather than drawing.  As it turned out, the balance was just about right for me.  There have been plenty of people stopping to look comment and chat but there has also been ample time in between, for me to get down to work.

Glen Rosa drawing detail – 2

I have to say that I’ve really enjoyed working in the gallery in the Harbour Arts Centre.  It’s a magnificent space and the main wall is just perfect for creating a large piece of work.  The project seems to have generated a lot of interest too and hopefully will have encouraged a few folk with their own artistic endeavours.

Glen Rosa drawing detail – 3

I’ll be popping into the gallery to tidy up and remove the large piece of paper I taped to the floor to catch all the graphite and bits of rubber.  Then, it will be about done I guess.  Of course, as you know, I do like to give these things a little time and now that I’m ahead of schedule I can let this huge drawing settle while I go back to my studio and start work on the Brazil commissions.  I’ll pop in to see the drawing most days and then, if I feel that there are any parts of it that need a little extra work, I can do this in the final week before the “End view” on January 8^th, between 7pm and 9pm.

Finished drawing

I do hope you’ve enjoyed following the progress of this piece of work…..especially if you’ve managed to get into the HAC to see things for real, or if you’ve been following  the short time lapse videos that Graham, Tosh and the team at Model X Media have been recording and posting on line each day.  You can find out more about this great Ayrshire based company by visiting their website: www.modelxmedia.com .

These blogs have been a little few and far between over the last two months or so but I’ll try to get things back to a normal weekly routine soon.  In the meantime, I hope you all have a very Happy Christmas.