Sunset over Goathland

Many years back I visited the National Gallery in London and checked out the Turners. It struck me at the time that my appreciation of art had in fact been replaced by a technical appraisal. I now see paintings in a completely different way.... but don't get me wrong J. W. M. Turner was a true master.

The paintings on show at the time included the Fighting Temeraire which had a similar sky to this one. It was a shame to see that they were all terribly faded, it would have been amazing to see them as they were when he had just painted them.

The other thing that struck me was that Mr Turner had painted all the skies on show in a similar way . He had a sky formula.

I was a little disappointed but also found it very liberating in that I was now allowed to construct paintings rather than slavishly trying to represent what I'd seen. If it was OK for the great Mr Turner then surely it was OK for me.

Longniddry power station with Edinburgh's Arthurs Seat in the background

This is a commission of the now demolished Longniddry power station just outside Edinburgh. I have fond memories of windsurfing and beach parties in the area when I was a student. 

I tried to do a video of the process but hit problems getting my Android phone to talk to my Mac, I'll try again next week with my Nikon.

Two Edinburgh sketches

Just back from a little trip to Edinburgh, although it's very beautiful I find it a very hard city to paint as all the buildings are so high, I much prefer to be out in the open under a big sky.

This is of the old power station at Longniddry, it's no longer there but I have a deep affection for this scene as it was possibly the first water colour landscape I ever painted at the tender age of 21.