SCOTLAND – Pen & Wash

A Gallery of my pen and wash sketches of notable scenes visited in various parts of Scotland – Highlands and Islands

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Click on a drawing to enlarge it and view the titles

1. Ailsa Craig – Firth of Forth
2. Castle Tioram – Loch Moidart
3. Castle Dtalker – Argyll
4. Castle Tioram – 2
5. Glen Lochranza – Isle of Arran
6. Lamlash – Isle of Arran
7. Newton Stewart – Galloway
8. Rannock Moor Sunset
9. The Road To The Isles

THE LYNX

‘The Lynx’ … Pen & Wash – WHB 1992

A wildcat
bobcat
Canadian Lynx;
hungry
luminescent eyes
pierce the grasses
as,
crouched in the undergrowth,
I stalk my prey.

Throbbing,
from black-tipped
triangular ears
to black-tipped
stubby tail,
with the
intensity of my need.

Prowling,
seeking hares,
favourites,
but any small mammal,
a life for a life
to keep me alive.

Will it happen tonight?
will my own world end first?
either way
a solution.
Nature’s resolution.

Lynx … Pen – WHB. 1983

 

Bosham Revisited

The village of Bosham (pronounced ‘Bozzam’) in West Sussex is said to be where King Canute, in the early 11th century,  attempted to hold back the waves of the incoming sea.  He did not succeed, as in fact was his purpose in order to demonstrate to his gullible subjects that kings were not all-powerful.  No-one else, either before or after him (barring perhaps Moses) has succeeded either.

I first published an article on this small West Sussex coastal village on the 8th August. Here is a link to it  . . .      Bosham, Sussex, UK

In that blog, one of my very first, I included a number of my photographs of this charming and historic village.  Perhaps the major feature of the village is its delightful waterside setting with the Church of The Holy Trinity dominating the skyline.  I now add below 3 of my panoramic pen and wash sketches, in different styles, of this view from across the waters of the inlet of  Chichester Harbour on which Bosham is situated.

The Waterfall

Canonteign Falls, Dartmoor, Devon . . .  Pen & Wash by WHB

THE  WATERFALL

Humble in its origins
on the heather moor
rolling gently down towards
the valley’s deep green floor

Suddenly the land gives way
beneath its watery tread
and  leads it down the rocky face
towards the river bed

Down the limestone outcrop
over mossy stones
beside the yellowing bracken
it bubbles sighs and moans

Until at last its downward race
is given a pause for rest
before it has to carry  on
with renewed force and zest.

Liverpool’s ‘Three Graces’

Port of Liverpool in the early 20th Century . . . Ink and Watercolour . . . WHB – 2015

My re-creation above, is in pen and watercolour of a scene at Liverpool Docks in the early 20th Century.  Lining the waterfront here are 3 distinctive buildings. The Port of Liverpool Building, generally known as the Dock Office,  is in the left background. To the right behind it (red in my painting) is the Royal Liver Building.   The Cunard Building is between the other two.

These buildings, all Grade I or II listed, are together known as . . .
Liverpool’s Three Graces.

Before The Sun Sets

Pen & Wash Sketch – based on ‘Ancient Trees’ – to mark National Trust Week 1999 . . .  WHB

The crisp crunch of my footsteps as I crossed that frosty field
Confirmed to me the joy that winter brings;
The frail but wondrous sunlight burning through the morning mist
Affirmed a world of wonder in all things.

It brought to me a memory of those long days of my youth,
When all was young and all life was tomorrow,
When time and love and right and wrong were not things I considered,
Just the lasting joy which Nature can bestow.

Tomorrow was a world away from the life that I live now;
No anguish that my world might cease to be
Before I’d felt and savoured all that life can have to offer,
Before the sun sets on that ancient tree.

Despite my knowledge of the pain that’s in the world around me,
Bleak Nature seeks to calm its shifting shadows,
The seasons, sun, the starlight, still remain to bring us hope,
That vital spark from which renewed life flows.

 

 

Scotland in Pen & Wash

Another collection of my pen, ink and wash sketches    This time all are based on my various visits to the West Coast of Scotland.  Clicking on any one thumbnail picture will bring  up a slide show in a larger format.

The sketches, from top left are of:  Sunset over Castle Stalker, Argyll;  View across Loch Moidart to Castle Tioram;  Ailsa Craig in the outer Firth of Clyde;  Road To The Isles, Lochaber;  Sunset on Rannoch Moor;   Newton Stewart, Galloway;  Lamlash, Isle Of Arran;   Glen Lochranza, Isle Of Arran;   Castle Tiora, Loch Moidart. 

 

ART-icle #2 – Tour of the U.K.

This gallery contains 6 photos.

Over the years, I have travelled widely in England, Wales and Scotland.  I often make drawings of the places I visit.  From time to time, I draw in a stylised pen and wash method, using a (mostly) vertical hatching technique. … Continue reading →