I recently had two very different experiences painting on the coast. While only days apart, each session had it’s unique challenges, and I wanted to share some tips for painting on Scotland’s coast in the winter (besides the obvious, it’s cold!!).

The other day I met up with my plein air painting group at Portsoy, a beautiful town with many subjects to inspire. I chose to paint the cliffs to the west of town because I’m currently studying rocks with my Patreons.

Challenge 1 – Extreme Light

The sun stays low in the sky throughout winter, which casts strong shadows and can often cause an extreme glare on water or bright surfaces. It also means the watercolor paper is a source of light, reflecting the sun, sometimes blindingly so.

To combat this, I had to wear sunglasses the whole time – something I don’t suggest if you are using color. But I get migraines and I was doing my best to avoid my usual triggers.

Anyways, the extreme light will minimize the details in the shadows and highlights. It becomes more difficult to see subtle colors within each. On one hand I love the strong shadow shapes on these bright days. And I used that as an opportunity to find a focus within the chaos.

I find it’s easiest to start with outlining the shadow shapes. This allows me to design the composition, as the contrast between values will draw a lot of attention.

I’ll start by playing with a few simple pencil sketches.

With my color study, my goal was to 1. Play with the shadow shapes, and 2. Create very abstract expressive waves to emphasize the drama of the day.

I was using dried gouache, diluted like watercolor. This is a fun way of working because you can easily start with thin transparent color and build up the opacity towards the end.

I usually paint smaller than this (in a sketchbook), so having a bit more room to play was wonderful.

Challenge 2: Flat Light

I’m sure you’ve been in a beautiful location in flat lighting due to cloud cover. This is the most common scenario in Scotland. I know of some artists who love this type of lighting, because it means their scene won’t change (totally understand that). But I tend to gravitate towards contrast, like strong highlights/shadows.

So when I’m stuck with clouds, I need to change tactics. I focus more on the subtle shifts of local color in my subject, like the thousands of shades of earth tones on the cliff faces.

But first, a few warm-up sketches. Using graphite, I like to think about the structure of the rocks.

Using ink and watercolor I like to play with flow of color and expressive marks.

It also gives me an opportunity to study the unique shapes of the cliff face, the interesting striations and plants that grows on the edge. Drama can be created with splashing waves. In my larger color study, I focused on two goals: 1. finding a balance between all the gray with just enough color to be interesting, and 2. soft vs. hard edges.

Supplies I’ve been enjoying:

• Graphite: Graphgear 1000 0.9 clutch pencil (BUY)
• Tombow Mono Zero Eraser (BUY)
• Large Spiral sketchbook Stillman & Birn Beta series
• Watercolor Paper: Arches cold pressed (BUY)
• DeAtramentis Document Ink (blue)
• Dip pen (cheap old one)
• Gouache – see my list here
• Sarah Burns Custom brushes (travel version coming soon)

Watch the video: