The day started bright and early, on a Day Trip from Inverness to visit Isle of Skye and Eilean Donan Castle. It was a day that lived up to Scotland’s rainy reputation — grey skies, misty hills, and windy.
One of our first stops, and one might say the most important of all, was to see the famous Scottish coos (Highland cattle). If you’ve never encountered one up close, they’re enormous, shaggy, and completely unbothered by tourists. The calves are adorable.
Before reaching the Isle of Skye, we made a longer stop at Eilean Donan Castle. It is known to most film fans from the movie Highlander. There was enough time for a walk around the grounds and a quick brunch before heading on.
My photos from Scotland are honestly not the ones I reach for most when painting. I find myself gravitating toward the sunny beach shots of San Diego or the wintry fjords of Norway. But I do love autumn. You get fewer crowds in most places, more comfortable temperatures, and none of the infamous Scottish midges.
One of our stops on the Isle of Skye was Loch Langaig, a scenic spot with a trail leading to the Quiraing mountain peak. I chose this particular photo for its simplicity. The composition is clean and the palette is restrained. Sometimes that’s exactly what you need.
The Process
I started with an underpainting in burnt sienna, thinned with safflower oil. It turned out darker than intended, but that just means you push through it with more paint, and sometimes the warmth showing through adds depth. I painted the clouds in a sweeping motion toward the center, blending the first layer until they were soft and atmospheric.
For this painting, I went with the flow. I allowed myself to be free of thought, blocking in the colors, shapes, and movement. Letting the composition naturally keep the eye following the path down the road.
I filled in the foreground with lush greens, then working into the distant hills with a fan brush, dabbing burnt ochres and deep rusts across the slopes. I worked loosely, letting the colors sit next to each other rather than blending everything smooth. That visible brushwork texture feels right for the roughness of the Highland terrain.
To finish, I added tiny figures in the background — a few people and some livestock that give the scene a sense of scale and life.
