View From Langholm Moor (Newcastleton, Scotland)

Gary and I went out for a quick drive in mid February even though it was overcast and cold. We drove through Newcastleton in the Scottish Borders and up the lane that goes right out of the village (as the locals refer to Newcastleton) and up onto the moors.

This is the first view you get when you pull up, a nice bench for enjoying the beautiful scenery.

We pulled up to see the views and got out to take a look around. This is a sign about the Langholm Moor Project to help bring back the Hen Harriers. Hen Harriers are the same thing as the Marsh Hawks I used to see over my back fields in Clarence Center, NY!

There was an interesting structure made of rocks down a little grass path, so I went to check it out.

There was a very long sturdy bench built into the wall, which curved around in an arc. It was a great place to shelter out of the wind and I liked the way it blended into the surroundings naturally.

There was a plaque dedicated to Lord Eskdaill on his 21st birthday. I’ll have to look him up and learn about him; I found the spelling of his name interesting and I’m still learning about local history.

This is the view from the shelter, but I don’t think that little tree was supposed to be right there in the middle! It probably grew up by mistake. I was thinking that some wildflowers would look great growing around the grass circle.

This is the view I decided to use for my painting. I worked from this photo even though it’s much duller than the actual colors were. As I worked on it at home, I checked my colors by looking at the land and trees outside my windows.

First I did a light sketch in pencil on 140 lb watercolor paper.

I’m using the gouache lightly, just like watercolors, I’ll build up colors in layers. I’m sorry I didn’t take any other step by step photos as I worked! I think I worked on this one at night and just did it until it was done.

Here it is finished! (click to see it enlarged) I had fun doing the grass in the foreground by first putting dark browns down then brushing lighter grasses on top. Then I went back and adjusted the colors of the fields in the background, trying to balance colors, lights and darks until it looked right.

I’m looking forward to getting up there again as the spring and summer brings new growth and colors to paint!

Here’s a link to a page all about the Langholm Moor project: http://wildseasons.co.uk/locations/langholm-moor-langholm/204