Scottish Landscape Painters
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Scottish Landscape Painters Four third year pupils made a study of Scottish landscape painters. They chose two artists each, carried out some research into their lives and background, examined their working methods and analysed selected examples of their paintings. Research and scripts by Ainslie MacKenzie Gemma McLean Eilidh MacLennan Emma Morrison Joan Eardley Joan Eardley was born on the 18th May in 1921 and as a young girl, in 1929, was badly affected by the suicide of her father. She lived in London, where she attended Goldsmith’s College of Art. After this, she moved to Glasgow, and went to the Art School there. At this time she won scholarships to travel and work in Italy and France and later attended Jordanhill College of Education where she trained to be a teacher. For much of her life, Joan Eardley suffered from depression and died young on the 16th August, 1963. ‘Cottages, Dark Sky’ ‘Snow’ ‘Cottages, Dark Sky’ is a landscape painting of Cattaline, on the north east coast of Scotland, where Eardley lived for some time. It is almost square in shape and the point of interest is a couple of cottages to the left of the composition. The viewer’s eye is drawn to the cottages because, apart from some fences, the rest of the painting is fairly bare and empty. There seems to be a yellow theme to the painting, and the grey colour of the sky contrasts with the strong yellows of the land and the hillside. The style of painting is very free and the brushwork can easily be seen, especially on the hill. Despite the yellow, which is usually a happy colour, the painting conveys a bleak atmosphere, possibly because of the expansive, stormy sky with grey amongst the yellows. ‘Snow’ is another landscape in a square format. A row of small cottages slants down to the right, cutting the composition in two. The roofs form a dark line in the distance, which draws the eye from the rough, snowy ground in the front. The brushwork is again, very free and the atmosphere is one of anger due to the redness in the sky and the overall darkness of the picture. Horatio McCulloch Horatio McCulloch was a Scottish landscape artist. He was born in 1806 in Glasgow and died in 1867 in Edinburgh aged 61. He is best known for his close study of nature in his romantic highland landscape paintings. He introduced the Victorian style seen in a lot of Scottish paintings of the period. ‘On the Banks of Loch Lomond’ ‘On the Banks of Loch Lomond’ was painted in oil on canvas in 1861. The painting is in landscape format and shows a croft house in the middle ground to the right of the composition, nestled into the hillside, beside a river and some trees. In the background are distant mountains. The focal point is to the right of the painting where the majority of interest lies and the viewer’s eye is led there by the little river, which starts in the foreground of the painting. The left side of the painting has less features and this creates some balance. The colours in this painting are all relatively subtle. There is use of both secondary and tertiary colours, but none create much contrast apart from the light sky and large green tree, which includes a lot of shadow. Green and yellow feature a lot in the foreground, while there are more browns and duller greens in the middle and background. The landscape is well lit by natural light and because the composition is quite open, there is not a lot shadow or deep tone in the grass or on the hills. This gives a natural and fresh appearance instead. Although this painting is in oils, it has the soft feeling of a watercolour, with little indication of brushwork. The atmosphere is serene and calm, mainly due to the colour scheme and the natural ambience of the subject matter. It is relaxing - placid and at peace. Ian Nelson Ian Nelson has lived in Wester Ross for 21 years and originally came from the English Lake District. Ian trained as an architect at Durham University and practised until 1986. During this time he attended courses at the local College of Art in Middlesbrough because he always had a strong urge to paint. He was attracted to the Scottish Highlands after painting the popular views of the Lake District that have been painted many times before. ‘Across the Fain’ One lovely painting of Ian Nelson's is called ‘Across the Fain’. It is a watercolour. It is a wide, panoramic scene, which features the gable end of a bothy to the right, with a wide- open space to the left and distant mountains in the background. A road coming from the bottom left corner, leads the eye towards the mountains and creates space and depth in the painting. Tertiary colours are used throughout with brownish greens in the foreground and bluish purples for the distant hills. The artist has not painted in detail but the impression of the different grasslands is given with broad, loose brush strokes of watery paint. The only detailed work included is shown on the focal point, the gable end of the house. The atmosphere of ‘Across the Fain’ is cold and autumnal. The painting feels lonely and quiet as evening settles in. James McLachlan Nairn James Nairn was an artist who painted in Glasgow around the 1880s to 1890s. He was born in Dunbartonshire on the 18th November 1859 and was one of seven children. His father, Archibald Nairn, was a builder and property valuer and James was the only member of his family to pursue an artistic career. He went to school in Glasgow in 1867 and was later apprenticed as a draughtsman in an architect’s office. He also studied at the Glasgow School of Art for four years before enrolling as a student at the Academie Julien in Paris. As a young artist, he became an established member of the ‘Glasgow Boys’, (a group of Scottish artists interested in Impressionism) and exhibited work at the Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts and the Royal Scottish Academy. Nairn emigrated to New Zealand in 1890, on accord of poor health, and stayed in both Dunedin and Wellington. He lived with his father, supporting himself by drawing cartoons and painting. He was later appointed to teach still life painting and life drawing at Wellington Technical School. He married and had a family but ill health was a continuing problem and he died on the 22nd of February 1904. ‘Auchenhew’ ‘View of Corrie’ ‘Auchenhew’ was painted in oils while in Arran in 1886. It is in landscape format, and features a couple of small white houses to the left of the painting. It is either set at dusk or dawn, as the colours seem subdued. The houses, along with some fences and a small croft, create a busy area in the composition but to the right this is balanced by a flat, calm area of sea and sky with a low sun. In the foreground there is a wide field, with just some rocks and grassy tufts. In ‘Auchenhew’, the colours are mainly tertiary and this gives a rather dull feel. It has a lot of depth but is brightened by the white of the house. Nairn used cool colours throughout, working in a realistic style with very small detailed brush strokes. ‘View of Corrie’ was painted a year later and also features a group of white houses. But in this composition, the focal point is the woman in the foreground and the three boats sitting out on dry land. This makes a busy scene but the horizon is quite low and the plain sky balances the arrangement. In this painting the colours are again mostly tertiary but with some stronger secondary colours coming through too. This makes the painting look and feel a lot brighter. Nairn used his tight and smooth brushwork with warmer colours and stronger tone to make a happier atmosphere in this painting. Mike Healey Mike Healey was born in Brazil in 1951. He studied at Kiel School and later at Glasgow School of Art. He won the Haldane and Leverhulme Travelling Scholarships, which let him study and travel a lot in the USA. In the 1980s he became a senior lecturer at Glasgow School of Art and went on to become Head of the School of Design and Applied Arts until 1997. He now divides his time between his Scottish art studio, painting trips and teaching at Lincoln University, where he was awarded a professional chair in Art and Design in 2003. He still shows his work widely in Scotland, London, New York, Bermuda and Japan. Most of this is painted in the Highlands and Islands. ‘Isle of Rhum from Arisaig’ ‘Sunshine and Snow’ ‘Isle of Rhum from Arisaig’ is painted in oils and has a landscape format. It is a painting of a small cottage with the Isle of Rhum in the background. In the foreground there is a single-track road and fence, which lead the viewer’s eye into the two small houses in the middle ground. The shoreline and some trees can be seen to the right. In the background there is the Isle of Rhum, the sea and the sky. It is a distant landscape with all the main features quite far away. It has a very open feeling with no busy areas in the whole scene. The composition is made up of three horizontal bands - the sky, the sea and the land.