River Dee

'River Dee' graphite on fine cartridge paper. 14 x 9 inches.

One of my favorite trips is driving through Deeside which is a lovely part of Aberdeenshire here in the highlands of Scotland. It is a lush area full of trees, castles and mountains viewed gently in the distance. This area still manages to retain a kind of wildness though the city of Aberdeen is not so far away. The river Dee winds its way for miles twisting and turning and almost all of the time there are trees nestled on it's banks. During the long winter months and even during wet summers there are misty days on this river which lend themselves very well to atmospheric drawings and paintings. The drawing you see here was done on such a day, I was staying in the area overnight and even though the rain seemed to want to hang around there were a few hours when only a gentle mist would float above the river lending itself to a really lovely scene for an artist to draw or paint!  I have decided to mount up (matt) my favourite drawings and look after them well as they remind me of special days out in the highlands in the peace and tranquility, walking in the mists and drawing from my car window as would more often happen during these damp times!