Tourist of the tourists.

"Time Traveler of Loch Ness"

By James Swanson/ Traveler Taylor
16"x 20" Oil on Linen

See how it was painted over time.

How can I've painted Scotland without seeing the main attraction? It’s like going to Disney World and not seeing Mickey. Of coarse I’m talking about Lock Ness Scotland.

The "Surgeon's photo" (1934), later revealed as a hoax

I wasn’t looking for the Loch Ness Monster to paint, no I don’t think Nessy would have sat still for a portrait. I was looking for what the other views of Loch Ness looked like, and I found a portal into Lock Ness past with the help of our new Traveler Taylor.

All Photos by Traveler Taylor

With all the spectacular views of Loch Ness I’ve decided to do some time traveling. Great views of the loch and hills and I chose to paint from some battle re-enactment at Urquhart Caste photos from Traveler Taylor.

Urquhart Castle photos by Taylor

Traveler Taylor’s Story:
We live in Inverness about 15 miles up the road and take a trip every now and again to the beautiful setting of the castle.

Battle Re-enactment at Urquhart Castle

My son and I went to watch the re-enactment at Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness. It took place over a weekend. Held in the field at the back of the castle.

Lots of smoke and fire.

They do a couple of re-enactments per year. The castle is owned by Historic Scotland.

The photo of Taylor's that I'll be working from.

The Travelers Painting: "Time Traveler of Loch Ness"
One of the reason’s that I chose to paint a portrait of a battle re-enactor is because my son made our family become re-enactors of the American Revolution.

Picture of my son and The Kings 8th regiment.

But of coarse he chose to be on the side of the British, and since the Scots were on the British side it is only fitting to paint a re-enactor.

The Sketch: OK this isn’t the best sketch that I’ve ever done, but I was able to put down the information that I needed to go forth.

The canvas drawing: when I paint a portrait I draw with vine charcoal on the canvas. From the sketch I drew in where the man was going to be on the canvas-off center with more room on the right side.

With most of my colors mixed up on the palette I start to block in the face. Working from dark to light.

Refining of the face and color:

Painting Tip: Your darkest dark in a painting will be a warm dark, like a dark brown or red mixed with a dark blue.

Also a tip about light and shadows, a rule of thumb to use- warm light = cool shadows, and cool light= warm shadows.

Here the painting is all blocked in. I’m going to leave the background just the way it is, I always like the look of backgrounds with canvas showing threw.

How the work of refining the image. Lots of things need to big redrawn and moved.

End of day one. I only worked a few hours on this, but it has gotten to the point where I need a break and time to get a fresh eye.

There was a few things that I knew I wanted to change in this painting, and there parts that I didn’t want to touch. Most of the work was color changes and edge work. Making sure that the proper edge was soft and the right one hard.

Details of the painting.

Done and Framed

"Time Traveler of Loch Ness"
By James Swanson/ Traveler Taylor
16"x 20" Oil on Linen

I never knew about the Castle at Loch Ness, it was a good thing that I ran into Traveler Taylor. Taylor said she has never seen the monster and know no one who has- sorry I had to ask, tourist. Thanks Taylor.

About re-enactors, these fine souls volunteer their time and money to play a part in time. If you ever get a chance to see one do so they are great fun. Also talk to these people when you are there the are walking history. They know everything and tell it freely. And if you have a story to tell, you can tell it to me here or at www.TheArtistAndTheTraveler.org.

I’ve seen some wonderful country here in Scotland now it is time to visit some cities. On the road again, til next time Cheerio!

Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross, Glencoe?

"Road to Glencoe"
By James Swanson/ Traveler Eric
12"x 24" Oil on Panel


Watch the journey of this painting.

"Put the coffee down! Coffee is for CLOSERS" One of my favorite movie lines, it's from the movie Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross. It has nothing to do with our next painting adventure, just a name thing.

What's in a name? There is a town near where I live named Glencoe- really a village, whats the difference between a town and a village?

Welcome to Glencoe IL.

I'm sure there are Glencoes all over the country, but the original is in Scotland. And that is where we meet up with our old friendly Traveler Eric.

Travel Eric in Scotland on vacation.

Eric has hiked in almost all the National Parks in Canada, but on this vacation to Scotland, he was walking, hillwalking that is. Hillwalking or fell walking is a national past time in the U.K. and by the photos I've been getting from these walkers I can see why. It is Gorgeous country, and worth every step they take walking it.

All these Photo's are from Eric's Scotland Trip

Eric's Story:
These pictures were my introduction to Glencoe. It was drizzling and raining and I climbed up a short trail in a car park for these views.


The "Hidden Valley" is on the left side of this picture. The valley is actually fairly high up. A blockage at the front caused a raised valley to be formed. There is a nice hike going up and to the end of the valley.


If you are good and eager you can then hike the steep scree wall at the end of the valley and then walk a trail along the ridge connecting the mountains.


Such a hike makes for a long day; 8+ hours. Typically one would come out the valley beside the hidden valley, Coire nan Lochan.


During our Scotland trip this was the only place where we experienced midges.

Eric in Scotland and wet.

It was generally always drizzling. I'd never consider camping in Scotland! Salvation is hostels with a drying room and a kitchen to cook food! The hostels were great and we found the people wonderful.

The Photo of Eric's that I painted from.

The Traveler Painting :
" Road To Glencoe" I could paint in the U.K. forever and never capture all the wonderful places that I'm seeing from our Travelers. Eric has let me be a tourist of his Scotland trip photo album. With his eyes, camera, and feet he has filled one of the voids I had in Scotland.

The Sketch: By now you should now that like a road trip a painting must have a plan or map. That is why sketches are done. This is the sketch that I ended up going with to start this painting journey.

The Darkest darks are painted in. Here the prepared panel has been toned with a warm grey. Lighter areas have been pulled out with a paper towel.

Painting in the foreground and working my way back to the mountains. A good way to feel and create the depth in a painting.

Sky is painted in last. Painting is Blocked-In. Time to start defining the color and structure of it.

Painting Tip: This painting tip is from a book that I've been reading. I've been reading it for years, not because it's long and I read slow, but because of all the excellent painting information it contains. It's "Oil Painting- The workshop experience" by Ted Goerschner, if you can find this book you should take a good long look at it. It has a lot of good thoughts about painting, art materials, and color. It has helped me out quite a few times, maybe it can help you too. And that is my tip, keep looking, searching, and learning.

The clouds coming over the hills is what drew me to this photo and I wanted to capture that and the way the sunlight was striking the hills.

Redefining the space with color. Things are taking shape areas of the painting or being adjusted for where they should be in the space.

Working on the lighting of the hills. End of day one.

Before I paint on this second day I've taken this photo of the painting and brought it into Photoshop to see what changes are needed. This is good way to take a fresh look at it and see what pops out at me. At this point I'm not looking at Eric's photo anymore, I'm looking at just the painting.

Pretty much done. There was a lot of edge work that needed to be done to finish this painting. By edge work I mean where one color meets another color. The ridges of the hills is a good example. The closer hills have a much harder edge than the ones farther back.

Done, the only difference between this photo and the one before it, is this has been sprayed with Demar Retouching Varnish. See how the darks have come back to life.

Details from the painting
Framed and ready to go."Road to Glencoe"
By James Swanson/ Traveler Eric
12"x 24" Oil on Panel

That was a nice painting trip. Thanks go out to Traveler Eric, for the use of his photos and for sharing his trip to Scotland with us. This project wouldn't get very far without friends like him. If you would like to join in on this painting journey you can contact me here or at www.theartistandthetraveler.org

Well, it's that time again, another Traveler Painting finished, brushes and palette cleaned and ready for another adventure. I'm off to meet up with another Scottish Traveler, until then keep your kilts dry.