“Welcome to our Highland studio and this Masterworks original painting, ‘Through the Mists of Time – Dunbeath Castle’. One of my rare Masterworks, worked in Artist’s Quality Soft Pastels – rare because the majority of my Fine Art Masterworks are produced in sumptuous oils - worked in soft pastels, because the subject, being somewhat ephemeral, seemed to dictate the use of this softest of mediums. However, as with all of my Fine Artworks, the method used to capture this composition is based on traditional techniques and this painting is no exception.

Whenever we are out and about I am always studying the quality of light in our surroundings, for this is what determines my choice of subjects. We were on one of our exploratory trips further north of our home and studio, stopping off at various fishing harbours that populate the rugged coastline of Caithness – famous these days for being on the Route NC500, beloved of the worldwide visitors to the Highlands of Scotland.

However, the ancient village of Dunbeath, one of our stops, is famous for much more than that and has a long-standing history, amongst which is the fact that it is the birthplace of the famous writer Neil M. Gunn.

SUBJECT - Overlooking the harbour, perched atop the sheer cliffs is the outstanding Dunbeath Castle, parts of which date back to the 15th century. What is less well known is the tragic event that took place in February 1940, resulting in the shipwrecked Gretafield running ashore in Dunbeath Bay.

Which not only inspired the painting itself, but also its title ‘Through the Mists of Time – Dunbeath Castle’, here seen through the misty haze of the day we visited, overlooking some of the ribbed structure of the Gretafield hull, visible when the tide ebbs away from Dunbeath Bay. A story of times long-past, through the constancy of Dunbeath the village and its spectacular ‘Sinclair’ castle.

It was late February, a heavy sea-haar had cast a veil across the sun and the air was still and cool. I wanted to show the sea almost seeming to be alive during an incoming tide. The relentless waves are slow and languid. The almost viscose salty water creeps up the rocks regaining its lost territory. Pools refill with the cooler water of their mother ocean.

COMPOSITION - I wanted to capture not only the scene, but the very atmosphere of this strange day and the location of the blazing tanker, which, having been torpedoed further down the coast, had found its final rest along the seaweed-strewn rocks.

I began my thumbnail sketches using a landscape format, giving the rocks and sea their prominence against the distant castle, visible through the glowing mists. However, it soon became obvious that an upright composition would be more suitable.

This allowed a more interesting negative shape to be created for the sky, silhouetting the cliffs and castle. Instead of my first decision for a large open area of water I divided it with the ridge of rocks.

Note how the cliff mass, top right, is the beginning of a curving path that leads the eye downward through the central mass of rocks; which cradle the sea pool to the left and allow a smaller tidal pool to fill the foreground. Within the left hand sea-pool, one can see the incoming waves, persistently carrying the tide landward. On the right the smaller pools are being filled gently, their dry rock surfaces and weed slowly being submerged in the salty brine.

METHOD – As with my Masterworks oil paintings, this composition is built up in layers, to ensure a gradual and controlled development of tones from the darkest recesses through to the super-highlights.

The number of layers that can be achieved with Soft Pastels is much more restrictive than when working with oils – being, in essence soft, pigmented powder lightly bound to form a ‘cylindrical stick’ that is used to apply strokes of coloured ‘powder’, they reach a point at which further layers are simply not possible.

To overcome this I produced an initial layer of dark rich colours, using acrylic paint – this not only gave me the darkest recesses, but also provided a wonderful ‘tooth’, which grips the ‘powdery’ pastel strokes that follow.The initial drawing was carried out in charcoal and sealed with acrylic colour. This strengthened the surface, fixed the drawing and added an even, additional tooth.

This base allowed me to maximise the possible layers of pastel, using hatched strokes, between which the underlying colours can play their part in the overall colour mix.

The gentle, overriding mist, which bathes the scene, flattens volume in the distance into solid masses of coloured-grey. Here, across the cliffs and larger rocks, they appear as blocks of solid shadow. Most importantly, however, look carefully within these simple, muted greys and you will discover hidden subtle colours and textures – without which the scene would become flattened even further and lacking life and vitality.

Although the sunlight in the foreground is weak, it regains some dominance and in so doing describes volume in the usual way, thus adding contrast to this section.  Here, across smaller rocks and weed, light moves from highlight to dark accent.

The sky demonstrates all the possibilities afforded with the ability to layer pastels. Instead of being a simple flat colour, the underlying yellows are slowly lightened until a final skim of pure white sets the colours aglow.

Look carefully and you can spot that the colour lightens towards the horizon at sea level. This is also true towards the castle, where it casts the turrets and castellations into sharp relief. Thus the detail within the mass of the castle itself can be lost into the mist, but the building retains its bulk and magnificence against the glow of the sky.

As always, we thank you for reading about and viewing my Masterworks, with best wishes from Eileen and myself.”

Paul Taggart

Artist : Author : Presenter : Producer