Green on Blue (... or Two Whales in the Icy Deep)

2.6C cold bright and sunny with a few light clouds. Light breeze.

Apothecary7's day off. We went into Dundee, had tea/coffee and croissants in M&S cafe, and bought a few groceries. Then I drove round to another car park and let Maeve the Deerhound out for a comfort break. Maeve back in the car, Apothecary7 and I went to the McManus Gallery to see the three drawing exhibitions that are on until the end of the month.

Draw the Line: Old Masters to The Beano
Drawing is one of the most basic and enduring of human activities. It remains one of the simplest and most effective forms of communication requiring only a pencil and paper, stick and sand or crayon and wall. It is little wonder then that drawing includes such a vast and all encompassing range of creativity.

The display features figure studies and portraiture, illustration, preparatory sketches, landscape and topography by historic and contemporary artists including Augustus John, Graeme Sutherland, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Will Maclean, Thomas Gainsborough, Amelia Long, William Gillies and Ian Fleming.

Taking a Line for a Walk
Paul Klee’s quote “taking a line for a walk” perfectly encapsulates the freedom of playing with pencil and paper. This display showcases ambitious drawings, featuring both playful and outsize works by artists including James Gunn, June Carey, Franziska Furter, Tim Knowles and Massimo Bartolini.

Work in Progress: From Paper to Paint
Our annual winter works on paper display focuses on the importance of drawing as a preparatory stage for work completed in another media. The five artists featured are Frank Brangwyn, William McTaggart, John Phillip, DG Rossetti and William Quiller Orchardson.

Highlights include a drawing by WQ Orchardson, shown alongside his oil sketch for Voltaire, and an exquisite study by Rossetti for one of the attendants in his masterpiece Dante’s Dream on the Day of the Death of Beatrice, also on show. The display also includes a rare pen and ink sketch by William McTaggart, shown in stark contrast to the colourful coastal images of children seen in the Victoria Gallery.

After lunch we took Maeve the Deerhound for a walk. We went up to the church then continued out along the country road to Scryne. We turned right at Craigmill farm and went down the track to the shore road. The track was frozen, and after the tiny amount of wet snow that fell during yesterday evening it was surprisingly slippy as was part of the cycle path as we walked back along to Westhaven. We turned up the road to the shore to go home today. It was a joy to be out in the bright clear light and see the sea back to a glorious blue.

DMC-LX7 f/1.8 1/100 sec. ISO-80 6mm (35mm focal length 33mm)

Note: The image started life as a photo of a frozen puddle in 1:1 format ... then there was Photoshop Elements and some manipulation. For Abstract Thursday, inspired by youoregon1 :-)