Edinburgh

The idea of creating a new town for Edinburgh to be built on the farmlands to the north of the Castle began in the eighteenth century. A young architect, James Craig submitted plans for the competition at the age of only 22. Nine years later, the building work commenced in 1767. His winning design was a simple. It was a beautifully pleasing arrangement of parallel main streets, George Street, Queen Street and Princes Street.

Today, Princes Street is the home of some of the biggest names in retail. These include Jenners, Marks and Spencers, British Home Stores, Debenhams and House of Fraser.

Landscapes in Watercolour

This limited edition print of Princes Street, Edinburgh is one of 19 of my paintings of Edinburgh that have been published as limited edition prints. This particular one depicts the street on a winter’s afternoon. It was featured in a book titled “Landscapes in Watercolour” by Theodora Philcox. The book contained some of the works of 23 of the leading watercolourists from around the world. I felt privileged to have some of my paintings included.

It is one of my personal favourites of Edinburgh. The technique of using the subtle build up of washes to create the effect of ariel perspective is quite tricky to achieve. One can easily overdue the washes and in doing so, kill the translucency  of the watercolour. Sorry, I didn’t mean to go all technical!

If you have one of my prints of Edinburgh and you would like to share any special memories the painting evokes, then please feel free to post a comment below.