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HEBRIDEAN PRINCESS passing Boreray
- Owner: Donald E. Meek (View all images and albums)
- Uploaded: Oct 27 2010 03:52 PM
- Views: 1,278
- Category: Donald E. Meek's Gallery
This palette-knife splash-up attempts to show the 'Hebridean Princess' (my ideal cruise-ship!) sailing between Hirta, the main island of the St Kilda archipelago, and the equally astonishing island of Boreray to the north-east of Hirta. The stacs known as Stac Li and Stac an Armainn, with their accompanying 'rocklets' to heel, stand off the northern tip of Boreray. The perspective is from Conachair, one of the cliff-edged hills of Hirta, as if you were looking across to Boreray. I have not seen the 'Heb P' in this location, nor have I seen a photograph of her there; the scene is reconstructed, using photos of Boreray and the fine brochure of Hebridean Island Cruises, which has excellent shots of the 'Princess' and much else. Painting needs to be finalised, mainly on points of detail - when it dries (as it was done 'wet' in about 3 hours)!
As I already said Donald...this one looks good in the thumbnail before you even look at it and I am waiting in great anticipation to see how you go from here ! Love the colours and still wondering what paint you are using ??
I think the 'Heb P' has been to St Kilda quite a few times, Ronnie: she was scheduled to go there this summer; so I imagine quite a few Masters have taken her to Village Bay over the years. Kenny was in charge at the beginning of the 'Heb P's' career, and may well have been the first Master to take her to St Kilda as 'Heb P'; the current Masters are Mike Hepburn and Ian Stevenson. When she was in St Kilda in 1979 as CalMac's 'Columba', Jimmy Campbell was the Master. Your are most kind, Debra. I use very ordinary oils bought from 'The Works'! Nothing fancy here! The knives I use are Daler Rowney, and that's the most expensive part of the kit; I have a set of eight, and use three or four in a 'splash' like this. The latest version has been posted. I'll work on the Boreray cliffs and 'Heb P' a bit more. Many thanks again. Will keep you posted as I develop it. I have put some more effort into the rocks and profile of Boreray, and I feel that I'm a good bit closer to the reality now....These rocks are not easy to paint, given their various shapes, as well as all the guano that the gannets have poured on top of them over the centuries! I could not have done this without using a palette knife - it allowed me to suggest the formation of the rocks. I'll be delighted to have suggestions for improvement and other comments from those who know these astonishing islands. This is the first time that anyone has attempted to paint the 'HP' in this location, and even Hebridean Island Cruises do not have a photograph of the scene. So there's a lot of imagination in this one! 
