Head and Torso

I went to the afternoon Sunday session again today.  Two long poses in two different rooms.  Today I didn't move but did a portrait and then a torso of the same pose and model.  Both a bit wonky!

Facial Expressions

In portrait class this week we worked on facial expressions with a model who is particularly good at showing different moods.  We didn't have a lot of time for each of the mood sketches but this is what I came up with.

Shock

Disgust



Fear

Sadness

Happiness



Anger



More Portraits

I missed a portrait class while I was away but I've had a couple more since.  And today I went to open drawing - the afternoon session with one long pose.  I did a portrait of each of the two models.  Those portraits are at the bottom.

Scottish night (day seven)

The host, the piper and the haggis

The Edinburgh Scottish dinner was meant to be our best memory -- according to the tour description.  Actually it was the cheesiest.  It was held in a hotel banquet room around the corner from where we were staying.  Ours was not the only group there.  The dinner was served like clockwork -- hard to imagine a quicker dinner for such a huge crowd.  The host was Scottish of course and wore a kilt.  The usual stupid jokes about what was under it etc. etc. -- jokes obviously told many times before.  But the music was good -- drums, keyboard and accordion.  Scottish dancing and a piper who piped in the haggis.  The last course of the dinner was a scoop of haggis and a scoop of "neeps & tatties."  I've always loved turnip.  This was the last night of the trip.

Greyfriars Bobby (days six and seven)

Statue in Edinburgh

Exhibit at the Museum of Edinburgh

Bobby's collar

One of the first things I did in Edinburgh was to find the statue of Greyfriars Bobby.  During our city tour the next day I learned that his collar was at the Museum of Edinburgh so I went there as well and photographed the exhibit.  Of course faithful readers of this blog will recall that my Grannie took me to the Disney movie which came out in 1961.  My brothers had already been taken to see Lawrence of Arabia which came out in 1962 -- so it must have been that year.  (Grannie died in 1963.)  I stayed in Grannie's apartment the night before the movie.  This was a unique experience even though we spent many nights together in the summer at her cottage.  Also Grannie had a cairn terrier when she was little.  At Cairndow, on Loch Fyne, given to her family by the Duke of Argyll and named Carlo.  That was all I ever knew about the dog.  Now I have a Yorkie named Toby.  I have to take from this the fact that Grannie knew the story of Greyfriars Bobby and wanted me to see it -- to see the Scotland that she remembered.  Similarly with the kilt made for me.  Many reasons why this is important to me now.

Edinburgh (days six and seven)

Royal Yacht Britannia

Holyrood Palace

Canongate Kirk

on the Royal Mile

Inside Edinburgh Castle

View from Edinburgh Castle

We were given a good bus tour of Edinburgh on the Friday morning.  This was the last time with tour guide Patricia and driver Bob.  I saw more of the city than I'd seen on the two previous times I've been there.  I'm still not sure what it is but I much prefer Glasgow.  I feel shut out of Edinburgh.  Strange because it's a lovely city.  Maybe too lovely, too well preserved and polished -- not lived in like Glasgow.  Though the castle is amazing up there.  The old alleyways and cobble stones.  And millions of tourists.

St. Andrews (day six)

St. Andrews Castle ruins

St. Andrews Cathedral ruins

What a lovely little old town.  Great place to go to university I'm sure.  We drove by the Old Course on our tour.  Crazy to see how it really is IN the town.  The clubhouse seems much smaller.  The famous bridge visible from the road.  There's a ruined castle and a ruined cathedral.



Culloden, Pitlochry and Dunkeld (day five)

Highland cattle

Pitlochry

The group in Dunkeld

River Tay outside the Dunkeld hotel

The Dunkeld Hilton

We left Inverness and drove to Culloden which is very close by.  I didn't walk the battlefield but I did go through the exhibit in the visitor centre and wander in the gift shop.  Something about the landscape in that area really got to me.  It's a place I'd like to visit again.  I can see a trip based in Inverness.  Then we went south to Pitlochry.  I think it's mainly Victorian.  Quite nice.  That's where we had lunch.  Then further south to Dunkeld where we walked around a bit.  The group photo that I took includes everyone but me and one husband who was taking a picture at the same time.  We were meant to stay in Dunblane but that was changed to the Dunkeld Hilton which had a lovely setting in a park on the River Tay.  The dining room was an enormous beautiful room.  They had two tables set up for our group which I liked.  The next morning Bob the driver berated me for putting brown sugar and milk on my porridge.  Just what I would have expected from him!  We all know that it should only be salt.



Skye (day four)

Skye bridge from Kyle of Lokash

We drove to Skye for the day from Inverness.  In my trip in the 1970s I got as far as Kyle of Lokash but didn't board the ferry.  Now there's a bridge.  We drove up to the town of Portree and back.  They stopped a few times for photos.  Nothing much to be added than that -- amazing landscape.