Highland Stag

  • Technique: Illustration
  • Time Taken: 14 Hours
  • Media: Coloured pencils
  • Size: 27 x 19 cm

Highland Stag

  • Technique: Illustration
  • Time Taken: 14 Hours
  • Media: Coloured pencils
  • Size: 27 x 19 cm

The Brief

On our “mini-moon” my wife and I travelled to the beautiful Highlands and West Coast of Scotland. I took the photograph of this magnificent stag on the last day of our trip as we were heading home. The stag was stood on a deserted car park near Glencoe and Achallader. We pulled over to take a photograph and as soon as the stag made eye contact with me, he started walking towards me. I took the shot and this is what you see. After taking the picture he walked right up to me and sniffed my hand, then he just wandered off. It was magic.

The Result

This took me 14 hours to complete. I really had to make sure I got the colour of the heather and the sky correct here. The setting is so dramatic and especially in winter with all the rich colours, capturing them accurately was a must. The sky was amazing in the photograph and it really was that deep purple depicted in my drawing. A storm was just clearing and the sun lit all the colours up in the clouds. I am very proud of this one and, of course, it has very special memories.