Perthshire May 2012 sketches - Woods

Sketches of woods / during woodland walks during our fortnight in Perthshire 12th - 25th May 2012. Mainly pencils / pens / water soluble pastels; sometimes watercolour washes; usually an A4 sketchbook, working across two pages for the larger ones.

The steep sided gorge of Glen Garry below Killiecrankie, 15/05/12. Circular walk from Pitlochry, taking in the  Rivers Tummel and Garry, Loch Faskally. I was struck by the inky dark water of the river Garry here.

Rocks at St.David's Well, Weem Rock, 21/05/12. Our second visit to Weem Wood, near Aberfeldy and Castle Menzies. Rock mainly low-grade metamorphic psammites etc. Here, I was taken with the line of darker rock cutting across the bedding planes. It looked like a dyke (igneous intrusion). It was acting as a conduit for water to percolate through the rock, down to the pool at the bottom. Views from the well of the Tay and Aberfeldy. Some lovely trees in the wood, as well as stone carvings of dragons and gruffalo-like creatures.

Weem Wood near Aberfeldy and Castle Menzies, 21/05/12. Our second visit. Weather warming up and beginning to feel sticky, so shade from the trees very welcome. Spring was later here than down south, so the greenery of the leaves / plantlife was very fresh; bluebells still flowering. 

Birnam Wood along the River Tay below Dunkeld, 23/05/12 - my other half as foreground. A very pleasant, shady walk on a very hot day, with highs of about 27C. Not far from here, the Tay cuts through the Highland Boundary Fault; other than the countryside becoming tamer / hilly rather than mountainous, I couldn't see any obvious sign of it along the river.

Another view of the River Tay from Birnam Wood, carving names in  tree trunks apparently popular here - some dating back to at least 1982.

Yellow poppies in the Birks of Aberfeldy woodland. A short woodland walk on the last day of our holiday. Again welcome shade from the heat in the woods. Bluebells still flowering.

Stone carving, Weem Wood - the eye of a graffalo-like head, a griffin a bit further along the path.