Born in Fife, John Houston found inspiration for many of his paintings from its coastline. This sketchbook is an example of his coastal inspirations and features several pastel sketches.
John Houston’s oil works were rarely painted in situ. Sketchbooks like this one are evidence of this, showing how he tended to use sketches to capture a reflection and sense of place to act as a guide for his paintings. Whilst John’s coastal paintings vary in their inspiration, colour and composition one of his favourite subjects was the Bass Rock, which he sketched and painted regularly. In this sketchbook, the Bass Rock can be found sketched in pastel on page 55.
