Falkland Palace – Watercolour with ink highlights in an A3 Watercolour Moleskine

Falkland is a small village nestling below the Lomond Hills in Fife, not far from St Andrews. It has a long history as it grew up around the Palace which was a favourite retreat for the Stuart monarchy. Because of this historical connection, it became Scotland’s first conservation area in 1970. The palace and gardens are situated right in the centre of the village. The whole area has a lovely calm, old world feel about it.

The palace itself is not too big – it was used as a hunting lodge for the likes of James V and later, Mary Stuart. Up until fairly recently it was privately owned and occupied but is now in the care of The National Trust for Scotland. The gardens are quire extensive boasting many fine large trees and planted borders. The only surviving “Real Tennis” court, in Scotland, lies in these gardens. When we visited, last week, the rafters were being used by nesting swallows:

Swallows nesting in the "Real Tennis Court"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_tennis

I hope my painting does it justice. This is the first time I have submitted a post using an A3 Moleskine so I had to photograph it. I did this, outside, as I have had some difficulty with the “white balance” settings on my camera, indoor shots not being quite right.