“Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight,” Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1835 A full moon illuminates the cloudy sky in this painting by Joseph Mallord William Turner, known as J. M. W. Turner. Turner experimented with painting techniques to convey mood and atmosphere. Looking closely at the surface, can you see that he painted some areas more thickly than others, such as the silvery-white moon and the yellow-orange torch-lights? These raised areas create a textured surface that catches light on

During his visit to Scotland, JMW Turner was developing a more atmospheric view of landscape. In August 1831, he came to stay at Sir Walter Scott’s country estate, Abbotsford, in the Scottish Borders near Melrose - which you can see intimately depicted here through the cosy watercolours 🌳 Sir Walter Scott passed away a month after Turner visited and drafted his sketches - so by the time Turner expressed his stay through watercolour, he made them a posthumous tribute to his friend and writer. To