The Bass Rock 

William Leighton Leitch created this watercolour painting titled, ‘The Bass Rock’. The rock dominates the picture, which evokes a sense of silent grandeur. Note how the composition divides into three distinct horizontal bands. At the bottom, the rocky foreground provides a textural contrast to the smoother, more distant elements. The middle ground is the sea, rendered with delicate washes that suggest movement and depth. Above, the Bass Rock itself rises as a monumental form, its vertical cliffs softened by atmospheric perspective. The artist employed a limited palette of browns, blues, and whites, creating a cohesive and harmonious visual experience. Looking at the structure of the painting through a semiotic lens, we see the rock functioning as a signifier of permanence and strength, standing in opposition to the transient nature of the sea and sky. The careful gradation of tone and the subtle shifts in color create an ethereal effect. This invites a reflection on the sublime, where the immensity of nature confronts human perception.