Whisky Forum - Artist in need of guidance

colinartist · Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 7:10 pm Post subject: Artist in need of guidance

Hello Whisky lovers! My name is Colin Wilson and I'm a still life artist living in beautiful Edinburgh. I am lucky enough to make my living from painting, and in recent years I've been specialising in painting bottles and glasses of alcohol. So with my work being exhibited in Edinburgh naturally I want to fully explore the world of whisky. Not being a Whisky drinker myself (sorry) I have no idea what bottles would be desirable yet popular enough to strike that balance of recognition and quality that I need. This is where I ask for your help. Can you recommend such bottles? Bottles that both whisky lovers and casual explorers from all around the world will recognise and desire enough to buy a painting of and stick it on their walls.

Also if anyone has any ideas where I can actually get empty bottles of this quality of whisky it would be much appreciated. I'm aware that forgery in the whisky world is a problem and therefore empty bottles are often not passed around easily, however I'm happy to pay or if possible return the bottle to the original owner. You can see examples of my work at my instagram account below. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, Colin

www.instagram.com/colinwilsonart

Gregor · Master Of Malts Joined: 25 Apr 2008 Posts: 798

A few iconic whisky brands that would probably attract interest from whisky drinkers would be The Macallan, Ardbeg, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet.

You can often pick up empty bottles on ebay

Olorin · Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 8:47 pm Post subject:

bluepeter · Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 10:42 am Post subject:

Glenfiddich is ubiquitous, so pretty much everyone will recognise it - and the green bottle is distinctive.

I'd add Glenmorangie to the list. I seem to recall having read somewhere that it's the most popular single malt in Scotland.

As for empty bottles, how quickly do you want them? Inter alia, I've got bottles of Glenlivet 15YO and Glenmorangie 10YO on the go at the moment. If you can wait several weeks for me to finish them, I don't mind posting the empties to you at your expense. Please PM me if you'd like either or both.

arqueturus · Master Of Malts Joined: 31 Jul 2016 Posts: 262

You don't say Colin, but I think you need to consider Blends as these are by far the best selling Whiskies in the world as well as being absolutely Iconic in brand and design. To that end I would suggest the Johnnie Walker's (Green Label being a favorite of mine).

As for empties, surely we can stump these up between us on this forum with a little ingenuity?

sorren · Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 6:58 pm Post subject:

My advice would be visit the Scotch whisky experience in Edinburgh!! They have a vast amount of bottles to look st and will have some very iconic bottles that you could sketch ..

krakow · Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2017 11:07 am Post subject:

An idea might be to trade your artwork for bottles at bars/pubs/restaurants in Edinburgh, with the added aim of having them put your work on the walls.

Alexppp · Master Of Malts Joined: 16 Jul 2010 Posts: 1791

krakow · Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2017 1:21 pm Post subject:

Yes, absolutely, depending on the number of empty bottles of course! Wink

I would never think one empty = one artwork! Full-time photographer here, so I know the struggles to get monetary recompense for creative work! Now, maybe if the bottle were full and one were disposed to enjoy drinking it things would be different... Smile

I guess I was more thinking of building a relationship with a venue whereby one's artwork could be on sale and displayed on the walls and they give you empties to facilitate new works. 'Trade' was perhaps a bad word choice. Just a sketch of an idea.