Among his fellow-students of this period and companions of a later time were William Bell Scott, Horatio MacCulloch, Sam Bough, and George Paul Chalmers.
To extend his experience he studied for a long time in Belgium, there using water-colour as his principal medium, though his chief work was done in oil-colour.
[1] He found English subjects for his pictures in Surrey, Kent, and Yorkshire, but his main themes were Scottish highland landscapes.
He was a pioneer among the Scottish 'out-of-door' artists, frequently completing his pictures directly from nature a practice which explains his vigour and realism.
In his later years he adopted a more glowing scheme of colour than in his earlier work; but his pictures were always noticeable for their realistic line and tone, and for their technical excellence.