An extensive view of the Isle of Skye with cattle in the foreground

Turner first visited Scotland in 1838, having previously undertaken tours of the Lakes, North Wales, Derbyshire, Devon and the New Forest. Until 1815 he had worked mainly in the southern counties of England, often sketching around Bristol, anticipating the artists of the Bristol School. Placed as a student with John Varley in 1804, he was elected a member of the Old Watercolour Society in 1808. Examples of his work can be seen in the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Ashmolean, Oxford.