Holworthy O.W.S., James (1781 – 1842) – An Artist Sketching at The Mill Gate (Porth-y-Felin), Conwy Castle, Wales.

Holworthy exhibited views of Wales at the Royal Academy in 1803 and 1804. This early work would have been made on a trip around that time. Below the towering gateway, dramatically back-lit by the sun, Holworthy has included two figures, perhaps himself with a travelling companion, one sketching the castle. Behind the figures the River Conwy winds its course from Snowdonia towards the sea. Holworthy, a great friend of Turner, married Anne, the daughter of Wright of Derby, in 1821. He gave up painting in 1824, making his work rare. At this date he was a pupil of John Glover and the landscape drawing on the verso of this sheet is an essay in that artist's manner.