John McKinnon Crawford Painter in the Scottish Colourist tradition whose output was prodigious

Tall and lean, neat goatee under a shock of white hair and trademark polka-dot bow tie and Norfolk jacket, John Crawford called himself "a happy man indeed", adding "I wouldn't change my life if the offer was made to me".

The extent of his capacity for contentment typified the man and the artist. Of his days at Glasgow School of Art, studying under lecturers Geoff Squire, Mary Armour, Muirhead Bone and David Donaldson, he recalled "I absolutely loved every day of life there and with them". Out of hours, he and Squire boxed against each other.

Not that he was always the model student. In the early 1950s, Glasgow University rectorial battles could spill over beyond Gilmorehill, and Crawford, a prominent member of the Students' Representative Council, was to be found at the forefront of one faction on the day that the Mackintosh Building in Renfrew Street was whitened with flour bombs.

From his brush flowed the landscapes and portraits of Scotland - his beloved west coast of Colonsay, Oronsay, Barra, Uist, Morar, and his forays to Pennan and Crovie on the Moray coast, plus the neuks of Strathconon. And people: Ruaridh, Earl of Cromartie and Fergus McGee the chef, and the vibrant faces of his three daughters as they grew up.

Born in Hamilton, John Crawford was encouraged in his forays into drawing and painting by staff at Hamilton Academy and his amateur artist mother, Mary McKinnon. His father, Alexander, town officer for Hamilton, rigidly opposed his son entertaining art, preferring that he seek "real work".

After further study at St Martins, London, he took up a teaching appointment at Campbeltown Grammar School. It was a decade that launched his love for the west coast, even to the naming, by Crawford and his wife, Morag, of their three daughters after the Hebridean islands of Shuna, Cara and Rona.

Like the Campbeltown-born William McTaggart Sr, he spent much time painting at Machrihanish. It was in Kintyre that he began sketching and painting every day, a practice that continued all his life until his last months with cancer.

His appointment at the age of 35 as art adviser for the Highlands - he was the youngest person to hold the post - widened his opportunity for travel and painting in Scotland, and he ultimately settled in Strathpeffer. There, he played what he called "the heart attack" golf course, in reference to an 800ft ascent during the 18 holes.

His studio was more than a second home. It was arranged so that he was able to take every opportunity to paint, even for as little as an hour.

Forthcoming exhibitions would see him at his easel around the clock, and his work was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Glasgow Institute, as well as showing from Northamptonshire to Inverness and Aberdeen.

Early retirement - spent in Strathpeffer, before he moved two years ago to Lossiemouth - gave him more time to concentrate on painting in Scotland, France and Italy, and his many one-man shows have resulted in his work being collected by individuals and corporate bodies worldwide.

His passion for sensitive colour is continued by his middle daughter, Cara, painter and inheritor of his tradition, and in whose studio his easel and palette will continue to be used. A documentary that is currently being prepared will feature the work of father and daughter.

John and Cara were painting together at a roadside location near Dingwall when a Mercedes drew up and the driver introduced himself. He was the son of a Romany gypsy family to whose caravan John and Morag gave shelter behind their Campbeltown home at Trench Point. As a 10-year-old, the man watched John paint and, as a result, took up painting himself. He added: "John, you were the only person who didn't turn us away."

He is survived by Morag, his daughters Shuna, Cara and Rona, and grandchildren Georgie, Rachel, Christy, Texa, Danna, Blair and Eddie.

John McKinnon Crawford DA, painter and art teacher; born April 11,1931, died March 20, 2005.