The Artist's Magazine - David McEown Painting at the End of the Earth

Ice and Light

2007-10-30T00:04:12.3140000-04:00

Light is symbolic for me as the force that animates and gives life to all forms. In watercolor the light bounces off the white of the paper and back through the glowing pigment molecules that form the storied veils of washes—some transparent, others more cloudy. This light never lets up, as 4:49 am sunrise tugs me from sleep, even this late in the season. The ship drifts quietly and a foggy overcast and snow flurries blow in, like a soft blanket, which feels like a good excuse to sleep in a bit; however, before I close my eyes a cool white light starts to reflect off the ceiling and fills the room to accompany the sound of waves lapping at a shoreline. Out the porthole a massive Pantheon shaped iceberg is forming out of the fog.

We have stopped here in Franz Joseph Fjord, Greenland, and will take the opportunity to zodiac cruise around several fantastic icebergs. This is a major fjord connecting to an extensive system of subsidiary and tributary fjords. The fjord extends for over 160 km and Katabatic winds keep it often ice free in summer except for displays of grounded icebergs such as these. A few sketches are all I have time for, as we are circling the variety of shaped icebergs: from pinnacle, wedged, domed, tabular, and a double, towered with its own featured turquoise bay (these bergs are called drydocks). Most mysterious to view and paint are the blue caves. If an iceberg calves off or rolls over, revealing fresh ice, it often appears with incredible variety of blues. This ice is very old and dense; thus, it has very little oxygen in it, so that only the blue light waves are seen. Later as the ice is exposed to air, the rest of the light waves scatter and mix as white light. To capture the height of these bergs, I prefer to be lower deck to have the perspective of looking up. To make the blues glow, I often work in wet in wet sections, starting with an underpainting with light Winsor violet, scarlet lake, with a touch of aureolin yellow. Into this wash of very transparent colors, I drop a more semi-opaque turquoise blue and often use Holbien’s horizon blue. These are very cool, sometimes greenish blues; however, the darkest blues sometimes will include French ultramarine mixed with Winsor violet. What makes the iceberg painting work, however, is the background or negative shapes and some evidence of scale. Attention to the waterline and the size of waves or water undulations can create that sense of space.

Iceberg cave and zodiac. Photo by Daisy Gilardini

Inspired by the Arctic Landscape

2007-09-25T15:02:19.8200000-04:00

Painting a view of the massive Wordie Glacier, Greenland (photo be Daisy Gilardini)

Still glass waters mirror the steep fjord walls, creating a fantasy of totemic, metamorphic shapes. The ship's wake breaks and distorts the diorama and reveals a temporary thin, flexible film of ice that will melt into the black water, for this will be another sunny day in the Arctic.

Today’s expedition will explore Godthåb Golf, which is an extensive stretch of inland sea entered through Gael Hamkes Bugt in northeast Greenland. The vast Wordie Glacier empties into it, as well as wrapping around it—like a collar around several fantastic mountain shapes called nunataks http://www.coolantarctica.com/gallery/scenic/mountains2/peaks_ice_and_nunataks.htm that rise upward through it. Expecting a charted tidewater glacier, we instead find it has receded back several hundred meters—revealing melt water braided channels that draw designs in the tan glacial silt. Endless inspiration is stirred from such raw and primal forces sculpting the land.

I remember as a young kid being on a field trip to The McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinberg Ontario, very close to where I live. The paintings were strange and supernatural, but what I remember was a very old man with a timeless, contented glow. As a founding member of the famous Canadian collective of painters called The Group of Seven
A. Y. Jackson was still alive and a resident artist there. In the 1920’s the Group of Seven traveled and painted on site in the wilderness—creating a distinctive and influential style.

A.Y. Jackson was one of first to head to and paint the High Arctic in 1927, when he traveled aboard the supply ship the Beothic. Later he took along another member of the Group, Lawren Harris, whose iconic, transcendent mountain paintings evoke a spiritual and meditative reflection that, like this landscape, can refresh the soul. When trying to paint today, I cannot help but feel the Group’s influence, but also the weight of trying to find my own way of expressing this landscape.

Feelings of transcendence this morning are now giving way to the breeze of anxiety, for it's time to get some work done. First rule of creativity, as a photographer friend says, is to “be there”.
In the painting Godthab Golf, Greenland, the format is again 8x22 inches, a half sheet divided the long way. I again start painting on the moving ship; a light drawing helps define a few key features. In this case, I paint the main mountain first and take notes on the reflections, which will look totally different by the time I get to work on them.

I'll use a full palette today; my portable white plastic watercolor palette has a folding lid, at least 3 mixing wells, and a thumbhole. It has about 15 small watercolor pans for which I'll refresh the semi-moist cakes. From left to right, the colors are Winsor&Newton artist quality watercolors, although there are a few exceptions that I note with brackets: French Ultramarine, Winsor Violet, Quinarcidone Violet (Stevenson), Permanent Rose, Scarlet Lake, Cadmium Red Light, Aureolin Yellow, Cadmium Lemon Yellow (Stevenson), Perylene Green, Horizon Blue (Holbein), Turquoise blue (Holbein), Cerulean Blue red shade, Winsor Blue green shade.

My most used brush is an old Chinese wolf hair brush (equivalent to a Number 10). It does not hold a lot of water, so I can snap off excess water with ease and avoid blooms; its organic marks are less predictable than the fine sables I have. I use the fine sables if I have to do delicate glazing. What I also use on large washes is a 1-inch flat sable brush.

The afternoon expedition will be by helicopter; it will take us high up into some lakes along the Wordie Glacier. The vantage point is stunning and again requires a panoramic format. It's hard not to find a good view, but I choose a rock for a comfortable bench overlooking the immense glacial plain. While setting up, I'm captivated by the creaking and groaning of the ice. Anticipating a calving, I thus have the camera ready. All is well into the painting until I realize my paint pans are freezing.This dry cold is deceptive; it must be now well below freezing. Not wanting to ruin the good start to the painting that will be Wordie Glacier, Eastern Greenland, I tape a chemical hand warmer to the back of the palette and add a few tablespoons of glycerin (from the drug store) in one pan, and some ox gall in another. As I make a wash of color I just dab a bit from the 2 mediums, as I see fit. The glycerin seems to keep the paint flexible, although it takes longer to dry, and the oxgall helps the paint flow. Sometime I use alcohol, but it evaporates very fast and dries out the brushes; however, it can create neat textures for rocks. Other additives such as glycol could work, but there is a restriction as what to take on airline baggage.

The palette is warm, but I need to move to create some body heat after being motionless in below freezing temps for a few hours. I grab the camera and head down to the toe of the glacier before the light is obscured by the creeping afternoon shadows. While studying up close the towering ice face that I have painted from above, the creaking grows louder until 4 successive ice slabs crash down. I take pictures rapid fire with the camera, capturing the calving event. A mini tsunami caused by the falling ice echoes through the whole lake. The ice will melt into the sea and appear again for painters of the future to capture in the precipitous clouds.

More information:
An historical note: Immediately to the south of Godthåb Golf is "Hold with Hope" a prominent group of mountains named in 1607 by Henry Hudson. )

A tidewater glacier is one that flows from mountains into the ocean; a glacier is said to "calve" when part of it breaks off. To read more about glaciers, visit
http://www.nps.gov/glba/naturescience/glaciers.htm

Painting from the flydeck while entering Godthab Golf, Greenland

Godthab Golf, Greenland (watercolor 8x22)

Painting late afternoon light above the Wordie Glacier (photo by Daisy Gilardini)

David McEown's set-up at Wordie Glacier, Eastern Greenland

Wordie Glacier, Eastern Greenland (watercolor 8x12)

Calving Wordie Glacier (photo by David McEown)

Painting with Watercolor in the Arctic

2007-09-21T09:38:36.1170000-04:00

Flade Isblink Peninsula is the easternmost point of land in Greenland. Our goal is to reach the northernmost point of land, but ice charts show ominous, multiyear ice along the north and down the east coast. With the limited time given for this expedition, the risk of being trapped
gives way to a desire to explore the rarely seen northeastern fjords. We now drift by in 10/10ths
ice cover. The satellite Polar Ice Charts are nature’s grand paintings; the charts' huge jagged shapes and patterns are an inspiration. In his briefing this morning, the Captain said that it's not the ice he looks for but the winds and currents. If the forces are not in our favor, the winds will pinch the icebreaker, and it will have nowhere to move. The ice thus slow our progress.

Understanding the underlying forces in painting also can influence decisions to avoid being stuck or sunk by dreaded blooms or unwanted backwashes! In painting with watercolor, especially on dry paper, the force of gravity influences the direction of which way the wash will run or the bead will hang. Working on site in this colder climate, I like my paper at fairly steep angle, maybe 45–70 degrees, because I then have control in knowing the bead will always flow down. Painting at this angle will also help me avoid puddles. Pools of standing water can freeze over, or just not dry, in the time I have to paint on site. Also by having paint always draining to the bottom of the paper, I avoid excess buckling of the paper. Nonetheless, it's always important to soak up the gathering water at the bottom to avoid its creeping back up and destroying the bottom part of the painting.

I use a Masonite board that attaches to a photo tripod. I can thus change the angle of the board and can paint standing or sitting. With bull dog clips I attach my homemade folder, made out of plastic corrugate (neutral grey in color). The folder is 16 x 22 inches, so I can put several half sheets inside. Without having to pre-stretch the sheet of 140-lb. Winsor & Newton cold-pressed paper, I secure it on the outside of the folder, again with clips. If I use tape to subdivide a sheet or create clean borders, it's best to pre-tape indoors where it's warm. Tape will not come of the roll without tearing when it gets really cold. As for water—I hang a collapsible water container on one of the clips.

At Flade Isblink Peninsula, the easternmost point of land in Greenland, the farthest north we will achieve on this journey, 80°54.5’N, 13°58.5’W, it's snowing horizontally, but it's balmy for this place, just at the freezing point! Nonetheless, the wind chill makes it painful on the fingertips. In this case, I place the easel into the wind and lean it against the backpack (which can fit my painting folder). I place the painting inside the folder but keep it open with a clip to create a snow deflector.

Snow, sleet, dust and jacket sleeve all still get into the painting, which makes it all the more valuable as and record of the whole experience! On this 15x22-inch sheet, the paint is not quite dry, nor is the painting finished before we have to pack up and head back to the ship. Sometime I will use spacers like twigs or, in these extreme environments, flat stones to prevent the painting from being blotted when stuck into a folder. However, in this case, packing the wet painting, which is mostly of rocks, creates an interesting effect. When I place the painting on a clean sheet and peel it apart later in the thawing-out process, I like the variations that have occurred.

Of historical note, on September 6, 1909, Robert Edwin Peary transmitted the news that he had reached the North Pole with Matthew Henson and an Eskimo sledgeparty on 6 April 1909. One of the Eskimos was named Oodaq, which became the name of the northernmost island on Earth.

More information:
Geographers adjust their concepts just as mapmakers react to changing conditions when they revise maps. To read about the changing topography of Greenland, visit http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/16/news/warm.php
Scientists are reporting a severe retreat of Arctic ice; see the report in the New York Times at
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/science/21arctic.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1190388862-tykhgBNWp7pn7XikMzqhOg

Flade Isblink Peninsula, Greenland (watercolor, 15x22)

Painting at the farthest north, Flade Isblink Peninsula (Photo by Daisy Gilardini)

Easel and snow-shield-painting-set-up, Flad Isblink Peninsula, Greenland
(Photo by David Mceown)

Northbound to the Ice Edge

2007-09-19T15:45:33.5390000-04:00

As the Kapitan Khelbnikov reaches top speed, we plow northbound to the ice edge. I give
the eager passengers the next workshop on “shape seeing.” We are treated to the Northern Lights in the evening, as we make are way to Scoresby Sund for an early morning supply stop. Sunrise is 3:32 am; sunsets at 6:24 pm. Some daylight has vanished as we head north, but the sun is lower in the sky, making for great light and shadows.

David McEown painting at Scoresby Sund (photo by Daisy Gilardini)

Scoresby Sund (watercolor, 8x22) by David McEown

More information:
Greenland is one of the best places in the world to see Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights, a phenomenon caused by the collision between particles electrically charged by the sun and atoms in the earth's atmosphere. The Inuit people believed that when the Northern Lights were dancing in the sky, the dead were playing football with a walrus skull.

Charted by William Scoresby in 1822, Scoresby Sund is the longest fjord in the world and one of the deepest. A fjord is a long, narrow estuary with steep sides, made when a glacial valley is flooded by the sea.

Ammassalik (Tasiilaq)

2007-09-19T13:44:47.7730000-04:00

We visit the colourful village of Ammassalik. There are very few towns along the isolated east coast, which is vastly different in climate and culture from that of western Greenland. Since we'll only be onshore for four hours, I have a good walk around town and up to the cairn overlooking the town. A potential painting place, but light is flat and I am always curious to see what's up in the valley. Late wildflowers seduce me to stay up in the warm hills until the hordes of flies eliminate the desire to undo the paint kit. Chased by the biting hordes, I head back to the breezy, cool lookout and find a composition of a few coloured houses juxtapositioned by a large grounded iceberg. Drawing is all I have time for with the HB pencil, with notations on light direction, values, and hues, then it's time to pack before a large cruise ship comes ashore with 500 people.This will be our last look at a town before setting sail for the northernmost point of land in the world. The ice charts show very thick ice, 10/10ths coverage in our path. We therefore plan to head east farther out to sea and follow the ice edge north, before cutting back into the ice pack. Our days at sea will allow time for some workshops, of which out of the 90 passengers, 15 are very keen on painting and thus make the lounge a hive of creativity.

Into the jaws of ice! The ice chart reveals a 10 out of 10 degree of coverage of ice,
represented by the red pink color.

The Kapitan Khlebnikov plows its way through sea ice.

More information:

Around 877 AD, 1170 years ago, Gunnbjörn Ulfsson made a voyage from Iceland and was blown off
course. Driven to the west, he encountered new land on the east coast of Greenland, probably near
what is now known as Gunnbjornarsker, close to Ammassalik. The highest peak of Greenland, and the highest peak in the Arctic, is named Gunnbjørn Fjæld (3693 meters) after this pioneering explorer.

Painting onboard a Moving Ship

2007-09-17T08:52:56.6790000-04:00

We again awake to the common fogs and calm, silver waters that reflect mirror images of the low flying seabirds. I prepare the outdoor painting kit, as we anticipate entering the Prins Christian Sund. This spectacular, often ice-choked, channel is a shortcut around the southern tip of Greenland; the Sund displays jagged peaks that rise 1600 to 1800 meters from the ocean. I place the easel and tools at the bow of the now sun-filled ship. As we enter the channel, the fog lifts. Thus starts the first challenge for the painter, which is the torture of deciding: should I just take photographs of this moving landscape for reference as the ship passes through the channel, or should I try to pull off a few short sketches? Doing both would be the answer in this case. I do shoot reference material with a digital SLR; these reference photos will come in handy, because I can review the shapes later inside on the display board, if I need to resolve some painting problems or start a new painting.

Painting, however, is why I am here, and experience has taught me that for painting on a moving ship through a tight channel, I’ll do a very simple light pencil drawing, focusing on compositions that I can catch sight of farther ahead. By the time I’m ready to paint it, we are much closer. If it has not already gone past, I will divide my half sheet (15 x22) in half with painter’s tape so that I can have two paintings on the go at once. Thus, while I am waiting for a layer to dry, I can start another. Often it helps to work off the fly deck, where I can have a 360-degree view.

It seems as if I often find better compositions behind the ship. Whenever I engage in discussions with photographers onboard, we always hit on the subject of truthfulness. Are we trying to record one split second in time or are we trying to express the whole experience? For me a painting from a moving ship is a response to the many different features and angles we encounter over time and we weave together—with feeling and memory—from our experience as artists. This compression of time and space expressed through the artist’s hand and placed on paper results in a truthful piece of art.

However, the captain does play tricks with my overconfidence, as we navigate through this archipelago. More than once have I started to compose some scene in one direction, while he turns the ship in the opposite—obliterating the view. After exchanging a few “friendly” gestures directed toward the bridge, I resort to the camera for another reference shot and await the next corner.

Peaks of Prins Christian Sund (Photo by Daisy Gilardini)

Prins Christian Sund, Greenland #3 (watercolor, 11x15) by David McEown

Last Entry for Journey to Antarctica 2006

2006-12-15T14:27:34.8520000-05:00

Today we anchor off Enderby Island, part of the Auckland Island chain. All of the five islands comprising New Zealand's Sub Antarctic Islands are National Nature Reserves and therefore strictly protected. We surf our zodiacs into the rolling swells to a landing beach where there is a small research station and view one of the few major Hooker's sea lion colonies in the world. Hooker's sea lions are aggressive animals; they can charge very fast, as a few of our photographers found out. Because of this and the extremely strong winds on the plateau, I chose to paint in an intimate, tangled rata forest near the beach.

Painting the Rata Forest of Enderby Island 11:00 am. (photo by Daisy Gilardini)

Rata Forest, Enderby Island (watercolor, 10 x15)

I hope to catch a glimpse of the very shy yellow-eyed penguin, a solitary nester that is considered to be the world's most endangered penguin. It breeds on Enderby. We'd already seen 2 yellow-eyed penguins as we landed.

Yellow-eyed Penguins (photo by Daisy Gilardini)

The canopy of the rata forest acts as a shelter from the constant fine rain, although some does fall in the wet paint, creating the feel and texture of moss. One has to be careful of the songbirds, as they have dropped more than just rain on my painting! I left an empty spot in the composition just in case a yellow eyed penguin walks through the forest.

Drawing the limbs and mosses of this wind sculpted oasis takes me back full circle to 20 years ago when I first studied watercolor at the Ontario College of Art and Design with the master Chin Kok Tan. I was looking for a medium that was light and transparent and would help me interpret the light or force that animates this beautiful planet.

The Polar Regions are the last great wilderness and have many secrets to reveal. The regions are a place of immense space. If one is fortunate enough to experience that space, he can witness the movements of his own mind.

More information
To see more pictures of Enderby Island, including views of the rata forest and megaherbs, visit http://www.livingtravel.com/antarctica/enderby/enderby_01.htm

Hooker's sea lion, phocarcto hookeri, is rare and endangered. New Zealand's Sub Antarctic islands were granted UNESCO "World Heritage" status in 1998, when a calamitous number (53 percent of the year's pups) of Hooker's sea lions died from an unknown cause. To learn more visit http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=305.

The yellow-eyed penguin is the third largest penguin, after the emperor and the king. Its eyes are yellow-orange, and a yellow band of feathers circles its eyes and head. In contrast to other penguins, the yellow-eyed is solitary, nesting in tall grasses. Because its habitat has been curtailed and non-endemic predators like cats, dogs, and ferrets have decimated the population, the yellow-eyed penguin is considered rare. Visit http://www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/proj/penguins/yellow.html

To read another traveler's account of yellow-eyed penguins in the rata forest, visit http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/penguins/page12.phtml.

To see more photos and to learn about a trust that is working to restore natural habitats and increase the population of yellow-eyed penguins, visit http://www.yellow-eyedpenguin.org.nz/.

Sub-Antarctic Islands - Campbell Island

2006-12-15T14:04:40.1130000-05:00

Give me a wilderness whose glance no civilization can endure. Life consists with wilderness. The most alive is the wildest."
Henry David Thoreau

It was a pleasant visual shock to wake to the green volcanic hills of Perseverance Harbor on Campbell Island after so long around the ice of Antarctica. The smell of soil intoxicates, as we climb a boardwalk up the side of this drowned out volcanic caldera. Our hope is to observe the hilltop nests of the royal albatross. These huge seabirds reach a wingspan of 9.5 to 11.5 feet, and almost 15,000 nest among clusters of brightly colored Megaherbs. These islands contain many endemic species of plants. Since being discovered in 1810 by Captain Frederick Hasselburg, the island is undergoing a longrunning conservation strategy to eradicate many undesirable vegetation and fauna introduced by ships in the past.

Weather was great for painting as it normally can rain 335 days a year, and gusts of 50 knots on more than 100 days of the year are the norm. The wind is helpful for the birds to take off; however, I can imagine my easel also doing so!

I find a large bush of tussock grass to work behind while studying a nesting couple. In this case I often use zoom photography to study the behavior and shapes of the birds, while working on a watercolor of the landscape. On these slopes, the vegetation takes on yellow and violet hues; the scene will change rapidly in values because of clouds' shadows. I work with a dry brush to suggest texture. It's refreshing to use these colors and experience relief from the blinding, reflecting glare off sea ice. However the complexity
of information is overwhelming, and there's a tendency to overpaint details while the world of ice reduces forms to basic elements.

"Painting a Royal Albatross' nest on Campbell Island." 10:00 am (photo by Daisy Gilardini)

Royal Albatross Nest of Campbell Island (watercolor, 10 x 15)

Royal Albatross nest on Campbell Island 10:30 am

--David

More Information
To see a gorgeous photograph of Perseverance Harbor, click on http://nightskypictures.com/Antarctica/Pers_Harbor.htm
A caldera, from the Latin caldaria, cauldron, is a volcanic crater that has a diameter many times that of the vent; a caldera is formed by the collapse of the central part of a volcano or by explosions of extraordinary force.

Composed of both volcanic and glaciated rock, the subantarctic islands are home to over half the world's seabirds. Campbell Island lies at 52 degrees 33'south and 169 degrees 09'east. To see pictures of all the subantarctic islands, visit http://www.subantarcticislands.com/. To learn more about Campbell Island, which has the world's largest population of royal albatross, go to http://www.subantarcticislands.com/campbell_island.html.

Joseph Hooker, the botanist on board Captain James Ross's ships, Erebus and Terror, was the first to describe colorful plants that thrive in the acidic soil of these islands. To learn more about these strange plants and to read the story behind efforts to eradicate non-indigenous plant and animal life, visit http://www.plantexplorers.com/explorers/biographies/hooker/megaherbs.htm.

Cape Adare

2006-12-11T12:08:44.7670000-05:00

Cape Adare is the northeastern extremity of Victoria Land in Antarctica. It's our last stop on the continent before navigating a 600-nautical-miles ice pack towards the sub Antarctic Islands. James Clark Ross discovered the steep mountainside of Cape Adare in 1841. Today it's a protected heritage site, as it was here where the first over-wintering on the Antarctic Continent took place, when Carston Borchgrevink's 1898-1900 Southern Cross expedition built a hut and survived the winter. During breeding season almost 250,000 pairs of Adelie penguins can be found here.

Ice Shards, Cape Adare, Antarctica, 9:30 a.m. (photo by David McEown)

Wake up call was 4:00 a.m. so we could take advantage of the outgoing tide that drew ice away from the shore, allowing us to land the zodiacs. There was a welcome committee of lovable, curious penguins that seemed oblivious to the harshness of last year's winter, though several starved chicks lay dead in the thawing ice.

We slowly make our way through the renewal--adelie penguins on fresh eggs--toward one of the first huts on Antarctica, Borchgrevink's construction, which was still unopened this year, blocked by ice. The hut was interesting, but what caught my painter's eye was a huge bay of ice shards, not unlike the classic polar landscape painting from 1824, Casper David Friedrich's Polar Sea. The exposed shards look threatening yet are fragile, as they could break like glass.

I like to wonder what other painters of the past would have done with this huge, macro landscape with tiny, awkward highways of penguins dotting the landscape. My favorite painters from the past I'd like to invite are William Turner, Fredrick Church and any ancient Chinese master landscape painter!

From Cape Adare #1, Antarctica (watercolor, 10x15) (photo by David McEown)

Today I really am able to indulge in the scraper. It's just above freezing, so I soak the paper and apply the broad washes of tone. Then the lifting out process--with the heavy stainless steal knife--begins. I imagine the sounds and the powerful forces at play--using the blade on its edge and cutting and bruising the sizing on the paper to create dark marks. Thus, the soft pastel colors of cool ice are contrasted with visceral mark-making. That is the seduction of Antarctica; it's beautiful on the outside but dangerous and mysterious.

Painting the Ice covered shoreline at Cape Adare, Antarctica. 9:00 am (photo by Daisy Gilardini)

I paint as many pictures as possible, with no sleep, before it's time to go towards the sub-Antarctic islands and the nesting sites of the royal albatross.

-- David

Weddel Seal, adelie Penguins and our ship. (photo by David McEown)

More information

James Clark Ross discovered Victoria Land, claiming it for Her Majesty and His Royal Highness Prince Albert in 1839. Onboard the ship Erebus for four years and five months, James Clark Ross and his crew discovered the Ross Sea, the Ross Ice Shelf, as well as the volcanoes Mt. Erebus and Mt. Terror. To read the fascinating story, go to http://www.south-pole.com/p0000081.htm.

Norwegian Carston Borchgrevink first visited the Antarctic continent in 1895. On the ship Southern Cross he and his crew arrived at Cape Adare in February 1899. Cape Adare today is the largest adelie penguin rookery in the world. To read about the expedition that proved that humans could withstand an Antarctic winter, go to http://www.heritage-antarctica.org/index.cfm/Human/Borchgrevink0.

Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) was a German Romantic landscape painter whose landscapes can be characterized as both symbolic and sublime. Visit http://www.artchive.com/artchive/F/friedrich.html to see examples of his work. To see his Polar Sea of 1824, which David mentions, visit http://www.mystudios.com/art/ncar/friedrich/friedrich-polar-sea.html.

British painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851)'s early work consists of linear renderings of landscapes; his late work, characterized by a highly chromatic palette, evokes a scene while only fitfully alluding to it. To see early and late work, visit http://www.artchive.com/artchive/T/turner.html.

American Frederick Church (1826-1900), of the Hudson River School, studied with Thomas Cole (1801-1848) and painted luminous landscapes inspired by his farm, Olana. To see and read more, visit www.artchive.com/artchive/C/church.html.

The symbol of the Southern Ocean, the royal albatross, Diomedea epomophora, is the largest seabird in the world; it spends 85 percent of its life at sea and can live to 62 years of age. To learn more, visit www.australianstamp.com/coin-web/feature/nature/royalalb.htm.

Weddell seals live farther south than any other mammal. To see photographs of Weddell seals and to hear their undersea cry, visit www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/wildlife/seals/weddell.shtml.

Historic Huts of Shackleton and Scott

2006-12-08T17:17:06.0280000-05:00

"Indeed the stark polar lands grip the hearts of men who have lived on them in a manner that can hardly be understood by people who have never got outside the pale of civilization."
Sir Ernest Shackleton

The visit to the historic huts of the Ross Sea is one of the highlights of our journey. These were the expedition bases of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. In the morning we arrived at Cape Royds by helicopter from the ship parked 5 miles out on the ice edge. This is where Shackelton's hut was built during his Nimrod Expedition of 1907-09, which included an attempt to reach the South Pole. We were greeted by an international team of conservation experts commissioned by the Antarctic Heritage Trust fund to restore the roof in order to protect the contents of the huts. The setting is quite surreal, as the artifacts because of the dry, cold environment are so well-preserved. It is such a treat to return to the familiarity of painting manmade objects in such a vast and stark landscape.

Painting Shackelton's hut at Cape Royds, Antarctica (photo by David McEown)

Shackelton's Hut at Cape Royds (watercolor, 10x15)

I chose a view up the hill to place the hut against a dominant landscape. The temperature was right on the freezing mark, so I took a chance on not adding any medium to my paints and letting the sky and mountain washes in the background freeze, thus creating a one- of-a-kind ice crystal formation, so suitable to illustrating this place. I rendered the cabin in a traditional representational method. Paint does not freeze in the small strokes of the details, as my hand warms the paint on the hand-held palette. Also because the air is so dry, the wash dries as soon as it hits the paper. Just next to me are many thousands of adelie penguins in the world's southernmost penguin rookery.

Scott's Hut at Cape Evans (photo by David McEown)

Interior of the Terra Nova Hut at Cape Evans, Edward Wilson's bunk on right. (photo by Daisy Gilardini)

In the afternoon we fly to Cape Evans, where Robert Falcon Scott established his famous Terra Nova Hut in 1911. Since it's early in the year, this large hut is hidden by, yet sheltered under, the snowdrift. The stables still smell of hay, and the seal blubber Scott used for heating still looks fresh. Inside the artifacts, clothing and scientific instruments, are all on display, as if the men had just left. As an artist in residence on this current expedition, I was greatly moved to see Edward Wilson's bunk and supplies on the shelf, as well as Herbert Ponting's darkroom. Wilson was not only a great watercolorist, but also was the head of biological studies and a medical officer on this fateful expedition. Many men, including Scott, did not come back from the South Pole. This place is truly an inspiring place of adventure, discovery, and endurance.

The wind chill was just too much for painting on the site of the hut. So as Wilson so wisely did, I just drew a pencil drawing; I hope to complete the painting in comfort later on the ship. This is an afternoon of reflection and for paying respect.

-- David

More information
To read about Edward Wilson, the artist who accompanied Robert Falcon Scott to the South Pole and died with him on the return trip in 1912, visit http://www.edwardawilson.com/life.

The following year, a search party recovered Edward Wilson's drawings, paintings, and notes. Reardon Publishing reprinted Edward Wilson's Nature Notebooks in 2004. Reardon has published an array of books on Antarctica, visit http://www.antarcticbookshop.com/index1.htm to see the list.

Herbert Ponting, a member of Scott's British Antarctic Expedition (1910-1913), left startlingly beautiful photographs of icebergs and other aspects of the terrain. To see some of them, visit http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/events/exhibitions/ponting/.

From one blog to another: David McEown and his party are mentioned in another blog that records their visit to Shackleton's hut on Cape Royds. Click on http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/antarctica/?cat=6.

Mt. Erebus

2006-12-05T10:22:24.5160000-05:00

Sleep is difficult, as I don't want to miss the 24-hour light. I'm also aware that we have only a few more days left before we head north to the sub- Antarctic islands. The urgency is amplified, because I know we're in the heart of Antarctica and yet the weather is uncommonly clear and tolerable for working. E-mail updates to this blog are difficult, as the radio room is often closed when our full day landings are over.

Painting in the Dry Valleys, Antarctica, with the Canada Glacier in the background. (photo by Daisy Gilardini)

It is 5:30 a.m. and our expedition leader demonstrated the F word. It is called flexibility. We were all set to go to McMurdo Station and Scott base, but due to the high winds and immense sea ice we switched to plan B, in which we are to head to the remote and rarely visited Dry Valleys. (Since the expedition leader and I are from Canada, a visit to the Canada Glacier put a lump in our throats!) The captain parked the ship in the ice and while waiting for our 21 mile helicopter ride about 50 emperor penguins appeared on the ice edge, diving in and out of the water, feeding on the up swell of food from the ship.

The Dry Valleys, Antarctica, #1 (watercolor, 10x15)

Mt. Erebus, Antarctica, #2 (watercolor, 10 x 15)

The Dry Valleys are some of the driest in the world. There are seals literally freeze-dried after making a wrong turn ages ago. The rock is welcome to stand on after so long at sea and on ice.

Today I as a painter realized the "flexible" word. I needed a different mark-making for this place that is much more vast and not as picturesque as the Antarctic Peninsula. Instead of trying to fight the freezing of the water, or using it for frosting effects, I just let the washes freeze, then scraped the colored ice back out.

I'm sending a picture with this entry that shows me working on the ice with the scraper tool. Tomorrow I will send an entry showing the work my students and I did of the historic huts of Scott and Shackleton, emblems of the Age of the Explorers.

--David

More information
Mt. Erebus on Ross Island is the most active volcano in Antarctica. To see stunning photos and to learn more, visit www.ees.nmt.edu/Geop/mevo/mevo.html.

McMurdo Station, built on bare volcanic rock, is Antarctica's largest community. To take a virtual tour, visit http://astro.uchicago.edu/cara/vtour/mcmurdo.

Located 838 miles (1353 kilometers) from the South Pole, Scott Base is a research station run by New Zealand. Click here to learn more.
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To read about the Dry Valleys and the mystery of the mummified Weddell seals whose carcasses are between 2,500 and 3,500 years old, visit
http://quest.nasa.gov/antarctica/background/NSF/valleys.html.

Especially for students: To read about the geology, glaciology, and wildlife of the region, visit http://www.rosssea.info and click on whatever topic interests you. There are photographs of penguins, explanations of the various types of ice, descriptions of glaciers and landforms, and more.

The Ross Ice Shelf

2006-12-04T21:27:39.6540000-05:00

We have met the giant! Finally, after 6 days battling ice, we have come face to face with the largest ice wonder on the planet, the Ross Ice Shelf. With a face 30 meters high and up to 200 meters below the water, this massive block of ice extends from the Antarctic continent with an area the size of France. As we sail parallel to this immense barrier that gives birth to enormous tabular icebergs, I am humbled to try to find the right language of marks and composition to express the immensity and scale. Thanks to our helicopter team, we had all 100 passengers on top of the ice field. They stared down the steep cliffs and raised a toast of champagne in memory of the explorers that came before us.

Painting from the Bow of the Icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov", 11:30 pm (photo by Daisy Gilardini)

Over the next few days, we hope to visit the historical huts of Shackelton and Scott. Having artifacts to work from will be a welcome treat for the collection of about a dozen artists that have joined me in daily 2:15p.m. workshops over the past few weeks. Part of my duties as Artist in Residence for Quark Expeditions is to facilitate an atmosphere of creativity so as to inspire anybody from professional to beginner artisan. We have supplies in the art box and a cozy lounge as our studio, in addition to a coffee station. The comfort is a welcome break from the harsh reality of the unforgiving icescape outside. Hope to upload pictures from our workshops soon; there’s some incredible work! Now we rest and save energy for the busy days ahead.

"Painting from the fly deck," (photo by David McEown)

"Towards the Ross Sea." 15in. x 10in. watercolour

--David

More information:
Robert Falcon Scott of the British Navy was the first person to explore Antarctica by land. Because he made countless ill-advised decisions (for instance, that his men rather than dogs should pull the sleds), his 1912 expedition to Antarctica was marked by calamity. In the race to the South Pole, Scott lost to Roald Amundsen, who reached the Pole 30 days before Scott’s party and claimed the South Pole for Norway. Scott, dispirited, attempted the journey back, but froze to death, along with two of his colleagues. David Crane’s new book, reviewed in the December 3rd Sunday New York Times’s Book Review, Scott of the Antarctic: A Life of Courage and Tragedy (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006) explains the context for Scott’s choices and argues for his heroism. It’s available here.
To read another account of Scott’s two exhibitions to Antarctica, visit http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/com.

Sir Ernest Shackleton turned back from the first of Scott’s expeditions, but took his own crew to the Antarctic in 1914. Endurance became trapped in sea ice, and the crew was forced to abandon ship. Withstanding untold privation in a spirit of shared suffering, Shackleton and his men camped on the ice for five months. After he made two open boat journeys to seek help, Shackleton and his crew found refuge; all survived. To read about an exhibition devoted to Shackleton’s historic expedition, visit http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/shackleton.

"Approaching the Ross Ice Shelf" (photo by David McEown)

"Stairs and the Edge of the Ross Ice Shelf " (photo by David McEown)

Looking for new paths and painting emperor penguin chicks

2006-12-01T14:04:00.0880000-05:00

The endless light blurs the days into one. The midnight sun last night finally broke through the days of overcast. At midnight, it lit the ice on fire, while the spray of a minke whale's breath breaks the stillness. The painter's spark is awakened, but the wind chill makes it unbearable to paint. I can only take photographs and let this experience penetrate the body and soul.

We are at day 4 of breaking ice in the Amundsen Sea, continuing west on our semi- circumnavigation of Antarctica to the Ross Ice Shelf. It is early in the year and we have experienced formidable ice thus slowing us, and forcing us to backtrack--looking for breaks in the ice.

The creative artist also has to look for new paths and often has to backtrack--looking for new inspiration to avoid the repetition and boredom of the familiar.

The trip to visit the emperor penguin rookeries of Snow Hill Island (from November 2-14; see early entries in this blog) was a whole new experience in landscape painting for me. It brought back the experience of years of life drawing at Art College. Penguins seem at first very simple and cartoon like to draw and paint, but the painter soon realizes the individual traits, complex gestures, and body language of these hardy creatures. There is a temptation to anthropomorphize penguins; however, paying attention to how they echo the shapes and colours of their habitat can make for a truthful homage on paper.

"Painting Emperor Chicks." November 11, 2006. (photo by passenger)

The rule for approaching penguins is stay within 15 feet or 5 meters, but an approach has to be done in a quiet and gentle manner. Unlike most other places, the wildlife in Antarctica has no fear or experience of humans; thus, they are great models! If I just stay still the penguins and chicks will approach me with curiosity, since they have no 15-foot rule.
I will start drawing some of the key penguins before they walk out of the picture, or up to my painting for a critique!

The chicks are unbelievably cute, yet the harsh reminder of life and death is all around. Some chicks are emaciated, waiting to be fed or have lost their parents. Many of the dead chicks are picked clean to the bone from the giant petrels and skuas.

"Emperor Penguins gather in curiosity." November 10, 2006. (photo by David McEown)

I paint in the bird shapes first, often finding a theme of light to unify the picture. Wet-in-wet within each chick shape is appropriate for capturing the fuzzy soft feathers. I have two water bottles, one for the clean water; the dirty water is brought back to the ship in the other.

"Emperors of Snow Hill Island #3" 10in. x 15in. watercolour, November 10, 2006

Emperor penguins can weigh up to 90 lbs., standing 3 feet tall when they stretch. They are so gentle and non-aggressive. To have one look down at me eye to eye while I sit truly is comparable to being visited by an extraterrestrial being. Realizing that this is our fellow creature just trying to make a go of it on this planet warms the heart and wonder of it all.

--David

"Courting on Snow Hill Island" 10in. x 15in. watercolour, November , 2006.

More information
The minke (pronounced mink-ey) whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata, is a small whale, not easily seen, who rarely surfaces, so David was lucky to have heard and seen the minke breathe. To learn more about the minke whale, visit www.acsonline.org/factpack/MinkeWhale.htm.

So far away from home

2006-11-30T16:50:26.4090000-05:00

In this clear light, we see our first evidence of Peter the First Island. It is one of the most remote islands in the world. According to our esteemed historian, Robert Headland, only about 800 humans have ever set foot on this steep island, which is ninety-five percent covered in ice. We hope conditions are favourable to land. I may be one of the privileged few--or perhaps the only one--ever to paint Peter the First Island.

"Sketching on remote Peter the First Island." (photo by Ed)

At 2:30 p.m. there is plenty of calm, open water, although the ice pans and icebergs creep with unpredictable menace. Landing is quick and short, as the site is small and prone to rock falls and avalanches of calving glaciers from above. This is, again, an emotional rush--to visit such a remote and primordial place. I have only time to dash off a few ink drawings of a magnificent arch with deep, iron oxide red boulders. The specks of white above are a city of birds that call this home. Adelie and chinstrap penguins are nesting here; a few meters away snow petrels are tucked in the sheltered cracks of the basalt columns, as well.

The calm is deceiving, since the swells are huge and create a huge undertow that makes zodiac landings tricky. After working the maze of ice, our expert zodiac pilot brings us back to the ship. I dash to the fly deck to try to capture in watercolor this partially shrouded island. I love the play of reflections and how they are broken up by the ice pan shapes that I leave the white of the paper. The ice moves and shifts rapidly; thus, I can't draw too much ahead of time, so much of this painting is brushed on directly and attention is paid to the directional forces of the marks.

"Working on painting of Peter the First Island from the fly deck of the Kapitan Khlebnikov." 5:15pm (photo by David McEown)

We leave Peter the First Island with the anticipation of 3 days at sea, as we head toward the Ross Ice Shelf. It is partially sea but mostly pack ice; only our icebreaker could manage to work its way through.

To be so far away helps me appreciate more what we often leave behind. Comforts of home, loved ones, and of course my Wednesday morning painting gang that are always so appreciative of this life of watercolor and who encourage me to keep on exploring.
Thanks!

-- David

"Peter the First Island" (watercolor,15x22)

Our zodiacs trying to find a path through the ice from Peter the First Island." (photo by David McEown)

More information:
Fabian von Bellingshausen claimed Peter the First Island for Norway, though he named it after the Russian czar, when he landed on the island in January 1821. The highest point on Peter the First Island is 1755 meters, the top of Lars Christensen Peak, which is a volcano (no one seems to know if it's active or extinct). Years later Ola Olstad claimed Queen Maud Land, the other island in the vicinity, for Norway, as well.

The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf in the world; measuring between 600 and 3,000 feet thick, it is 600 miles long, roughly the size of France. An ice shelf is a floating ice sheet that's attached to land and is therefore considered permanent. To see fabulous pictures of the Ross Ice Shelf, visit www.vims.edu/bio/microbial/NBPishelf.html.

The chinstrap penguin, pygosecelis Antarctica, has a narrow band of black feathers which extends from ear to ear, just below the chin. To see pictures, visit www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/wildlife/penguins/chinstrap.shtml.

Painting (and meditating on) darkness and light

2006-11-29T17:36:47.0790000-05:00

Silver grey skies today let the mysterious blue bergs show their true colors. We disembark the ship to visit Horseshoe and Stonington Islands today. Our icebreaker, Kapitan Khlebnikov, has 2 helicopters which can hold 8 passengers and gear, thus making these landings possible. Zodiacs (inflatable boats) cannot reach shore due to pack and fast ice. These islands were research stations at one time. It's tempting to sketch them but I am drawn away by the blue bergs and the vastness of this place. On Horseshoe Island I'm attracted to the arrangement of icebergs in the middle ground and the fact that these shapes are echoed in the mountains behind.

On Stonington Island a huge blue ice wall immediately strikes me. To paint this ice wall requires a panoramic format; thus, I divide a half sheet horizontally with thin painter's tape. The advantage of working on loose, larger sheets is that I can create different shapes of paper, plus also work on two paintings at a time on the same page. Sometimes it takes a wash awhile to dry, so I can be working on another painting on the same page.

As an image, the ice is complicated, and yet has such gesture and rhythm throughout, so I spend some time drawing (with an HB pencil) the essential crevasses. There isn't time to paint the whole ice wall on site, so what is important is to do a small part very well, and let the viewer fill in the empty spaces.

The blue ice color is very difficult in that it can be hot cobalt and cool turquoise simultaneously. The sky color can change the color of the reflective ice so fast! In this case, I block and model small sections at time, so I can complete an area before a wash freezes. Working light to dark, I start with a wash of violet, and drop in a bit of rose pink and yellow. While the paper is still wet, I add the darker blues: a combination of turquoise, cerulean blue (red shade), and some more opaque horizon blue--making sure I let some of the pinky violet under wash show through. When a section is dry, I add the next value to the darker ice cracks. In this case, a wash of turquoise blue blocks in the shape. While that wash is still wet, I add a darker Winsor violet with a touch of ultramarine blue. I paint the entire painting with my oriental wolf hair brush, which can make interesting organic marks and cut a hairline crack, as well.

"From Horseshoe island, Marguerite Bay, Antarctica." 10in. x 15in. watercolour

"Ice Wall, Stonington, Antarctica." 8in. x 22in. watercolour

Last, I block in the sky--using lots of Winsor & Newton ox gall flow medium while paying attention to the light values. Light sky is in contrast with dark ice, while an opposite or counterpoint is dark sky illuminating light ice.

The process of a painting can be a metaphor for the interrelationship of dark and light in our own lives.

Painting with Wolf hair brush, Ice Wall, Stonington (photo by Daisy Gilardini)

This sea day, as we move through the pack ice, is of great relief for resting the senses. It is a soft fog and the ice pans gently rise and fall with the ocean swells, as we venture toward the remote Peter the First Island in the Bellingshausen Sea.

-- David

More information:
The Bellingshausen Sea, named after Admiral Thaddeus Bellingshausen, is on the west side of the Antarctic peninsula.

Sea ice is ocean water that freezes, in contrast to icebergs that are pieces of glaciers and are thus composed of snow (fresh water). Sea ice is formed over a period of time.

Fast ice is sea ice that has formed along the coasts and is "fastened" to the coasts. The ice David is seeing shows an array of colors. The thicker the ice, the whiter it appears. If ice looks gray, it's thinner, holding larger pieces of ice together.

Pack ice is a floating mass of old ice. During winter, pack ice expands to cover about 8 percent of the southern oceans.

For wonderful pictures of sea ice and fascinating answers to questions about it, visit http://southport.jpl.nasa.gov/polar/iceinfo.html.

Crossing the Antarctic Circle and keeping watercolors wet

2006-11-28T15:11:44.9470000-05:00

Crossing the Antarctic Circle occupies this morning's activities. All passengers anticipate the crossing of the latitudinal position of 66 degrees 33'39"minutes south. My job is to photograph the Global Position System on the bridge, as the display records our accomplishment. However when pack ice had slowed the ship, we saw an extremely rare Ross seal lying on the ice, on port side, as if to greet us 15 minutes before the crossing.

Bright snow fog and light snow: a good morning to conduct a workshop indoors.

By mid-afternoon the fog had lifted, and while we were entering the spectacular Marguerite Bay, islands greeted us. I set up on the bow to paint a cloud-shrouded island top. Bergs would drift by, thus I would sketch quickly, making value notes. When painting pack ice on a moving ship, I draw in the ice pan shapes--keeping in mind a vanishing point. The ice edges lead the eye deep into the painting. Creating an illusion of space is a big objective in capturing these places. Thus, controlling the values on the peaks is important. Strongest contrast comes forward, and less contrast recedes.

"Towards Marguerite Bay" 10in. x 15in. watercolor

"Painting from the bow, entering Marguerite Bay"
photo by Brigitte Westaway

This evening provided our first real display of an Antarctic sunset. Captain parked the ship in the pack ice that was surrounded by seals to prepare us for tomorrow's landings. Temperature had dropped below freezing, as it usually does when the light is extraordinary, and one's medium is watercolor, which is prone to icing mid wash!

Painting Sunset while ship is parked in the pack ice, Marguerite Bay. Temperature minus 5 degrees Celsius
photo by David McEown

This was a good opportunity to experiment with additives to prolong working time and give me more control over blending. Ice crystal effects are very interesting sometimes, but not always desirable. Alcohol can be effective, but often evaporates so fast and leaves marks. (Vodka is not scarce on this Russian ship; however, it may be more useful to drink it to keep the artist warm!) What happens when a wash freezes on the paper is one thing, but the biggest problem can be the palette, where mixing areas freeze, creating slush. To prevent this, I hold the palette from the thumbhole and heat from the hand and a hand warmer inserted into a glove really help.

"Sunset, in the pack ice, Marguerite Bay, Antarctica." 10in. x 15in. watercolor

For this evening's painting I added some straight Ox Gall medium by Winsor&Newton to one of my pans, and scooped up a bit in a brush, for more flowing washes. In some areas where I found even this mixture icing up, I added a dash of straight generic glycerin. The glycerin stays elastic, and I can scrape and blend it around. I hope to do some medium per water test charts (testing the proportions to see which ratio works best), as we venture further south into the Ross Sea.

Besides the common questions about paint freezing, passengers ask me daily if my hands get cold? I hate painting with a glove on my painting hand, and for some reason my hand doesn't get cold. When I'm relaxed and energy is really going from the heart through the hand, through the brush and on to a page, my hand stays warm. Dressing in extra warm clothes and eating good food helps keep the artist's body warm so the painting hand is free to feel the brush. I do however use beggars' mitts (fingers cut off), with good palm grips for the icy, salt-coated railings around the ship.

-- David

"GPS, Crossing the Antarctic Circle." November 19, 2006. (photo by David McEown)

More information:
Named after Sir James Ross, the British explorer who discovered them in 1840, Ross seals are a solitary species that dwell among the heavy pack ice that surrounds the Antarctic continent. To learn more, visit www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/wildlife/seals/ross.shtml.