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 Friday, December 01, 2006
Looking for new paths and painting emperor penguin chicks
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.
Antarctica Week 2
12/1/2006 2:04:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) 
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Thursday, November 30, 2006
So far away from home
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.
Antarctica Week 2
11/30/2006 4:50:26 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Painting (and meditating on) darkness and light
 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.
Antarctica Week 2
11/29/2006 5:36:47 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Crossing the Antarctic Circle and keeping watercolors wet
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.
Antarctica Week 2
11/28/2006 3:11:44 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Saturday, November 25, 2006
Today is a gift!
This is the first time I have seen such clear and calm weather, at the 8:00am landing to Port Lockroy. The temperature was 5 degrees Celsius; the water was like glass, reflecting the ice-capped mountains that were cut in half by a thin hanging cloud. This wonder is great for the camera but difficult to paint: it's just so postcard perfect. However, remembering my visit to Port Lockroy on Christmas in 2005, when it was a high summer blizzard, I am quick not to complain. The first painting of the day was too typical and boring; I was seduced by the souvenir view and did not respond to deeper rhymes and patterns. That aesthetic spark needed to awaken; it takes time, and often I have to have the discipline to just paint until it awakens.
By 11:00 am I encounter a sculpture of whalebones at Jougla Point, composed of relics from past whaling operations; the sculpture casts shadows and cuts dramatically the minimal horizon. The gentoo penguins will walk in and out of the picture giving the necessary scale in such vastness. I like paintings that turn out quickly--letting the white (of the paper) do all the work. In this case 40 minutes is all it took.
Whalebones at Jougla Piont on Wiencke Island
I was hoping in this entry to talk about the blue ice and the art of seeing, but weather has granted us extra landings, plus entry through one of the wonders of Antarctica, the vista of the Lemaire Channel. Thus today is another one of process, responding quickly and with directness. I set up my easel on the fly deck and tie the easel to the railing and proceed with a wet-in-wet approach. Processes should be as spontaneous as the creation of these geological wonders. Marks and slashes of paint are interrupted by sighting a pod of Orca; thus, I have camera ready at all times.
In this 20-minute Lemaire Channel painting I worked on a half sheet of 140-lb. Winsor&Newton cold pressed paper divided in two. I soaked the paper with a very light violet; then I started with the sky, background to foreground. Paints from the sky and the mountains were also repeated in the water; however, I also left parts that are just the white of the paper. Big shapes were blocked in and darkest darks of ultramarine blue, scarlet lake and a dash of aureolin yellow are slashed in. While the paper is still wet the key to this painting is scraping out the light shapes and jagged peaks, using my commercial "5 and 1" paint scraper. This is where I reach inside and imagine myself as a glacier carving shapes. There is room for accidents and unexpected marks. Painting has to have surprises to be fun.
Using scraping tool Painting the entry into the Lemaire Channel
"Entry into the Lemaire Channel" 10in. x 15in. watercolour
This day has the reward of another late landing at Peterman Island. A huge ice halo rainbow circles the sun, as we approach the gentoo and adelie penguin rookeries.
The halo reminds me of the artist wheel, and that I am at the bottom of this round, beautiful Planet!
-- David
More information
At one time there were over 225, 000 blue whales; today there are fewer than 2,000. Other whales inhabiting the Southern Polar Ocean are sei, minke, humpback and killer.
Over 100 million birds breed on or around the Antarctic coastline each spring. In addition to petrels and fulmars, you can find skuas, gulls, terns, and the albatross. And of course, penguins. The emperor and adelie breed only in Antarctica. There are about 300,000 breeding pairs of gentoo penguins on the Falkland Islands. To learn more about wildlife in Antarctica, visit Australian Antarctic Division Web site at www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=5551.
Lemaire Channel extends from False Cape Renard north to Cape Cloos in the south. At its narrowest it is less than 800 meters wide.
The British Royal Navy established Port Lockroy during World War II, as part of the UK's military campaign. In 1962, the station was boarded up; since 1996 it has been open for visitors. Port Lockroy is now a scientific station that compiles and analyzes data to determine the effect tourism has on the breeding of gentoo penguins. Current studies suggest human visitors have had no adverse effect on penguin colonies.
Antarctica Week 1
11/25/2006 11:12:53 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, November 24, 2006
Why we need great wilderness
Sunrise celebration arrives early this far south! I set the alarm for 2:30 am so I could view the pink icecaps of Antarctica. It's like taking the peaks of the Rocky Mountains or the Himalayas and dropping them in the ocean.
Sunrise 2:35 am
Reflections are so clear it's hard to know what is up or what is down. Never has the air been clearer. This is a space to be aware of oneself. Sometimes it takes journeys to distant lands to come back to the home in one's heart. I think that is why we need great wilderness.
After such reflection I am back to bed for the 6:30 am wake up call to visit the spectacular vistas of Neko Harbor. I climb to about 400 feet to overlook a huge calving ice tongue in the ocean. The climb up is so good for cleaning the senses and the palette of the mind.
Portable and highly expressive, watercolor has been the main medium used to experience some of this earth's sacred landscapes for many years. It is handy in this climb, since I have only 2 hours to paint.
The still air makes me calm, a state of mind necessary to comprehend the complicated perspective of the glacier below. In this case I render the shapes in pencil lightly and start the challenge of painting the blue ice. For the next update I will explore the mysteries of depicting blue ice in watercolor. Right now we have a staff meeting, and the radio room is closing in 10 minutes. I'll set the alarm for 2:30 again!
Painting at Neko Harbor, Antarctica
photo by Daisy Gilardini
View of Neko Harbor 10in. x 15in. Watercolor
Ink Pen Sketching the Neumayer Channel
More Information
"To calve" when used in this context refers to an ice mass and means "to separate or become detached." The actual continent of Antarctica is a frozen land mass surrounded by ocean. Antarctic Convergence is the region of the Southern Ocean that encircles Antarctica; it's where the cold waters of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current meet the warmer waters of the north. The confluence of cool and less cool waters results in a concentration of marine plant life, because the warmer waters can sustain an abundance of nutrients. The more plentiful the plant life, the more plentiful the animal life.
The sea ice David will be seeing is vital to life on earth, because it helps regulate the climate in two ways. First, sea ice is an effective insulator, decreasing the amount of heat lost from the oceans. Second, sea ice is so white that it reflects solar radiation back into space.
The amount of sea ice varies with the season, a fluctuation that affects the exchange of energy between the ocean and the atmosphere. Sea ice extends outward from the Antarctic continent's edge; in late winter, it more than doubles the ice-covered area. To read about sea ice and its effects on the sustainability of life, as well as on climate change, visit www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casic=5546 and www.cybamuse.com/antarctica/passages.htm.
Neko Harbor is a small bay indenting the Eastern shore of Andvord Bay, 6 miles southeast of Beneden Head, along the western coast of Graham Land.
Latitude: 64° 50' 00.0" S (-64.8333333°)
Longitude: 62° 33' 00.0" W (-62.55°)
It was first seen and roughly charted by the Gerlache Expedition, 1897-99. It was named after a floating whale factory, which operated in the South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula. The name was published by the Scottish geologist David Ferguson in 1921, following his visit to this area in 1913.
Of Neko Harbor, Prisca Campbell of Quark Expeditions, has this to say:
"Neko Harbor is home to a Gentoo Penguin Rookery. Glaciers calving icebergs can cause mini-tsunamis, dislodging zodiacs (inflatable boats) parked on the rocky beach.
When the sun shines the view is stunning; when the fog descends, the harbor is eerie. One can imagine that tall ships with creaking spars would momentarily emerge from the mists.
When one steps ashore, one is truly on the Antarctic continent. There are very few places on the peninsula where people are permitted to step ashore on the continent. Neko is one of them."
Neumayer Channel lies between Wiencke Island and Anvers Island. Glaciers often shatter and pour into its waters.
Antarctica Week 1
11/24/2006 10:59:15 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, November 20, 2006
The sun is peeking out
12:30 a.m.
The sun is peeking out, and a wonderful rainbow is cast around the ship from the spray.
Tomorrow we hope to make landfall and start painting onsite. Hope to share some insights into the process of starting a painting on site. In the meantime keep the hatches battened down!
5:30 p.m. and sun is shining. Waves have eased as we turn by the South Shetland Islands.
-- David
Breaking Waves at the Bow, Drake Passage November 16, 2006
Cape petrels from the porthole, Drake Passage November 16, 2006
The Studio and Models, Snow Hill Island November 11, 2006.
More Information:
Winsor&Newton's Tips for Painting Watercolor in Freezing Temperatures
There are a couple of interesting options to lower the freezing temperature of water in the extreme latitudes. Some compounds affect the colligative properties of a solution. In real-world language, that means that there are things that you can put into water that will inhibit how water does what it typically does. Thus, there are things that can be added to lower the freezing point (which will also, by the way, raise the boiling point, too). Salt is a prime example: it lowers the freezing point, which is why it's used to melt sidewalks in January. It also does, as you well know, funky things in a watercolor paint layer.
Another option is to add a bit of glycol (either ethylene or propylene). Both will significantly lower the freezing temp of water although there is a downside: the 'feel' of the paint will get a bit slick, and the glycols will take a period of time to fully evaporate from the paint layer.
You could also try adding some glycerin, which will drop the freezing temperature, although not quite as much as the glycols. And glycerin will also act as a humectant, holding moisture, as well.
Here are a couple of cool (pun fully intended!) tables that show the freezing point of glycol-water and glycerin-water solutions as a function of the percentage of the added stuff. Note that a solution containing 20% glycerin (with 80% water) drops to a freezing point of 23°F. A solution of 20% of one of the glycols (with 80% water) will freeze at around 15°.
As you can imagine, these are conditions that don't often get tested!
Artists & Writers Program in Concert with the National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation has a division that makes it possible for artists and writers, as well as scientists, to be part of the U.S. Antarctic Program. Artists work at U.S. stations and camps, often alongside scientists, but sometimes on their own. The premise of the program is that artists will create pictures or accounts that will educate as well as delight and thus broaden Americans' understanding of this remote and mysterious region. Applicants who are chosen by a peer review panel will receive field support, including air travel from the United States.
Applications are available at the National Science Foundation's Web site at www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm. For a list of artists and writers who previously won grants, visit www.nsf.gov/od/opp/aawr.htm.
Birds of Antarctica
David McEown reported seeing fulmars and Cape Petrels in flight. Fulmars have wingspans of four feet; the petrel is much smaller. The petrel's name derives from the legend of St. Peter, who miraculously walked toward Jesus's ship on the Sea of Galilee. Petrels are ship-followers; they sometimes feed on carrion. They breed in cliff ledges and can live up to 20 years. To see pictures of Caper Petrels and to hear their cry, visit www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/wildlife/birds/petrels.shtml.
Antarctic fulmars, who look a little like big gulls, are related to the albatross. To read more, visit the same site (www.antarcticconnection.com/antarcitc/wildlife/birds/petrels.shtml) or go to http://birding.about.com/od/birdsfulmars.
Antarctica Week 1
11/20/2006 3:37:03 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Weather rules!
Day 2 on the Drake Passage. Promise of our first Antarctic landing on the South Shetland Islands looks uncertain tonight. Six-meter seas and a fifty-knot wind hitting the ship straight on have made progress slow. Driving rain and snow have made it impossible for even the extreme painter to work outside, although it's tempting! The captain has closed the outer decks for safety. The best place to work sketching the breaking waves and spray over this immense ship's bow is from the porthole. From the deck 8 starboard cabin windows, I keep an eye on the brightening horizon and the massive wave crests. Cape Petrels and fulmars glide effortlessly along the spray ridges and are reflected, for split a second, in the elastic wave surfaces. As we cross the Antarctic convergence, the water temperature drops. The colors of the water appear more phthalo blue and green.
On Sea Days like this, everything is in slow motion because every move has to be in sync with the wave action. It takes time to set up the painting materials in a manner to ensure that that they'll not roll away. Papers can slide out beneath you, or the water bucket can spill in your lap. Last year on the Drake Passage I hadn't tied down my easel. I left it for 10 seconds. In that time the ship rolled, tipping the apparatus and breaking the easel's main parts. Thankfully the ship had some very effective Russian super glue to repair it! Painting on deck is the platform in which I have control over the main force in watercolor and that is gravity.
Essential Materials for Painting Near the South Pole
As I prepare my supplies for the upcoming busy landings in Antarctica, I have listed below some of the essentials.
The Painting Board. The folder is made from two corrugated plastic sheets duct taped at one end to make for a lightweight, ultra sturdy, waterproof, painting surface and folder. I use 2 sizes to accommodate both full and half sheets. Corrugated plastic is available at most art stores. I use a gray color, as it's neutral and not blinding when the sun reflects off it. When going into the backcountry, I can carry about 30 half sheets in the 16x22 folder which fits in to my large backpack. I find this way of storing the paper affords me more variety in custom paper sizes; it's also more economical than commercial watercolor blocks. You just clip the paper onto the board, and you're ready to paint. There's no time to stretch paper here! For more versatility, this board can be clipped onto a sturdy Masonite board that is customized with a universal adapter to fit a photographic tripod. The tripod allows endless angle variations so you can manipulate the water bead. With a little innovation you can also attach a water container to the easel. A collapsible easel is preferable. Watch the wind and waves though. It might be wise to tie the easel down.
Paper: 140 lb. (cold press surface is my preference) is ideal, as this weight of paper tends not to buckle but does not weigh the pack down. The paper I'd use in my studio, 300 lb., would.
Arches Bright White and Winsor & Newton are great for depicting clean, bright snow and mountains and ocean surf. Saunders 200 lb. has lovely warmth for autumn or sunsets.
Tubes of Watercolor and palette. Fresh tubes of paint to squeeze out are preferable to maybe overly dried out cakes, and the landscape may ask for fully saturated color! Store tubes in a small box or container, so as not to crush them. I use a Holbein Kit that holds the tubes, brushes, and a folding palette, which also acts as a lid. I don't like the new version of this palette as much as my old one, as there are now many more areas for cakes. This Holbein Kit is compact and clean, as well as easy to set up and take down. It is important to have a folding palette (with a thumbhole) and large mixing areas. I use a variety of leading brands and colors (however Winsor & Newton, in my opinion, makes the best), mainly in the primaries with a few secondary. I prefer to mix most earth tones and grays. When painting winter scenes in winter, I keep the paint box near my body heat so the paints don't freeze!
Watercolor Brushes: I use a pointed round sable brush (No.12), and one other brush (No. 4). I find also that some Chinese bamboo brushes create interesting effects. My favorite brush is a wolf hair mountain brush. Many elements in the landscape can also make interesting marks on paintings. Try twigs or moss, for example. My advice is to transport brushes in a breathable holder of some sort. Remember that brushes can rot and the tips need to be protected. You could try rolling them in a bamboo place mat, for example.
Other Important Items:
- Pencil, kneaded eraser, knife, palette knife for scraping.
- Water container for cleaning brushes and plastic bottles for storing fresh water as well as taking dirty water back to ship (once we get off ship).
- Rain jacket or large garbage bags: these are handy in case of rain, or to sit on if ground is wet and covered with penguin guano.
- Small folding painting or camping stool.
- Sun hat (very important to cut down on eye fatigue and glare.)
- Sunscreen, neutral tinted sunglasses,
- Camera, with plenty of film or extra digital memory cards: It's important to gather reference material or documentation. When I'm on land, I often travel with a laptop computer so I can review the journey in the evening.
- Backpack or large portfolio to carry all this stuff!!
Antarctica Week 1
11/20/2006 3:29:18 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Sunday, November 19, 2006
The sea is like a moving, liquid steel mountain range
The sea is like a moving, liquid steel mountain range. The wind and salt air awaken the senses and ignite that spark to create. When teaching painting I like to focus on 4 aspects or spokes of what I call the vision wheel. First of all is the inspiration, the aesthetic spark, an inner emotional need to communicate something of the heart. The next is the discipline to carry forth with this action. To be successful in this act one must have command of the other two key spokes of the artist wheel, that is that the ability to really see and a confident command of technique. On this journey to Antarctica I will refer to these 4 different aspects of the vision wheel.
Today, in the middle of the Drake Passage and the blasting winds and waves, I am overcome with inspiration to make marks and just respond to the energy and rhymes of the ocean. It is a reckless approach, letting the raindrops stain the page as I work on my half sheet watercolor paper divided into 4 parts. First decision is where shall I place the horizon? Is the dominant subject the sky or the sea?
What creates the horizon is often the light values. Today the violet silver with ochre variations has wonderful transitions from light to dark at the horizon, and the water is dark to light, thus creating a dramatic counterpoint.
When responding to this expressive, moving subject matter, it is easy to get lost or dizzy. To help me keep focused, I locate a vanishing point where all the energy of the marks originate. Then I can sculpt the waves like mountains. Today I started with the sky first; these colors will be used in the water below. The brush, in this case, is an old wolf hair, oriental brush which I drag when very dry across the water to leave the sparkle and whites of the waves below. Winsor &Newton cold pressed 140lb, paper is ideal for this technique, as it has a soft tooth and it’s a very crisp white ideal for suggesting spray. I often use the seabirds that dash and skim along the waves’ crests and valleys as focal landing points. To capture the ruggedness of the ocean, I often use a commercial paint scraper to carve out the dark, wet shapes, revealing the glow and transparency of each wave.
-- David
A View of Sea and Sky in watercolor by David McEown
Another View
David painting in watercolor on a quarter sheet of Winsor&Newton watercolor paper.
Another view of the deck.
More Information:
The earth’s fourth largest ocean, The Southern or South Polar Ocean was formerly called the Antarctic Ocean. To find out how and why The Antarctic Ocean became The Southern Ocean, visit http://geography.about.com/od/learnabouttheearth/a/fifthocean.htm.
For a preview of what David will see on his journey, take a virtual tour of the South Pole by clicking on http://astro.uchicago.edu/cara/vtour/pole/.
To see live camera shots of the South Pole, visit www.cmdl.noaa.gov/obop/spo/livecamera.html.
Because the Antarctic Continent is imperiled by climate change, scientists from around the world have founded the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, whose mission is “to ensure that the Antarctic Continent, its surrounding islands and the great Southern Ocean survive as the world’s last unspoiled wilderness.” To read more about the ASOC, visit www.ASOC.org/.
Antarctica Week 1
11/19/2006 9:16:29 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Saturday, November 18, 2006
The sea is like a moving, liquid steel mountain range
We have left the port of Ushuaia. After a blustery day, the Beagle Channel is now calm, begging to be painted. This will be my first painting of this semi-circumnavigation of Antarctica. After supper the paints, water and paper are stowed away in anticipation of the entry into the Drake Passage, which contains some of the most wild and unpredictable waters.
-- David
More Information:
The Beagle Channel is a strait separating the islands of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. Its eastern portion is part of the border between Chile and Argentina. The channel was named after the HMS Beagle that took part in two hydrographic surveys of the southern part of South America in the 19th century. On HMS Beagles’s second voyage, Captain Fitz Roy took a 22-year-old naturalist, Charles Darwin, aboard on what became famous as the Voyage of the HMS Beagle.
The Beagle Channel is 150 miles long and 3 miles wide at its narrowest point. To read more about the Beagle Channel, visit www.theworldwidegourmet.com/travel/southamerica/argentina/beagle-channel.htm.
Charles Darwin kept a journal that R.D. Keynes edited. Cambridge University Press reprinted it in 1988. Charles Darwin’s Beagle Diary is available in paperback, as is the Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin’s Journal of Researches as a Penguin Classic.
Antarctica Week 1
11/18/2006 9:05:50 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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