Color!

 For several years I have used gray disposal palette sheets. The gray gives me a better feeling of the colors than a bright white palette.

 

When I mixed the colors for the left side of the painting they looked just right...... until I painted them on the board. They leapt out. What was I thinking mixing that combination?

Part of my initial shock to the color was its contrast to the yellow ochre washed surface. The brilliance of the color was magnified. My head was questioning my heart.

 

I hesitated but decided to continue. The color can always be toned down later I thought. As I applied more paint I became more sure that these vivid blues were right for this piece.

 

 

 The center "moving" glacier has a more definitive sweeping direction at this stage.

 

 

 

 

 

A moving glacier

 How to paint a moving glacier. 

Fortunately, they don't move very quickly. But, to get the sense of the flowing nature of a glacier, there are a lot of cracks and crevices to incorporate.

 

 

 This center section with the glacier spilling down to the ocean I thought would be the most challenging of the painting. 

Starting with the "flat" surface on top I next moved around this section painting the cool areas. The "white" (titanium white and a dab of cadmium yellow dark) was then added and blended in to the cool paint to create soft edges.

 

At this stage I don't think the "moving" glacier is there yet but it's a good start. I'll revisit it when more of the piece is painted. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More snow and rocks

 

There are advantages to visiting Antarctica in a small ship. 

You can make a continental landing, access areas too small for the large ships, have the opportunity to make as many as three shore trips a day, walk on sea ice, climb up a glacier with an overhang, and take a polar plunge. We did all that with our 100-passenger boat through Quark Expeditions.

 

But even more than that, you are closer to the water and every now and then can catch a glimpse of the remoteness the explorers, whalers, and sailors felt on this continent. 

A Landscape

 Usually I will put something in a landscape: an animal, a boat, a lighthouse.

This piece will have none of them. 

 

 

Finished

 

Argentine Tango

12" X 16"

Original Oil by Linda Besse 

 

 

 

 

The penguin pair

    When I decided to paint Magellanic penguins I had hundreds of my reference photos to review. My main goal was to tell a story unique to this penguin species. The background plays a large part in the story with the mountains and the burrow. Even the dead brush on the right is integral to the story. 

   On our drive to the dock to catch the small boat to take us to Hammer Island (note: boat had a special permit to land), we passed trees bent by the strong prevailing winds at the tip of South America. The brush in the painting is a nod to the wind's impact on the vegetation.

 

 

   photo by Linda

 

photo by Linda

 

 

   For the penguins I wanted to draw a pair which felt like a pair. 

 

 Forming strong bonds, Magellanic penguins are known to mate for life. Many of the pairs I saw had one penguin which would be just right for a painting but the other's posture was not what I wanted. It was time to create a pair. 

   I started with choosing the background penguin to paint. A particular penguin's tall stance what just what I wanted. Now to find the mate. When I came across a photo of the foreground penguin the search was over. All I had to do when drawing was to adjust its size in proportion to the background penguin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burrows

  Unlike on the frozen expanses of Antarctica, Magellanic penguins can dig their nests in Hammer Island.  While some of the nests I saw were tucked in holes, others had a ramp for the burrow (which I have painted.)

  On an isolated island one would wonder what predators these birds would have. I didn't have to wonder long as not two far away from the colony was a pair of nesting Chilean skuas, a large predatory bird who would be eager to take advantage of the penguins' chicks. The other penguin on this island was the gentoo. Their nests were above ground and very close together for group protection.