barracks, Grytviken

it's been a long time since I last posted on this blog, but I've been trying out pastels so I thought I would upload a quick sketch I did of the barracks at Grytviken. It's quite an impressive building, sadly in a poor state of repair, but separate from the other buildings and therefore quite easy to isolate in a picture.
Pastels are quite fun, I'm finding, and great for an impressionistic approach. Detail is very difficult to achieve, so I'm forced to concentrate on the bigger shapes. With a very limited range of colours, I'm also having to revert to colour mixing theory to get the subtle greys etc. that are much easier to achieve with watercolour. I would love a comprehensive range of sennelier colours, but I'm afraid they will break the bank, so will have to make do with what I have.

Grytviken church- finished painting

I've just finished the full imperial sized (30x22") painting of Grytviken church; I've darkened the shadows on both distant and middle distant mountains, which has brought the church out a bit.

Grytviken Cinema

As I mentioned in my previous post, this was the cinema that existed close to the church until recently. I don't know who took this photo, apologies if Im infringing any copyright. It makes you wonder what it would have taken to preserve the exterior structure- presumably quite a lot given the weather down here.

Grytviken church

A quick sketch of Grytviken church, which has recently been restored. It's very atmospheric inside, and I was treated to an Impromptu organ recital whilst  sat sketching the interior. The surroundings are now clear of industrial debris, but one sad loss is the former Grytviken Cinema. I'm not sure when this finally disappeared but there are pictures of it semi-collapsed in the 1980s on the Internet. A shame, as it looked a very interesting building and gave a glimpse of another facet of life in South Georgia during the whaling heyday.
The sketch is not quite as crinkly as it seems , this is due to the glancing light when I took the iPad picture. Again, I think this might make a good large scale subject and must stretch a sheet of full imperial to tackle this.

Hans the Flenser

To raise funds for the Rat Eradication Project, an auction was held on board ship. I was asked to illustrate  a poem about the largest blue whale ever recorded, which was landed at Grytviken (and hence the largest animal ever known to exist).
The Rat Eradication Project, as the name suggests, is a project to get rid of the introduced rats on South Georgia . This is a colossal undertaking involving helicopter drops of poison bait. It's also a race against time before the glaciers recede and allow the current discrete populations to merge.
due to a printer malfunction, I had to re-do the final page, I've only got a photo of the double-printed original one. It should be clear enough to read though.

Influences (continued)

One artist who visited South Georgia was Edward Seago. Travelling in style on the Royal Yacht Britannia, with Prince Philip on a round the world cruise, Seago painted Grytviken whilst it was still in operation: