Peggotty Bluff, King Haakon Bay

A cold overcast morning gave way to brilliant sunshine and the view from the Zodiacs returning to the ship was magnificent. Peggotty Bluff is where Shackleton's party landed after resting at Cave Cove, and some of them began the trek over the island to Stromness. The route taken was, if I recall correctly, to the left of the prominent peak. I can't find a name for this on the map, which reflects the sheer number of impressive mountains South Georgia has.

Arches rough 300gsm, 22x15"

Early light, Fortuna Bay

A very early (5 am) start as the ship was anchored in Fortuna Bay. The sky was changing rapidly, with thick mist giving way to patchy sunshine and cloud. I made a couple of quick sketches, and have just finished a half-imperial (21 x14") painting on 300gsm Arches rough paper.
I tried boldness with the sunlit slope colour; at first I didn't like the result, so washed it off and applied more layers.

We were waiting for the ski traverse team to descend to Fortuna Bay, just as Shackleton's crew had done a hundred years earlier.

Cave Cove- finished painting

I could have put the word "finished" in inverted commas, but I've reached the stage where I don't want to do any more. I've hopefully suggested the tussock grass without getting too involved in detail. In the end, I feel I've learnt quite a bit in tackling this subject, and feel a bit more confident in trying to paint more scenes with tussock grass in them. Useful, given that tussock grass is everywhere at low level on South Georgia.

Cave Cove- painting in progress

Working from the sketch I made on site, I'm now engaged on a half-imperial( 22x15") painting using arches 300gsm rough paper. I'm delaying tackling the foreground tussock grass till last, as I haven't really worked out a way of dealing with this yet. Ideally I should have been less impetuous and sketched out some more ideas and experimented a bit before committing to paper, but I was keen to get started.
Here are a few work-in-progress shots, although this is my favourite size of paper to work in I do find it a bit large to truly adopt a wet-on-wet approach.

South georgia Ski traverse

A group on the ship are recreating Shackleton's journey across the island, from King Haakon Bay to Stromness. I like the idea of painting the skiers, towing pulkas- the contrast between very bright foreground objects and subtle snow washes in the background makes for an appealing subject. With this in mind, I have sketched a few ideas. I've attached these not for any intrinsic artistic merit, but for anyone interested in my approach:

 

First landfall, South Georgia

Early morning, we cruise into King Haakon Bay, a large inlet on the western side of South Georgia's South coast. Everything is looking very wintry, although this is officially South Georgian springtime. Initially we land at Peggotty bluff, where Shackleton and his companions began the trek over the spine of the island to eventually reach help at Stromness whaling station.
My first encounter with Antarctic wildlife- elephant seals on the beach, and a handful of King Penguins.
I set up the easel and try to paint the mountains that rim the fjord. Not particularly successful, as he temperature hovers around freezing, stopping paint from drying. Added to this, the wind keeps blowing the easel over.
Later in the afternoon, however, we manage to make a rare landing at cave cove, Shackleton's first landfall after the epic voyage from Elephant island in the James Caird.
Here, I have the privilege of being able to paint overlooking the cove. Due to limited space, the landings are split into two groups, but I am kindly allowed to stay on after the first group leave to complete my sketch:

I didn't attempt to complete the foreground tussock grass- there's enough information for a finished painting when I get back to the studio. Shortly after finishing the sketch, we were treated to a truly magnificent sunset, which I might try to capture in another painting.
Also that day we drop off a ski party recreating Shackleton's journey overland to Stromness. All being well, we should see them again in a few days.