Fortuna Bay- a better image

I left the painting over the weekend, and decided that the sky wasn't really dark enough. A mix of burnt sienna and ultramarine on the foremost clouds improved the contrast. The photo is still low-res, but hopefully shows the changes (half imperial, 22x 15"):

Fortuna Bay

Another magical place, this is where Shackleton and his party first reached the other side of the island after their crossing. An early start, at 5am the skies were still largely clear and I managed a quick sketch before the cloud came in. On landing after breakfast, thick cloud and mist suggested poor painting opportunities, but the sun came out and produced brilliant contrast between snow and rocks. A threatening storm forced us to leave the beach in a hurry, but I had enough information to later finish this half imperial watercolour. Apologies for the very poor quality photograph, but I will try to take some decent quality photos of my work in due course.

More Ocean Harbour paintings

I've been working on a couple of Ocean Harbour paintings; I particularly like the few rusting relics set against a snowy , desolate landscape with the occasional penguin wandering around. I've completed a full imperial (22 x 30") painting on arches paper of the old steam locomotive, together with a half imperial view of nothing much in particular- I like the snow and rock backdrop as much as any foreground interest here.

Christmas tidings

Merry Christmas to all the blog followers. I've taken the day off today, but worked on a painting of Gold Harbour yesterday. It's looking suitably stark, but I'm mulling over the possibilities of adding a bit more foreground interest, and will publish a photo soon.
On the subject of blog publishing, I am totally confused regarding "google+" and suspect I'm missing out on a wider audience. Any tips appreciated, or spreading the circle wider!

Leaving ocean Harbour

Ocean Harbour is a very impressive safe haven, accessed by a narrow entrance leading into a (relatively) sheltered bay. I say relatively sheltered, because the inner bay is dominated by the wrecked Bayard, A three-masted ship built in Liverpool. This was moored on the other side of the harbour, when it broke loose from its moorings in a gale, drifted across the bay, and was wrecked on the rocks where it now lies.
Not much remains of the whaling station here, but it is nonetheless a very atmospheric place. I managed a very quick sketch of the Bayard before the rain set in heavily. Elsewhere, there is a steam locomotive, which excited Hergen, a German passenger, bits of track, and a lonely hut. A group of penguins stood near a few poles, all that remains of some indeterminate structure, made a good subject which I hope to paint in the studio.
On the way out of Ocean Harbour, I did a quick painting of the rocky headland. I used coloured paper with quite a rough texture. It was interesting trying to capture snow and sea highlights -the whites- using this colour paper. Tones are all relative, and in the end the contrast between the bare paper and the dark indigo line of sea below the cliffs gave enough contrast to suggest breaking waves. The background peak was done with a fairly thin wash of body colour, to suggest distance.
The painting lacks foreground interest, but I don't want to ruin it with some black flecks suggesting birds. I may do a larger scale bird painting using this as a background which would be more compositionally satisfying  for me.

The paper, not being stretched, has cockled quite a bit, as you can see in the photograph. A bit of pressing should resolve this.

Right Whale Bay

I've been working on a half imperial version of the sketch I made at Right Whale Bay. Like the previous painting, I felt that this would be an ideal subject for a larger full imperial sized painting. Having a handy stretched piece of paper, and not wanting to wait to stretch and dry a larger sheet, I made do with the half imperial sheet. At the final stages of the painting, I darkened the background mountain, but am still undecided whether to put on another wash and darken it even further. At times like this I wonder whether I will ever resolve the dilemma between overworking a painting and not adding sufficient contrast to make it "ping".

Gold Harbour

I have just completed a full imperial sized (22 x 30inches) painting based on the sketch I did at Gold Harbour; slightly different from the sketch as you would expect. I wanted to keep the elements simple, to draw the eye to the foreground penguins . The large elephant seal, for example, was painted in one quick wash and I've tried to resist going back to do any more to it. The photo is actually of the painting before I strengthened the area immediately in front of the tussock grass, but otherwise complete. A nice Christmas present for a South Georgia visitor?