Continuing on the journey to create three works in one month that are pirate related... The second piece I wanted to create was a ship with pen and ink. Originally, I intended to look up what an authentic pirate ship looked like and sketch it out and ink it in. As I googled pirate ships, I was inundated with movie stills of pirate ships, which wasn't exactly what I had in mind. I decided to take my search in a new direction by researching famous pirate ships. I found a list, and in that list I found the ship I wanted to illustrate. The Whydah Galley. This large cargo ship was originally built to transport slaves, and therefore was built for speed. It was returning from it's first trip when Captain Black Sam Bellamy spotted it and decided to commandeer it. He successfully pirated with the Whydah Galley for the following year before sinking in the Nor'Easter Storm near Cape Cod in 1717. The back story made me want to illustrate this ship. I must admit, the previous-slave-ship-turned-pirate-ship appealed to me because-TAKE THAT SLAVE TRADERS!! The rest of it's history was icing on the cake. The night the Whydah Galley sank, it sank with 4.5 short tons of gold, silver and other treasures aboard. Only 7 people survived the storm and the wreckage. In 1984, the ship and it's treasures were discovered by Barry Clifford. It remains the only Pirate ship from the Golden Age of Piracy to ever be discovered. Satisfied in my research, I decided I wanted to illustrate the pirate ship on the night it sank, April 26th, 1717. Instead of making a black and white ink illustration, I was inspired to create the work in watercolor (It just seemed right) and finish it with pen and ink. Here's the thing, I don't normally work in watercolor, and I have never created artwork that I was satisfied with this medium. But I really, really felt the need to create this in watercolor; So, after a little bit of warming up and a few practice sheets, I dove right in. After painting the scene, I used an ink brush and fine tip ink pens to add the final details.
The Whydah Galley, April 26th 1717.
2 Comments
The Fresno Zombie Society regularly organizes and hosts events in our community, and one that I love participating in is their themed pop-up art bars. In May of 2019, the theme of the pop-up art bar is Pirates, Mermaids, Sirens and all things nautical. I love utilizing these events to push my artwork in new directions. I decided to contribute three works; whether or not all three are completed in time to displayed is a whole other story; stay tuned to find out. The first work I wanted to create was a Siren piece with Oil Pastel. I was ready to create a seductive singing mermaid and began my research for inspiration. Much to my surprise, Sirens are not mermaid-like creatures but are actually much more like Harpies. Greek mythology describes Sirens as half-bird half lady creatures whose bird-like song captivated men at sea crashed their ships into rocky shores. Later in stories, their description became more humanoid. (Reference example) I decided to portray a more humanoid siren seducing a pirate with her beautiful voice, in front of a rocky shore.The work ended up being a 19" x 19" oil pastel. I think I was able to capture the balance between seductive and creepy that I was aiming for. Whether or not I revisit the composition of the work at a later date, we will see. I chose Oil Pastel as the medium because I love the vibrancy of the color and it's gestural nature.
|
IvetteA creative soul outpouring ideas through imagery and words. Archives
July 2022
Subjects |