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.

 

 

 

Painting something further south

 As in, way south.

 

   When  I went to Antarctica in December of 2008 I saw four species of penguins on the trip. I've painted three of them, gentoo, Adele', and chin-strapped, some many times. Most think of penguins in the ice and snow so maybe that is why I haven't painted the Magellanic penguins I saw on Hammer Island off the coast of Ushuaia, Argentina.

 

It's time. They are a quite interesting species of penguin.

 

 

 From Ushuaia, Argentina you can see the mountains in both Argentina and Chile.

 

 

 

 

 

Finished

 

Hudson Bay Hunter

15" X 22"

Original Oil 

 

Scanned image

 

    In some areas of the world polar bear populations are threatened by the warming climate. With ice forming later than usual their food source is not as accessible. However, along the Hudson Bay coast polar bears do have a fat-filled food source during the summer: beluga whales. Taking advantage of the 14-foot tidal change, bears climb the rock erratics left by the last ice age and wait for the tide to come in. In high tide, belugas enjoy coming close to shore to rub their bellies near the fresh water sources entering the bay. With more than 25,000 belugas in Hudson Bay during the warm season there is a ready supply for polar bears who have learned the jump-and-catch-a-whale technique, or know a “friend” who has.