The sign of the pirate, the snarling teeth on the bow and the spikes protruding from the helipad.
Yes, the 'Bob Barker' from Sea Shepherd Australia was in Sydney until Friday.
I was there intending to paint the White Bay Transit Shed before its demolition, but the crew of the "Sea Shepherd", who were curious about the "Artist in Residence" on the wharf, challenged me to see if I could paint their ship while they filmed me.
I picked up my easel and moved a bit closer to the ship, but out of the way of the crane delivering supplies for their Antarctic voyage.
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"Bob Barker - Sea Shepherd"
2011 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
The "Bob Barker - Sea Shepherd" crew challenged me to paint their ship before their departure.
Nothing like a bit of pressure! These 2 photos of me and my canvas were taken by some of the crew.
"Bob Barker - Sea Shepherd"
2011 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
With my completed canvas of the "Bob Barker - Sea Shepherd" in front of the ship.
The ship's crazy paint job made it hard to discern its proportions against the blue sky and sea.
I don't know whether this helps to camouflage it or make it stand out against the backdrop of the icy Southern ocean.
The vessel didn't exactly have classical lines, and there were a lot of strange and fiddly details to cope with. Some of these I didn't really understand until after I had finished my painting and was given a celebratory tour of the ship. Strange yellow and black attachments turned out to be barricading to prevent easy boarding. Later in the afternoon more of these were attached to the upper deck helipad at a jaunty angle - giving the ship an even more raffish and piratical air.
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I
had completed the canvas of the "Bob Barker - Sea Shepherd" by mid -
afternoon and here it is on my easel in front of the ship. |
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"Bob Barker - Sea Shepherd" 2011 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
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I started the canvas about 10.30 am and finished it by about 1.30pm, then spent a couple of hours having a guided tour of the ship. Unfortunately the next day was quite windy and I aggravated an old shoulder injury while chasing a runaway canvas that had been caught in a sudden gust of wind, so I missed their departure on Friday.
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