Wonderful Walrus
Posted December 2020 (archived)
In the summer of 2018 I had the great good fortune to visit Svalbard. I had long dreamed of travelling in the Far North, and I have to say the trip exceeded all expectations. This rugged archipelago is truly a wonderful place for both landscape and wildlife. Walrus was high (dare I say even top) of my wanted list and they didn't disappoint. No static two-dimensional image can really do justice to the reality of these huge saggy masses of blubber, their interactions, their extensive repertoire of burpy-farty noises and their truly awful smell!
I’m acquainted with quite a few blubbery pinipeds, but I think none are quite so fluid as a walrus. They are undoubtedly powerful beasts, perhaps even elegant under water, but on land their sagginess reminded me of plastic bags part filled with water. Here are a few of the field sketches from the trip – all a bit rough and grabbed quickly as opportunity allowed.
In due course I’ll post up some more from Svalbard… polar bears for instance... but I hope these walrus will keep you going for the time being.
The watercolour at the top of this page was done back in the studio, based on the field sketches. It was shown at the SWLA exhibition in London 2019. The picture below is a studio acrylic of walrus amongst blocks of ice washed up on the shore at Torellneset; an arctic tern floats past above.
Svalbard in The Field
Much of my field sketching with pencil and watercolour was done from a Zodiac. That’s a little rubber boat for those unfamiliar with such things – as illustrated below. I have to admit they are very tough and competent little dinghies, but I didn’t expect to get much art work done in them.
In the event, I did far more than I could have possibly imagined, even using watercolours in the boats. Eventually I ran out of paper!
Even if many of the sketches are rudimentary and incomplete, they still conjure up the moment for me better than any photo.
