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Recent/Blog

News and blog posts about recent works, workshops, events, presentations, expeditions and exhibitions by Canadian artist David McEown.

Great Bear Rainforest Impressions

David McEown

"I am delighted to share some of my video and watercolor painting impressions from a recent adventure in the Great Bear Rainforest. Among the places we visited were on the traditional territories of the Haisla and Gitgaat people. In late summer, salmon gather at the bottom of streams and rivers, waiting for water levels to rise so they can begin the journey upstream to spawn. We photographed and sketched many grizzly and black bears as they searched the intertidal zone for food. We also explored the outer islands and heard the calls of 'sea wolves', following their tracks along long white sand beaches. Many mornings began with the sound of humpback whales surfacing around our catamaran.

Returning to this incredibly rich temperate rainforest ecosystem was a true privilege, and I'm eager to work in the studio using the references I gathered, including photos of ancient trees and moss arrangements, for a large watercolor project I am currently undertaking. I extend my heartfelt thanks to Maple Leaf Adventures and Canadian Geographic Travel for inviting Daisy Gilardini and me as RCGS travel ambassadors aboard Cascadia, allowing us to explore the stunning wilderness of the Great Bear Rainforest on British Columbia's west coast.

We are happy to announce our upcoming expedition on this amazing vessel as we venture to explore the Islands of Haida Gwaii from June 7-15th, 2024

“Receding Tide, Campania Island”, 15 x 22 inches, watercolour

Mural in progress inspired by the Great Bear Rainforest.

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Workshop and Presentations 2023

David McEown

Watercolour and the Art of Seeing on Cortes Island

"Gratitude to the wonderful 19 artists who joined me for a 4-day workshop/retreat at Hollyhock on Cortes Island in May 2023. We were blessed with stunning weather, four beautiful sunrise sessions, and enchanted forests. After hours of painting, we enjoyed wholesome organic meals and had the option to join nature walks, bodywork, and explore the beaches. Thanks to the warm and accommodating staff who helped make this event possible. I eagerly anticipate returning on May 8-12, 2024, for another 'Watercolour and the Art of Seeing' retreat!"

McMicheal Canadian Art Collection

Thank you to all who joined me for my presentation and workshop on Earth Day, April 22, 2023, at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection!

It was a wonderful experience sharing videos, stories, and a collection of new paintings from the Great Bear Rainforest and the inspiring polar regions.

I was truly delighted to have a full house and to reconnect with dear friends. Your presence made the event even more special.

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Great Bear Rainforest

David McEown

Watercolour impressions from the Great Bear Rainforest by David McEown with additional Video and Photography by Daisy Gilardini.

Many thanks to Maple Leaf Adventures and Canadian Geographic Travel for inviting us as RCGS travel ambassadors on board Cascadia, a small expedition catamaran, to explore the beautiful wilderness of the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia’s west coast.

It was a privilege to return to this incredibly rich temperate rainforest ecosystem. While sailing among the outer islands we had amazing encounters with humpback whales, sea lions and eagles and followed the salmon’s path along spawning channels into the rainforest. There, under the guidance of our expert Gitga’at First Nation Guides we were so lucky to even witness the rare Spirit Bear! Through the dramatic landscape, deep into the coastal mountain range, we sailed towards the Kitlope River and learned about the culture and historical significance of this sacred watershed. 

As I review the many sketches, videos and images shot during the voyage I feel full of inspiration for new studio paintings.

 We are thrilled to return to this mesmerizing part of world in the fall with Maple Leaf in September 2023 for another expedition focused on photography, sketching and watercolour.

Our Gitga’at First Nation Guides provided a safe viewing area for our small group. We sat quietly for hours along the river, under a light rain when finaly a Spirit Bear magically appeared from the deep forest. Without even acknowledging our presence she fished the salmon right in front of us for a long time, before magically disappearing back into the  forest. 

 While on location I often take lots of reference photos and video material. When time allows, I however, never miss the opportunity to sketch and/or paint with my watercolour. In this instance I would photograph and video when the bear was fishing then switch to sketching and painting while she would go into the forest to eat the freshly caught salmon. 

“In the Great Bear Rainforest”, 28 x 40 inches, watercolour 

This large watercolour was inspired while bear viewing along a pristine salmon spawning river in the Gitga’at First Nation territory. In this unique ecosystem, everything is interdependent. Salmon which come back in cycles to spawn, are the connection between ocean and forest and provide essential nitrogen for the tree to grow old and strong. The spirit bear, or Kermode has a whitish, cream-colored fur, due to a unique recessive gene, and is a subspecies of the more familiar North American black bear. Local Gitga’at First Nation guides have named this female “Warrior”. She is the daughter of “Ma’ah,” a spirit bear in which I was fortunate to have photographed and painted many years ago.

Photography by Daisy Gilardini, Canadian Geographic Photographer in residence.

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Grizzly Bears of Chilko Lake

David McEown

In mid October many grizzly bears come down to the water at Chilko Lake and feed on the sockeye salmon that spawn along the Chilko River.  We had great opportunities to sketch, paint and photograph these majestic animals in the autumn colours! (video by David McEown)

From the safety of our boat I produced a lot of sketches and small colour studies which made great reference for studio paintings once back home.

“Autumn on the Chilko” , 22 x 30 inches watercolour (available for sale)

The Bears had a good feast as we also did when  returning back to the comforts of our lodge, thanks to Tsylos Park Lodge.

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Svalbard Impressions 2022

David McEown

It was inspiring to be back in Svalbard earlier this year for the month of April and return for the Summer Solstice. This Norwegian archipelago  of which Spitsbergen is the largest island is located in the arctic ocean north of Norway. These landscapes have  some of the most dramatic scenery that I have ever painted as well is home to abundant populations of arctic wildlife.

The video above features wildlife encounters and landscape highlights which I try to capture in watercolour. I used my Nikon Z9 taking most of the video. Many thanks to Daisy Gilardini for additional clips. At this time of year the light is ideal as sunrise and sunsets start to merge into one, iIlluminating still frozen fiords and crystal blue icebergs.

“Hornsund Reflections, 15in. x 22in watercolour

The following selection of painting were sketched on location as our small ship navigated its way through ice and some completed later on in the studio . Early in the season it is often well below freezing temperature. On some paintings I use a flash freeze technique in which I lay the water wash down and it freezes immediately leaving crystal textures. On others, when smoother transitions are required, I sometimes add flow medium like ox gall from Winsor Newton, (there are synthetic version on the market now) and glycerin in my paint mixture. Other times it is just to darn cold so I draw several compositions, and paint inside the ship from memory. Dressing in lots of layers is essential to stay warm and I use good gloves that open at the finger tips in order to feel the pencil.

These plein-air sketches are indispensable captures of the complex and surreal colour and light effects cast by glaciers and drift ice. The paintings are also used as references for bigger studio painting completed later on when back home, such as “Walrus and Ice” and the polar bear in “Ice Edge Sunrise”.

“Ice Edge Sunrise”, 28 x 40 inches watercolour

Fjord ice starts to break up in spring by a long deep swell from the arctic ocean creating endless inspiring compositions.

“Spitsbergen”, 14 x 22 inches watercolour

“Polar Shorelines”, 29 x 40 Inches watercolour

Svalbard Summer Impressions

Summer is an exciting time to be back in Svalbard. Countless birds are nesting along the cliffs while thundering glaciers give birth to icebergs. Low lying arctic flowers emerge and bloom while reindeer graze and polar bears are found scouring the shorelines looking for food. In the video above we had a wonderful encounter with a mother Polar Bear with two almost grown cubs feeding on a whale carcass. The temperature is now above zero so it is ideal for watercolour. I often prefer to work late at night or early morning when the light is not too harsh.

While painting along the drift ice in North East Svalbard on a moving ship I often work on 3 small studies at a time using 140 lb A’rches cold press “bright white” paper. While observing the fantastic icescape ahead of the ship I quickly block in the open water shapes around the ice leaving the dry white of the paper to represent snow and ice. Often the dramatic islands are reflected in the calm water between the ice patterns. While being on deck most of the day I photograph seals and polar bear tracks on the ice floes hope to spot the next bear! Many of these smaller paintings will be used as concepts for larger works completed in the studio. I am currently starting a new series of large watercolours. I will add them to this blog post over the next few months.

“Monacobreen”, 7 x 22 inches watercolour

“Surfacing Ice” is a studio painting inspired from a previous trip and represents a rolled and shattered iceberg about the size of a large house. Compressed jewel like ancient ice is exposed to air for the first time in thousands of years revealing embedded moraine sediment lines and patterns of fantastical creature shapes.

“Surfacing Ice”, 22 x 30 inches, watercolour from a few years ago.

“High Arctic Summer", 22 x 30 inches watercolour

“High Arctic Summer” Keeping the eye and heart close to the ground and discovering small pockets of wildflowers in the high arctics short but intense summer.

We thank Amazing Views Photo tours for organizing these trips and inviting us as guides. I really look forward to return again next year to experience photographing and sketching the wonders of Svalbard. For upcoming trips with Daisy Gilardini and myself on board please visit my upcoming events page. Most of the artwork on the page is available for sale, please contact us for more details.

To view more artwork from Svalbard please visit my Arctic Wonders page that also includes gallery links to locations that I have painted while circumnavigating the arctic and visiting the North Pole numerous times.

Polar Bear n.8

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Return to Antarctica and South Georgia

David McEown

South Georgia Island

These recent works were painted on location during a trip to the Sub Antarctic  island of South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula in January - February 2022. It has been a long term project of mine to study , record and raise awareness about the fragility of  these natural wonders as well as try to express their inherent  beauty. Looking forward to work on some new studio paintings from all the reference! Many more paintings circumnavigating Antarctica can be viewed on my  Antarctica page.

How does one paint more than 200,000 King penguins spread out as far as the eye can see? There is not paper big enough to capture the vast display of life force present at the king penguin colony of Salisbury Plain, truly one of of natures great spectacles! I have painted this place over the years from to top of the hill in the background and from both sides, but in this 2022 expedition I decided to just look strait into the colony from the landing beach. With it lightly raining i paint between my folder angled against the wind. After establishing a good start on composition and the colour of a few key penguins , i clip another piece of paper on and expand the composition to the left side also taking notice of arriving penguins swimming on to shore with bellies full of food to feed their fuzzy brown chicks.

Antarctica

It was rare to have weather calm enough  to be able to leave the ship and have a closer look at the historic site called Point Wild. Commander Frank Wild was Ernest Shackleton’ right hand man and played a huge role in the 1914-1916 Imperial Trans-Antarctic  expedition .  They had to abandon their ship the Endurance as it was beset by ice and sank. As second in command he was left in charge of 21 men on a desolate rock on Elephant island while Shackleton and crew of 5 made the epic rescue mission to South Georgia in a lifeboat. From April 24th to August 30 (winter in antarctica) , Wild and men waited until rescued at this place  rock now called Point Wild. They all survived.

Deception Island is actually a  flooded caldera of an active volcano. While sketching from the shore of the inner harbour , old boats and  remnants from previous whaling activity swallowed up by the volcanic sands inspired this watercolour composition. The scene is a stark reminder of impermanence.  On  the outside of the island there is bustling Chinstrap penguin colonies and many whales are  returning to these waters.

While  looking down the Errera Channel from Danco Island a dramatic sky and snow squalls lift to reveal the Gerlache Strait and the shape of iconic Cuverville island. In the foreground is a small Gentoo colony in which I isolated one lone penguin walking along the top ridge. The exposed rocks on the way up the steep slopes make excellent nesting sites for these Penguins.

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