a portrait of the ganges 2007 - david rankin the...
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The Artists for Conservation “Flag Expedition #2” ~ David Rankin’s Watercolor Expedition into the Ganges Himalayas
The Sacred SourceA Portrait of the Ganges 2007
Hard travel in amazing landscapesMay/June 2007
With all of my years of travel inIndia,andmynumerousexplorationsofre-moteregionsintheKashmirHimalayas,thisyear’sexpeditionwasthemostextreme,dif-ficult,andartisticallyrewarding.TheGangesHimalayas was everything I had thought itwouldbeandmore. However, thesheerphysicaleffortof our explorations, much of it between10,000-13,200 feet was at times gruelingand exhausting. In the Gangotri region wetrekkedthe18kmup...andthatsame18kmdown. And breaking camp and hittingthe trail by 7:30-8am and not getting intocamp until 3-4pm in theafternoon, left me fairlyexhausted. Even when thetrails were well markedand time-worn by millionsof previous pilgrims, theywereoftenverynarrow,pre-carious,anddangerous.Inathousandplacesasprainedankleoraaccidentalstum-bleinthewrongportionofthe trail could easily provelife-threatening. This expeditionwas designed to allow meto artistically study, sketch,photograph, video, andpaint my way throughoutthis ancient and sacred re-gionoftheHimalayas. Butthesheerphysicalexertionandlongdaysoftravelmade
itverydifficulttoworkinthewayInor-mallydo. Because of this I tended tosketch and photograph more than Ithought I would. We all shared videoduties and came home with over 12-14hoursofrawvideo;whichIamnowbusy editing down into bite sized seg-mentsandloadingupontothewebsite. We had thought we wouldbeabletouploadvideoandphotosallalongtheroutes.Andinfact,amazinglyenough, we discovered a “Cyber Cafe”sign on a building atop the Kedarnathplateau,atmorethan12,000! The problem was that editingvideo, even on the Macintosh laptopsthat we brought with us is time-con-suming.Butthenfindingandthenup-loading content to the web was not aseasyasIhadthought.Wewereabletodo itatseveralplacesalongtheroutes.
Butinmanyinstances,wewereallsimplytootiredbytheendoftheday’stravelstogothroughtheprocess.
Website: davidrankinwatercolors.com Email: [email protected]
WorkingDf N,Directly from Nature,intheHimalayas.
The trails throughout the Gangotri Glacier region are often only 3’ wide at the most dangerous portion. And then they go from rocky & rugged, to extremely rugged, to... “Goat Worthy”!
From Elephants to Glaciers
Photos: Kelly Dodge
The Artists for Conservation “Flag Expedition #2” ~ David Rankin’s Watercolor Expedition into the Ganges Himalayas
The Sacred SourceA Portrait of the Ganges 2007
The most beautiful landscape...difficult to paint!
High altitude sun light burns skin quickly! TheearlyJunetemperaturesonthetrailuptotheGan-gotri Glacier rose above 90° by noon with few clouds and noshadeabovethetreeline;whichisabout11,000feet.Theclearhighaltitude June weather requires careful layering of clothes, a goodhat,andplentyofsunscreen.Wehadtherightclothes.AndIhada fabulous “Tilly Hat”. But somehow Deanna & I had misplacedour sunscreen. So luckily, Ashleigh had brought two large tubes.Whichsavedourskin.Evenso,Iforgottoapplysunscreentomylowerlip.AndthuslyIhadalargepainfulsunblisteronmylowerlipforthenext3weeks! Wheneverwegotsomewherelongenoughformetore-laxabitandgetoutmysketchinggear,I’ddoso.Butitsimplywasn’tpossiblealongthetrailbecausethetrekkingwassophysicallyde-manding.SoI’dtakephotos&videoalongtheway,andsketchandpaintwheneverIhadenoughtimeandenergy.. AsyouapproachtheGangotriGlacier,climbingsteadily&steeplyupthisenormouswidevalley,youhavethesedramaticBhagirathipeaksatthefareasternendofthevalleyasaconstantcompanion. So they were one of the first things I sketched andpaintedoncewegotsettledintoourbasecampat13,125feet.
From Elephants to GlaciersWebsite: davidrankinwatercolors.com Email: [email protected]
The Artists for Conservation “Flag Expedition #2” ~ David Rankin’s Watercolor Expedition into the Ganges Himalayas
The Sacred SourceA Portrait of the Ganges 2007
Sketching trees I carry a lightweightaluminumclip-boardsketchbookand9BWoodless Graphite pencils for my very fastestefforts. In addition to the extraordinary dramaofthisglacialregion,surroundedby numerous20,000+footpeaks,thetreesandvegetationwereaconstantdelight&fascination.ThiswaspartlybecauseofalltherhetoricIhadreadandheardforthepast2years.OneisledtobelievethattheHimalayashavebecomecompletelystrippedofallvegetation.Butquitethecontrary.Inmyob-servations I can attest to the fact that althoughtherehasbeenalotoflossofnaturalfauna,itwasfarlessthanIhadbeenpreparedfor.Infact,Ihaveseenmuchworsedeforestationinourownstatesof Oregon & Washington than virtually any-whereinourHimalayantravels.Infact,thehighaltitudeforests intheMandakinivalley, leadinguptoKedarnathwereextremelydense,primeval,andimpenetrable!UpintheGangotriNationalParkIwasconstantlysurprisedbythebeautyofthevarioustypesofpinesatChirbasaandgiantancient Deodar stood out in grand fashion allthewayuptheBhagirathitributary. And even up in the most effected ar-eas,alongtheapproachtoBadrinath,therewereextraordinary groves and hillsides of very enor-moustreesallthewayuptothetreeline.
From Elephants to GlaciersWebsite: davidrankinwatercolors.com Email: [email protected]
David sketching in camp. Photo: Kelly Dodge
Our camp “cook tent” was set up in a grove of sacred Bhujbasa birch at Chirbasa.
The Artists for Conservation “Flag Expedition #2” ~ David Rankin’s Watercolor Expedition into the Ganges Himalayas
The Sacred SourceA Portrait of the Ganges 2007
Drawing a Crowd in India! Sketching & Painting in crowds. Thefirstlegofourexpeditionbroughtus up from Delhi to the ancient pilgrim townofHaridwar,andSwamiRama’sashramonthebanksoftheGangesnorthoftown.Thiswasmyfirst plein air watercolor of the trip.. And I wassofocusedonmyproceduresthatafterabout45minutesIlookedaroundtodiscoverabout100orsopeoplegatheredaboutquietlyobserving. I like to sketch & paint in public, es-pecially in India. The crowds are always veryrespectfulofartistsinIndia.Andwemetsomeverywonderfulpeoplealongtheway.Thetrickhowever, is to maintain ones focus; which canbedauntingwhentherearedozensofpeopletryingtowatchwhatyou’redoing.Butafteryou’veworkedDf N,directlyfromnaturelikethisforsometimeyoudevelopakindoffocusthatallowsyouto
maintainyourattentionandstillinteractsomewiththecrowds.It’sactuallyquiteawonderfulexperienceinIndia.
From Elephants to GlaciersWebsite: davidrankinwatercolors.com Email: [email protected]
Deanna and Ashleigh with David as he paints, at Ram Kunj in Haridwar. Photos: Kelly Dodge
The Artists for Conservation “Flag Expedition #2” ~ David Rankin’s Watercolor Expedition into the Ganges Himalayas
The Sacred SourceA Portrait of the Ganges 2007
“Why is that white...?”
Crowd participation An interesting thing oc-curred while I was finishing thispainting. The guy standing overmyrightshoulder,inthehorizon-talstrippedshirt, inthephotoonthe previous page, watched in-tentlyforthewholepainting.Butas I reached the final stage of thepainting he couldn’t help himself.He bent down and with a ratherinsistentvoiceaskedme...“Whyisthewhite”?Hewaspointingtoanarea of the painting, the far shoreacross the river, where I had yetto add the brighter warmersiennaandIndianyellow.Heobviously realized that I wasnearing the end and won-deredwhyIhadleftthatareawhite? Any artist whoworks in transparent water-colorisfamiliarwiththetradition-
alwatercolorprocedurewherewe“paintaround”certainareasleavingthem white until we are ready todevelopthoseareas.Heobviouslywasunawareofthisprocedureandfelthehadtopointouttomethatthere simply was no large whiteareaoverontheoppositeshore. I told him that... “Thepainting isn’t quite done yet!” Ithen encouraged him to watchthis lastphaseofthepaintingasIcompletedthatarea.BythetimeIwasfinishedhegaveasighofreliefas though had been very worriedabouttheoutcome.
From Elephants to GlaciersWebsite: davidrankinwatercolors.com Email: [email protected]
Here is my initial 9B graphite study. This is how I start a watercolor.
The Artists for Conservation “Flag Expedition #2” ~ David Rankin’s Watercolor Expedition into the Ganges Himalayas
The Sacred SourceA Portrait of the Ganges 2007
The low HimalayasThe Glass House The extremedrama of the Ganges Himalayas highcountry is balanced by the more acces-sible outer regions where the mountainsare forest covered and rise from 3,000-8,000 feet. On our way down out of thehigh country we stopped at a wonderfultinyhotelrightonthebanksoftheGan-gescalledTheGlassHouse. Itisaboutanhour’sdriveaboveRishikesh and this part of the lower Hi-malayas is heavily forested. The Glass
House has created a magnificent settinghere inthe jungle,with lotsof fruittreesandmanicuredgardensfilledwithawideassortmentofflowers. Everybushandtreelimbisalivewithbirds.AndIsketchedafewasIsetuptopainttheviewalongtheriverbendinfrontofthehotel. After a month in rugged highcountry the dinner here at the GlassHouse was a crescendo of the trip. Thefollowingmorningwetookourlast“FlagShot”bytheGanges.
From Elephants to GlaciersWebsite: davidrankinwatercolors.com Email: [email protected]
Devout families immerse themselves in the Ganges the next morning.