The Old Luggers online

As far as possible this will be a 'real time' exercise ie. things will appear more or less when they happen - as against 'here's one I fixed earlier'

Mistakes and problems should show up when they happen and will be there to be worked through. All contributions will be welcome - suggestions and observations to


So what's involved?
	Collect up what we already know about Lurline - a plank-on-plank cased model, a sailor-drawn starboard side beam on view, two or three lines in 'The Last of the Windjammers' by Basil Lubbock and half a paragraph in a letter from the captain's grandson (see photos below) Research historical data about St.John's and about any special configurations of the vessel and her rig which might have applied on the North Atlantic passage. Make preliminary composition sketches. Decide season of the year, time of day and prevailing weather, wind force and sea conditions. Prepare for painting as described in Preparation, Drawing and Composition.


Day One: The Man and His Ship
	As well as providing authentic detail about Lurline, browsing old pictures and documents can help set the mood for our picture. We see a 19th century man pitting his wooden ship against North Atlantic gales in winter and with him get a hint of the relief on passing the narrows into the shelter of St.John's Bay. Perhaps a bit of this will find its way into the finished work.
	Orlando Partridge Master Mariner 1844-1928		Born at South Pool, Salcombe Estuary, Devon. He was at sea for 54 years mainly trading on the North Atlantic for W.W.Steer. He skippered both 'Lurline' and 'Elmina' carrying principally fruit to the Canadian East Coast.
			A cased plank-on-frame model of 'Lurline' made by Captain Partridge's grandson
		Left: 'Lurline' in a bottle Right: A sailor-drawn portrait of 'Lurline'. The rigging is drawn with pencil and ruler while trailing leeches are slit to create low relief.
Detail from 'A September Afternoon in Salcombe Harbour' by Austin Hill (click for 'brushstrokes' view) Birthplace of Captain Orlando Partridge and where 'Lurline' was built. Day two: Choosing a View
	A maritime contact on the net has sent us copious pilotage information about St.John's and enough views of the bay to spoil us for choice! The one below seems to offer the best scope to show a ship making port. It will also provide a powerful impression of depth in our picture thanks to the converging and receding flanks. This shot looks east towards the entrance narrows. Our picture won't be this shape so it'll be a case of cropping left and right to make a more conventional view of it. But it must include the high feature on the left - Signal Hill - and enough of the right margin to show the jetties and breakwater on that side of the channel.The foreground quayside could also be useful but will clearly need setting in an earlier epoch.Here's a close-up of Signal Hill showing good potential for texture and lighting - the schooner's leaving, Lurline will be headed toward us. Given that the schooner is headed about east, the sun is clearly on the western elevation of Signal Hill - note too that the starboard side of the schooner is in shade. For pictorial impact it could be useful to have the sun at a lower angle - late fall or winter -so that it just catches the top of the hill leaving a darker, mistier area beneath. That in turn would let us show Lurline's canvas in well-lit counterchange against it - a bit turneresque but so what - this is meant to be a Victorian reconstruction or pastiche as the less sympathetic might say!
Day three: Making a start
	We'll make a few rough sketches to develop a composition. .
			This makes Signal Hill the main feature on the left. The panoramic view is probably a wide angle shot in which case the feature appears smaller and further away than it is. The view of a schooner against the feature may be in telephoto however, in which case the hill looks higher than it should relative to the boat. This is all about justifying a bit of artist's licence when I make the hill a bit higher to act as backdrop to Lurline's canvas! We'll also deepen the bit of quayside to make room for some foreground interest.

To be continued and concluded on Newfoundland Project Page Two now in preparation. This will show the finished painting arrived at through all its stages, probably preceded by some more trial sketches.