1. How It Started:
- I have always loved whales and I have studied whale songs and their dynamics to some degree. I knew I wanted to do a piece on Humpback whales and their songs. But the question was – what narrative do I want to tell and how can I design it?
2. How I Determined the Narrative Focus:
- I did a lot of research into current whale issues (threats to them and data on what is happening with them – deaths attributed to bycatch, long-line fishing, noise pollution, military impact on whales, cargo ship strikes, etc. ) and knew I wanted to tell a story about whale songs and how they use them to communicate to each other. But what do they communicate to each other? That was what I was searching for. Over time and after about 50 hours of outlining things they may say, I watched a series of documentaries on their age and it hit me – what if whales were stewards of history? What if they were the keepers of Earth’s history? I HAD IT!
- This led me to research what exactly whales might hold as historical knowledge. I thought of ocean history, land history, animal extinctions, human impacts, and more. But, I wanted the history they keep to be as big and important as they were – MOUNTAINS. That was the key. So, the questions that came to mind were:
- Which mountains or mountain ranges?
- Why those if more than 1?
3. How it Became a Drawing:
- First, I had to get the image of the humpback I wanted. I wanted a side view. I wanted it clear but not so covered by water sun ripples that the whale was not very dynamic. I watched whale footage and would stop the footage at spots looking for the perfect still. After a long while, maybe 300 photos and 6 documentaries, I managed to stop a video just as I got what I needed. I sketched the image.
- After, I had to pic what mountains. The first that came to me was actually fast – El Capitan. As I live near Yosemite, I have always wanted to find a NEW way to involve El Capitan into a work. But, I wanted the whale to be a steward of more than 1 thing, and since whales traverse massive spans of the globe, I decided this whale would hold the history for a not-so-well-known mountain Ama Dablam in the Himalayas. This mountain is often over-looked by most people, but it is well known as one of the “mountaineering dreams” in the Himalayas. It has dramatic and unique features such as one knife-edge walk where there is a 600 meter drop on either side as one walks along a narrow beam of snow/rock called mushroom ridge. This whale will be the story-teller of the history of these 2 mountains. I decided that the whale would inhabit these 2 mountains in him – symbolizing carrying their history with him forever.
- I had to now find a way to build a narrative involving whale songs too. But how?
4. How did I create the sheet music of the whale song of the mountains?
- I had done a lot of research into whale songs and I stumbled across the article written by Maris Fessenden published on the Smithsonian Magazine website (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-whale-songs-look-sheet-music-180956813/) where they explain how a team of people broke down humpback whale songs and actually drafted sheet music for their sounds. DONE! I now had it. I would merge the musical notations with sheet music paper and my whale with the mountains and construct the final narrative image.
- Once I drew the images onto the block, I seal it with a spray varnish and make changes as I cut from there on out.
SEE THE IMAGE FOR WHAT THE BLOCK LOOKS LIKE ABOUT 75% CUT! You can see hand drawn in changes and how it is taking shape.
JMBaRt - Fine Art & Printmaking by Jared Barbick 