Taking The Plunge – Drawing Underwater

The ocean is one of the last truly wild places on the planet, many of its secrets yet to be discovered and one of the greatest natural resources we have – for both wildlife and people. But the diversity and volume of life it supports is often at the fringes of our understanding, an unknown which few are able to experience first hand. The sea has held a fascination for me for as long as I can remember and recently I took the plunge to begin drawing the underwater world, not in sunny tropical waters but off the Scottish coast…

To attempt drawing underwater is obviously not without its challenges but as I slipped beneath the surface for the first time I entered a world of abundance. Leaving the shoreline palette of misty greys, greens and browns I found a riot of colour extending out beneath me in shades of rose pink, burnt orange, electric blue, acid green and scarlet.

If only it was possible to work with pastels and their glorious array of colours underwater. Instead my limitations were a graphite stick and specialist waterproof paper. In order to swim and move about in the water as well as to not lose any of my equipment everything needed to be securely clipped or leashed onto me.

At this point my mind is often drawn to the wonderful zoological drawings and paintings of Else Bostelmann who worked underwater in the 1930s. Descending with a helmet and air hose she would work from life with oil paints, using a weighted stand to support her canvas and tie her brushes onto. An intrepid and inspirational artist.

Although I was limited to graphite drawing it still allowed me to note down the incredible complexity of life, atmosphere and quality of light. Multiple species clambered over and amongst each other, scallop and oyster shells were colonised by translucent sea squirts and sea sponges. Spiny sea urchins and starfish clambered their way across the conglomeration and a myriad of fish and crabs hustled amongst it all. Possibly the stars of the show though were the nudibranchs or sea slugs, tiny creatures in a startling array of colours.

With so much to see my memory seemed fit to burst by the end of a session in the water and I would head back to shore to warm up and get as much down on paper as possible while it was still fresh in my mind. Working fast with pastels in a large format sketchbook I could work very freely and loosely to capture initial impressions and above all the sense of the colours I had seen. This often begins with small thumbnail compositions, almost like a collection of snapshots recalling specific moments.

Although these are very rough drawings, for me they remind me perfectly of what it felt and looked like to be in the water. I have the graphite drawings to refer to for more precise details and also the option to either go back with a camera or to look up species to ensure anatomical correctness. So at this stage it is very much about impressions, particular groupings of creatures or colours together, tiny dramas that play out and what features define one area from another. A lot of this work relies on good memory recall and that is something you can practice and improve as it brings benefits to your drawing even when you don’t need to use it.

To help me get everything down on paper quickly I often prepare my sketchbook pages with some colours I know I’ll be likely to see or that I think will make a good background. This is often done with gouache which I find leaves a nice tooth to work on top of and has a similar quality to the pastels. I also relish the opportunity to use some of those pastels which always seem to be left over in mixed sets, beautiful colours but just ones that I haven’t found a use for yet. There is something very liberating in being able to push the boundaries of what choices you normally make and try something different.

My initial marks will be to block in big shapes and areas of colour, looking for interesting contrasts and intersections. These can really set the mood of the piece by establishing a sense of atmosphere and composition very quickly. After that I’ll start looking for a bit of complexity, adding in textures and trying to get that sense of everything growing on top of and moving around each other. Finally I want to make sure there is some depth in the image, maybe some fronds of seaweed are partially obscuring a shoal of fish or the legs of a starfish appear wrapped around a shell.

Getting into the water may not be for everyone, I’ll admit to plenty of times when I have questioned myself as the first flush of cold water touches skin. But there are plenty of opportunities to explore at the margins of the seashore, in rockpools, in aquariums or even online using webcams hosted by sea life centres. And by dipping a toe in and trying something different who knows where you might end up…