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About my subjects Upon reflection I have always had this special feeling for the sailing ships. At school, during the war, when other boys were drawing planes and tanks I was drawing sailing ships. One of my earliest memories is of a large picture of a sailing ship on a sunlit sea. It was in a tobacconist's window, advertising 'Capstan' tobacco. I could almost hear the hiss of water creaming at her bow and the drumming of her taut canvas. In Australia in the mid '60's the time of commercial sail was only just coming to an end. The last of the stout two-masted ketches 'Sirius', 'Margaret' and 'One and All' were still bringing bagged wheat down from the Gulf ports to Adelaide. Some of the wharfies there had worked the sailing ships, loading for the last grain races to Europe. It seemed to me then as if I had just missed them, especially as many of my shipmates had vivid recollections of the 'Pamir' and 'Passat' and their sister ships. Whilst still at sea I sought to combine my interest in painting and drawing with a first hand study of the elements to portray the essence of the sailing ship. The wealth of written material, from Conrad to the rigging plans of Harold C. Underhill, and the many old photographs still extant, were also a constant source of inspiration. So it began, and is still a continuing fascination for me, and if the interest engendered by my work is any indication, it is a fascination I share with many, for one of the loveliest and most practical creations of man. |
© John White 2003
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