Reading a blog post today by Marriane Davies reminded me that the language of the whitewater environment can be seen differently by each individual. One thing that I think we can all agree helps someone to grow as a kayaker is their ability to really 'SEE' moving water. When a regular person or a new paddler looks at the rapid in this photograph they may see boiling water. They may see a boater (potentially in difficulties!), and they may see one or two rocks in the mix. However, when someone who has come to know the whitewater environment looks at this, they will see things differently. Having an understanding of the flow of a rapid gives a paddler the ability to read its behaviours and its opportunities, just as understanding a few words of Italian may help you to understand the opportunities for extra taste sensations at your local Italian pizzeria.
It would be fascinating to compare what each of us see. I'd like to open with a fun weekly game and personal challenge. Each week, we post a photograph on this blog page that depicts a scene from white water kayaking. All you have to do is take a look at it, and then create a drawing of what you see. You can't just draw a copy of the photograph, that would be tracing! You have two options:
1. Draw the scene from the same perspective as the photograph, but find a way to really showcase and draw attention to the movement in the water.
2. Draw the scene from a different perspective than the one in the photograph. If that perspective leads you to unchartered territory ( to depicting an area of water or land that exists outside of the original shot), feel free to use your imagination.
I can't draw for toffee, but I'm going to have a go. I can't wait to see what you as a whitewater community come out with! I hope you'll find this a fun and interesting exercise to test and maybe even improve your ability to read the whitewater environment.
We'd love to see your work! Please send a photo of your efforts to info@paddle365.co.uk with the Title 'Whitewater Art Club- Big Brother -YOUR NAME, Or post it to your social media feed with #whitewaterartclub. On Thursday May 7th I'll post a new image along with a collage of the entries (anonymously shown) from the previous week.
Entries in by Thursday morning 10am. Game on!