Caribbean Vista

Drawing activity suitable for all ages.

Vintage sepia tone photograph of the Gros Pitons mountainous in St. Lucia. A boat sit in the water in front of the mountains

Original artwork: Unknown, Gros Piton, St. Lucia, ca. 1900. Gelatin silver print, Overall: 19 x 29.2 cm. Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs. Purchase, with funds from Dr. Liza & Dr. Frederick Murrell, Bruce Croxon & Debra Thier, Wes Hall & Kingsdale Advisors, Cindy & Shon Barnett, Donette Chin-Loy Chang, Kamala-Jean Gopie, Phil Lind & Ellen Roland, Martin Doc McKinney, Francilla Charles, Ray & Georgina Williams, Thaine & Bianca Carter, Charmaine Crooks, Nathaniel Crooks, Andrew Garrett & Dr. Belinda Longe, Neil L. Le Grand, Michael Lewis, Dr. Kenneth Montague & Sarah Aranha, Lenny & Julia Mortimore, and The Ferrotype Collective, 2019. © Art Gallery of Ontario. 2019/2151.

This line drawing is inspired by an exquisite photograph from the recently acquired Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs. The collection includes more than 3,500 historical images from a range of countries including Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad. The photos included in the exhibition Fragments of Epic Memory bring to life the changing economies, environments and communities of the Caribbean from 1849 to 1940.

Look up, all the way up! Located in Saint Lucia, the Pitons are two towering mountainous, volcanic spires, linked together by the Piton Mitan ridge. Gros Piton is the higher of the two mountains at 798.25 m or 2,618.9 ft. (Petit Piton is the smaller of the two at 743 m or 2,438 ft.). The mountains feature a diversity of terrestrial habitats, lush flora and abundant fauna. Imagine hiking all the way up Gros Piton and looking around. What do you see? What do you hear? Look out into the distance – what do you see now?

ACTIVITY

The photograph of Gros Piton is a silver gelatin print, with tones in a neutral, black-and-white or warm white range. Using coloured pencils, markers or the medium of your choice, re-imagine the vibrancy of the printed image. What do you think the photographer saw when this picture was taken? What colours, textures and patterns would you add?

If you were a landscape photographer, which landscape would you photograph? Why have you selected this particular space? Is it somewhere you have visited before? Is it a place filled with special memories?

What does your final composition look like? What would you try if you did it again? Share it with us at #AGOmakes @AGOToronto

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