I have a (dream) job this week, and that is to make a map/figure of Antarctica for a polar scientist. I’m using Adobe Illustrator (and Photoshop).
Pretty excited about my work today. I get to make a map/figure of Antarctica for a polar scientist. Dream job!
— Marlo Garnsworthy🌊❄️ (@MarloWordyBird) July 1, 2020
(That’s the amazing and beautiful REMA map I’m using as a template, btw.) pic.twitter.com/GXHLThTDkb
Check out the REMA (Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica) map. It’s super cool.
Coming along... pic.twitter.com/TSY5Fg99xn
— Marlo Garnsworthy🌊❄️ (@MarloWordyBird) July 1, 2020
I’ve added some gradation in the land (more to come) and some labels. Still need to add lats/longs.
— Marlo Garnsworthy🌊❄️ (@MarloWordyBird) July 1, 2020
But that’s as far as I can take you on this process journey, alas! Time to move on to the map’s purpose—the confidential-until-published stuff! pic.twitter.com/rTpjeoO5Yq
Doing this work makes me feel happy and fulfilled.
And it’s done!
One of my projects during IODP Expedition 382 Iceberg Alley was to create a book that could be used as an educational resource related to our science. Through my communications with the public, I’ve realized many people don’t know the difference between land ice and sea ice. (E.g., “Are icebergs frozen seawater?”) I wondered, how can we convey the importance of Exp 382 work, if people—both kids and adults—don’t really understand how an iceberg forms and its relationship to the ice sheet? So, I set out to make something I hoped would appeal to and inform a broad audience.
At sea, I did the research and writing and sketched out illustration ideas for this and a similar picture book.
Thumbnails in the JOIDES Resolution core lab.
While I did a little painting at sea, I really needed to be back in my studio to successfully create the illustrations for this book, which are a mix of watercolors and watercolor collage. This process requires frequent movement between my art table and my desk — and lots of mess. When you combine this with how much time I sit staring into space and/or pacing, making these kinds of illustrations was not very practical in the shared spaces of a medium-sized research vessel in the heaving Southern Ocean!
Watercolors in the JOIDES Resolution conference room
Since I returned 5 weeks ago, I’ve been mainly working on this project. The transition from life on the Southern Ocean to regular life has its challenges—and there’s a particular kind of letdown that comes with it. (I’ve now successfully deposited two massive chunks of my soul in the Antarctic.) So, I feel exceptionally lucky to have spent a month painting, writing about, and thinking about the polar environment I love so much and processing all I experienced at sea.
Back in my studio
I loved making this book, and I hope it entices people to learn more about Antarctic ice and how Climate Change is affecting it.
This book will soon be available as a free resource from JOIDESResolution.org. It is dedicated to the brilliant, tireless, lovely scientists of Expedition 382.