Marble Cathedral, Chile Chico

This cathedral is one of the many marble caves, or "Cavernas de Mármol". in the glacial Lake General Carrera. The caves are made of calcium carbonate and have been eroded for 6000+ years by the waves. The rock is textured like dimples on a golf ball which indicate that the process of erosion is still current. The colours of the caves change depending on the time of day, time of year and the level of the water. The "cave" is actually a stand alone piece of rock whose bottom is being carved out by the water, like the Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road.

I procrastinated this one because I didn't want to attempt it at all. But I did know that I wanted to use one of my favourite Daniel Smith colours: Cobalt teal blue (which, by the way, Australian watercolourist David Taylor himself gave to me). I chose this picture to reference because it was the one that reflected the glacial blue water on the ceiling of the cave the best. Once again, trying to keep it simple by limiting the number of colours used. I did the rock stripes first and then procrastinated again to avoid the water. It's not at all what the photo captured BUT it's how I needed to do it given that I was using paint on mediocre paper. So like the Blood Falls, I dabbed away with my 1/4 inch paintbrush to create the ripple effect, while I thanked my brain for knowing how to navigate symmetry and mirror imaging. I manipulated some of the shadow areas to be much darker so that the main "trunk" would stand out. Again, this was a scene that not many people would know how to translate unless they'd seen photos beforehand. In the end, I was quite pleased with it.

Image reference: National Geographic

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