Ghost ship series: The lost expedition
This image was originally created as a background scene for the Mindscape artwork. However, I have decided to separate it from this project and give it another life as part of my ghost ship series. I had to adjust its colour scheme and add some appropriate elements.
This picture was inspired by Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition to the Northwest Passage that departed from England in 1845. This expedition, consisting of two fully equipped ships and 129 men, tragically vanished in the Arctic ice. John Franklin was an experienced explorer and a renowned Royal Navy officer, and this voyage was meant to be his fourth and the grandest. Over the next 150 years the mystery surrounding John Franklin’s death and his failed expedition will be haunting historians and explorers alike. There is not a definite answer to the reason of their deaths: some of the evidence (i.e. crew members’ graves on Beechey Island) suggests that they died of pneumonia, tuberculosis and scurvy, while other clearly indicates lead and food poisoning. Cut marks on human bones found on King Island have been interpreted as signs of cannibalism. No one has been able to put all the puzzles of this tragedy together yet, and this expedition continues to sail through history as well as our imaginations.
The seeming serenity of the picture is being doubted by overhanging ominous skies closing up a tiny opening in-between icy cliffs. What is awaiting a curious ship on the other side of the passage? Franklin’s expedition. To be discovered. Read more at Captain Sir John Franklin The Lost Expedition artwork lillustrates Videnskab Historie - Illustrated History, School Textbook, Denmark. 2013 March, Bonnier Publications, De Erobrede Verden, the conquering of the world textbook. Bonnier Publications is the largest publisher of popular magazines. Among the best-known magazines are Illustrated Science, The Shape and History, Active Training, Digital Photo, Do It Yourself, Komputer for all, National Geograph, etc.
Software media: Adobe Photoshop ®, Adobe Illustrator ®, Autodesk 3ds Max ®, Planetside Terragen ®, Photo Stock, Paint Shop Pro Photo ®,
George Grie, September 2008
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Ghost ship series: The lost expedition