The Striker!

The two most respected men in an Eskimo whaling crew are the Captain and the Striker. The Striker is responsible for harpooning the whale, while the Captain must bring the crew and the boat in the position, close, very close, but not too close, where the Striker can throw the harpoon, while at the same time he must assure his boat and crew are not capsized and destroyed .

I once had an invitation to go out with a whaling crew but, alas, I had work I had to get to and a family to support.

I did this painting using a light watercolor wash and sumi, fresh ground Japanese ink, on 140 pound cold pressed paper.