Lawrence Packard

I have been capturing the spirit of sailing ships for 50 years. I began drawing in 1968 while serving in Vietnam; sketching what I saw on the only paper available – my aeronautical charts. My first subjects were Vietnamese fishing boats and I’ve been drawing ships on charts ever since. I learned the art of scrimshaw and worked in watercolors and oils, but I always found that I could best capture the grace and motion of sailing ships with the nearly lost art of pen & ink. I’ve studied the old ships and sailed on working schooners in the Atlantic and the Great Lakes. My drawings are actual ships; I find their stories in old newspapers, port records, insurance claims and Admiralty Court cases. Each is drawn free-hand with a pen point the thickness of a single human hair; on the nautical chart of 34 the waters where they were last seen.

I began drawing in 1968 while serving in Vietnam; sketching on my aeronautical charts. My first subjects were Vietnamese fishing boats and I’ve been capturing the spirit of sailing ships ever since. I’m self taught, developing my own free-hand pen and ink style; layering thousands of pen strokes, using a pen point with a diameter of thirteen thousandths of an inch. My drawings are based on actual ships. I find their stories hidden away in libraries, archives and museums. I tell their stories and bring them back to life on the sea charts of the waters where they were last seen. I also enjoy spending time on old sailing ships still in service. After nearly five decades of research, I have hundreds of untold stories that make my drawings one of a kind.