8 minute read
Sailing Through the Art World
Brothers Vincent (PR 1987-91) and Patrick (PR 1985-89) Harris are yet another fine example of our eclectic OMs. After university, Patrick decided to combine his two loves, art and sailing, and so started applying artwork and graphics to sails. His brother later joined him and, based in Mallorca, they now own the successful Sail Graphics Palma, part of the Harris Atelier.
Q How did you get into the sail graphics business? Patrick: I trained as an architect and graduated in Fine Art from Winchester School of Art. I was also a sailor with an ocean yachtmaster qualification. After a while of sailing, painting in various studios and making exhibitions, I saw an opportunity to put the right hand and the left hand together. Vincent had studied Classics at Canterbury, but we decided to join forces in 2000 and since then have worked as independent consultants to sail lofts (a loft or room where sails are cut out and made) and to yacht owners. I’ve always felt that there are certain things in common when combining sailing with painting: observation, intuition and quiet confidence.
Q. How did you end up in Mallorca? Patrick: In 1997, we made a two-handed transatlantic delivery crossing together. We arrived in Mallorca and discovered what an interesting place it was with a diverse landscape, lots of mountains and coastline, and a wonderful climate. At that time, there were opportunities in the old town of Palma for painting studios, exhibitions and a part-time income from yacht deliveries.
Q. Tell us about some of the projects you’ve worked on over the years. Vincent: That’s difficult! Over the years, we have painted hundreds of sails, however, there are a few that stand out. There was Topaz, a J-Class yacht, who wanted a multi-faceted gemstone on the spinnakers. S/Y Aglaia, a Vitters 66m sloop, wanted an artistic design covering both sides of the Code Zero sail (a cross between a genoa and an asymmetrical spinnaker that is used for sailing close to the wind in light air). Magne Furuholmen (from the band A-ha) designed the artwork and commissioned us to develop and reproduce the 1m maquette to the real size of 77m tall. The sheer scale and technical challenges of working on a sail that covers half the size of a football pitch was incredibly challenging. However, part of the success of the art design was that it used both sides of the sail and made good use of the translucent sail cloth. It was wonderful to be part of such a unique project. And then there was a fun project for a vineyard owner’s schooner, Es Fangar. The brief was to paint a wine bottle bursting through a sail. We used cloth inlays to match the blue sky and I think the result worked really well.
Q. What makes an effective sail design? Patrick: There are a variety of things to consider that help make an effective design. Using bold colours with a strong contrast between the sail and the graphic makes a huge difference to the image. Sails often have translucent properties which can be used to make interesting effects. The size and position of the artwork on the sail is, obviously, vitally important as it is seen from many viewpoints – on board, afar and sometimes with twist – so you see parts of
Above: Vincent (left) and Patrick Harris. Left: The S/Y Aglaia – its sail was designed by Magne Furuholmen. Right: Topaz. Below: Collage, Cabrera madrugada both sides of the sail at the same time. The nature of a sail on a sailing boat is for it to move depending on the angle and strength of the wind and so the view will change accordingly. The lighting will also create different effects – whether backlit or front – and, as the sail twists and the viewpoint changes, you get bright parts and shadows that bring a great design alive and can make it look like stained glass.
Q. How does the image get onto the sail? Patrick: Depending on the image scaling up from an A4 page to 25m tall can be quite a challenge as you have to consider line, tones and colour schemes. For plotting onto a 3D sail shape such as a spinnaker, we use a system of panels similar to longitude and latitude. We have ink and paint solutions for most textiles used in the marine industry. They are hard wearing, flexible and UV resistant and can be applied by hand using rollers, spray and traditional printing techniques. Vincent: Sometimes the client knows just what they want and provides the artwork. Otherwise, there is more of a design process to identify and create a brief which then develops into various visual solutions – seldom do we get a blank canvas. You have one chance to apply the colour to the sail, so most time is spent in planning and preparing. With the larger designs, it is quite complicated to successfully transfer a 2D image onto a 3D sail.
Q. When so much attention is paid to weight reduction in the sailing world, does the paint weigh quite a lot and can it affect the performance in anyway? Vincent: For race boats with very light weight sails we can apply inks that weigh just eight grams a square meter. In fact, experience shows that the parts painted give great UV protection and on powerful race yachts it is often the painted areas that last longest.
Q. How long does it take to paint a Code Zero and to do the entire suit of sails? Vincent: It depends how big the sails are and how complicated the design is, but we split it into stages. 1. Developing a design conversation and settling on the artwork 2. Discussing colour schemes and making reproduction tests 3. Finally, loft time working on the sails Careful planning and logistics are crucial in a multi-sail project. Each project provides different challenges and there is a lot of problem solving involved. In the case of S/Y Aglaia’s code sail it took three months
Left: A sunshine design on S/Y Nariida. Top and below right: Patrick and Vincent at work. Above: Peregrine falcon working up the design to production stage. Then it was one month in a loft with the 1780m² sail. It weighed so much that when it was unloading with the lorry crane, it required 10 people to counterbalance.
Q. Any funny stories about a client of yours? Patrick: I have worked with one client who had a full-time personal photographer to record their every moment for posterity! Another client insisted on being addressed as Doctor X. You can imagine how the quoted price of 10 milllion dollars went down! For one project, we were asked to quote to paint an image for a sail for an ’84, but rather than being the 84 foot yacht it turned out to be a 84 meters! Oh and ‘please try to match the cockpit cushions.’
Q. You have done sail painting workshops. Tell us more. Vincent: In 2014, Patrick and I were invited to make a creative workshop by the Ministry of Culture of Bahrain. We demonstrated different creative techniques for sail painting to 40 artists, which resulted in a fleet of decorated Laser dinghy sails that where exhibited sailing on a lake at the 40th Bahrain Annual Fine Arts Exhibition.
Q. You have a fine art practice. Tell us more about it. Patrick: I make paintings and collages about the sea and the bright Mediterranean light. They all start from sketches and drawings made outside, then I develop them back at the studio. The current atelier is around 400 sqm and consists of four different spaces: the gallery and portfolio showroom; the main area with layout tables and removable floor and wall exhibition space; a paint mixing and test laboratory; and the carpentry workshop. I now work mostly on commission and sell directly from the studio.
Q. What have you learnt over the years with regards to design and graphics and with the business itself? Vincent: To be patient, to listen and to observe. Careful planning and preparation give good results. It is often a combination of a rational and logical method to a design solution with problem solving that includes the artistic process. It’s transferring skills and experiences learnt in one discipline (for example, in sport) and transferring them to another. In all honesty, I am still practicing this and some results are definitely better than others!
Q. What’s the future for the business? Keeping up with the growing demand of owners who like to individualise their yachts, many of which are like floating palaces. The yacht and the superyacht industry gets bigger all the time and, therefore, so do the challenges of painting the owner’s dreams onto sails.
Q. What did your time at Marlborough do for you? We were both art scholars, so we spent a lot of time in the art school. There were wonderful opportunities at Marlborough to learn different disciplines: painting, printmaking, ceramics, photography, carpentry and metal. We were encouraged to experiment, be individual and different. I think this is undoubtably one of the best attributes of Marlborough.
