WOMAN PAINTS UNDERWATER IN A “COLOUR-BLIND” WORLD WHILE SCUBA DIVING
WITH PIX AND VID
BY SHUK YEE TSANG
An artist has taken her painting studio to the seabed, creating intricate artworks while scuba diving and surrounded by the ocean.
Olga Belka, an underwater artist based in Singapore, has developed her own technique for painting directly underwater, combining her two passions of professional art and diving.
One of the most unusual aspects of her technique is the way she works with colour.
As she descends underwater, colours disappear from what the human eye can perceive, meaning Olga has to anticipate and compensate for the changes when selecting paint.
Rather than deciding exactly what she will paint before entering the water, Olga allows the underwater environment to influence the finished piece.
Her paintings can take several days to complete, with the artist working at depths ranging from two to 30 metres.
Olga has been a full-time underwater artist for over a decade, after spending around a year developing her technique and ensuring the process was environmentally safe.
She can remain underwater for up to three hours using one tank, although this is often not enough time to finish a single painting.
She said: "I wanted to find a way to make the ocean itself part of the painting rather than simply painting an image of it from land.
"That led me to develop my own approach to painting directly underwater.
"Actually, choosing the ocean as my studio helps me care for it a bit more.
"Preparing for a painting often starts with collecting rubbish from the seabed."
"Everything is completely different underwater, the materials, the tools and the painting technique.
"I needed to make sure the entire process was environmentally safe before starting to work in the sea.
"I work anywhere from 2 to 30 metres deep, and every depth has its own challenges.
"Sometimes 2 metres can actually be harder than 30.
"With one tank, I can stay underwater for up to three hours, but that’s usually still not enough to finish a painting.
"Most paintings take me two to seven days.
"And when I’m really inspired, I often work on several paintings at once, for example, one in the morning and another in the afternoon."
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