"PEARL OF GREAT PRICE" Transparent Watercolor, Gouache (Opaque Watercolor,) and Tube Acrylics on YUPO, 17 x 13"I expected our visit to the memorial at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to be a good history lesson, but I was taken off guard by my overwhelming emotional response. I'd always considered Pearl Harbor as part of my parents generation's history, too far removed to have much emotional impact in my life. The very strong reaction I had completely surprised me - - - feelings of pain, confusion, sorrow, anguish, compassion, hope, reverence, and awe washed through me while we were there. Painting this picture helped me express some of those powerful feelings.
This is the only painting on YUPO I've tried using other watermedia. The painting is five years old and still all in one piece, so I'm hoping all the watermedia stays on the surface. The flag effect was done using tube acrylics diluted with matte medium. After it dried, I thinned opaque gouache with water and painted over the acrylic to portray a watery blanket. The structures out of the water were created mostly with transparent watercolor. If you've been there, I hope this painting brings back some of the profound feelings you may have had. Someday there will be no more wars.
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3 comments:
There is something humbling about standing where all those men - boys, actually - lost their lives. And to see the oil coming to the top of the water, creating shapes and colors, one can imagine it is the voices of those boys still asking, "Why?"
May our grandchildren know of war only from reading history books.
Sandy, not only am I deeply touched by your painting and its significance, but I'm also touched by Rhonda's comment. So well said. So well painted.
I've heard so many people say that they experience those same feelings as you had when they visited the Memorial in Pearl Harbor. I was trying to remember what I experienced on Pearl Harbor Day, and I'm not sure that I really remember. I was almost 4 years old at the time. I did a little sketch of how I remember that day. I had planned to put my sketch on my blog for Dec. 7, but didn't get it finished in timeLater, we heard so much about it, and it was just terrible, the more we learned in school and in newsreels and magazines.
Just this morning, there was on old movie on tv, made in 1934, years before Pearl Harbor, and much of it was set on the Arizona. Just gave me chills to think that some of those characters could have been in the attack, and I wondered if any of the shots of the ship, were the actual Arizona. Amazing to think what would become of it.
Glad to see that you put your painting online for this day. I thought there was too little about it this year.
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