Whales In The Sky | 2480 x 1748 px | Digital Art on Autodesk Sketchbook App | Jan. 2025 |
This artwork was inspired by Ernest Hemingway's legendary novel, The Old Men And The Sea. Somehow I suddenly remembered the story of Santiago in the book who, after being plagued by bad luck several times when going out to sea, finally managed to catch a big marlin. But his success felt short-lived because the blood that flowed from his fishing rod actually invited other predators, a group of sharks to eat his catch. Between life and death he struggled with the sharks on his way to land, while wondering how much his response would sell for and what he would buy with the money. Santiago managed to land safely, but not with the big marlin, his catch. The group of sharks had eaten Santiago's only catch, and when he arrived on land all that was left were the bones and head of the marlin. Poor Santiago.
But even though inspired by that story, my artwork is not an attempt to interpret it raw. I don't have the great ability to do that. Even if I had the ability, I didn't dare to try to articulate the work of the great literary figure in a visual work. That's why I tried to develop my own imagination to produce what I posted.
Process:
Ciao and wassalamu.
