The story I chose to represent was that of Captain Gail Halvorsen. During World War II, Halvorsen flew as a pilot for the Allies to deliver food and supplies to the people of East Berlin who had little access to food and other necessities. Although his deliveries helped alleviate hunger, they did not provide the hope needed so desperately by one group in particular: the children. Thus, Halvorsen began delivering chocolates and gums and earned himself the name Captain ‘Wiggly Wings’.
My decision to chose which Unsung Hero to represent was obvious once I read Halvorsen’s story. Working at a daycare for the past year and volunteering at summer camps for the past three has given me a love for working with children and an appreciation of them as well. Finding someone who understood the importance of their happiness and their hope was a perfect fit for me.
In my work, Halvorsen is the figure in the upper right corner. He stands on a ladder which ascends into a blue background. The background is blue to signify the sky in which he flew. The figure I drew is adorned with a red and white pinstripe shirt as an allusion to candy men much like the one which appeared in the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie. The candy man in the movie made children happy, lifting their spirits by handing out sweets. The children went crazy for the candy but always shared, just like the children Captain Halvorsen observed on the occasions he landed.
I made his arm raised to suggest that he is the one dropping the ‘happy packages’ floating whimsically down towards the hands at the bottom of my piece. This dropping of packages shows how he got the sweets to the children, by literally dropping them out of the sky. Furthermore, the ‘happy packages’ are the brightest object in the piece. These ‘happy packages’ are perhaps the most important aspect of what Captain Halvorsen did; this was what gave the kids the strength to persevere, thus they are the most eye-catching element to my work.
As for the children, I chose to represent them using hands, distraught and frenzied, grasping for the ‘happy packages.’ The hands are highly textured to invoke the derelict state of the children at the time, both physically and mentally; black and white were the principal colors used to avoid any colors with a happy or bright connotation. These children were not especially happy, they were fighting every day for their lives, thus color was not fitting. The hands get lighter as they reach toward the ‘happy packages’ and towards Captain Halvorsen. Those packages bring with them joy, happiness, and chiefly they bring hope. For this reason, the hands become less dark, though still remain stained with darkness.
Therefore Captain Halvorsen’s goal of bringing hope to the children is represented in my piece. Firstly by means of an allusion to a candy man, then through the ‘happy packages’ he is dropping, and finally through the hands which reach vertically towards the packages.
Creating this piece pushed the expectations I have for myself in my future of creating art. Not only did I draw inspiration from a story and not from a visual aide, but I also exceeded what I thought was possible for myself. Scarcely have I ever worked with acrylics, and I’ve never worked on a scale of this size. Creating such large elements and working with a grand area was all new to me.
Beyond the physical aspects of creating, my ability of production improved. I painted hands! I’ve not studied the hand, and here I have depicted not one, but six hands--though two of those hands are minimally detailed. I have surpassed what I thought was possible for myself and through this I learned that with enough patience, I could create whatever I want.
Furthermore, the way I chose to render the hands surprised me too, for another thing I’ve not done is to work solely in value--only in black and white. Drawing inspiration from another artist’s technique, I altered it slightly and applied it to my piece and it turned out better than I could ever have expected.
This piece was quite the learning experience and revealed to me more than anything that I’m on the right track. I’m paving my own way towards mastering the basics and not-so-basics of art, from learning anatomy, to learning how to use different materials, to improving my eye for what looks right and what looks off and to being able to recognize that. Creating this piece allowed me to realize that if I put my mind to anything, something incredible will result from it. This piece has given me the power to recognize my own weaknesses, and, in confronting them, come out a better artist and person.
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