Vietnam is probably best known, from a North American perspective, for the tragic Vietnam war which scarred the country and the people. Nowadays its a popular tourist destination along with neighboring Cambodia and Laos. They have an enormous population of 100 million people, and an extremely long and winding coast line. From a brief look at Wikipedia Vietnam appears to have a range of problems with politics, the environment and human rights. But the World Inspired Landscape series is about more than just people and politics. Like other countries in the region, Vietnam has stunning landscapes consisting of lush jungle, jagged peaks, and undulating mountains next to water. Their sunsets seem spectacular from the looks of it. When I first thought about painting Vietnam, that scene from the movie 'Apocalypse Now' kept playing in my mind, the one where Robert Duval's character crouches on the beach and says the famous line something to the effect of "I love the smell of napalm in the morning", while the other soldiers are surfing in the water as mortar shells hit all around. It was a powerful scene, although perhaps actually filmed in Cambodia according to the all knowing internet. At any rate, Vietnam happens to be a good place to surf due to the long coast and shallow water.
While researching surfing in Vietnam I saw a photo of a wave, taken from underwater. Further searching revealed about half a dozen pictures of underwater waves from various angles and perspectives. I contemplated this image for several days, unsure about whether it was even possible to paint such a scene. With several sketches and observations, I finally put together the pieces... for the landscape element, you can see the coast line of Vietnam with a beach and trees, through the water of the wave. The barrel shape, if seen from the beach, would be the cresting wave. At least twelve different effects had to come together to make it work, and judging from the scan here, the underwater wave seems to have become more than just a sum of its parts. However, I do prefer the smell of coffee in the morning.
World Inspired Landscapes: Vietnam, watercolour 7.5 x 11" cold press, May 2025
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