Have you ever cried for someone else? To the point that you believe your heart is breaking so much for them. I did. In fact, many times.
Out of all the times I cried for someone else, I don't think I cried as much -- and as long -- like I did for the victims and survivors of the Sewol Ferry tragedy. The "accident" happened on this day seven years ago and resulted to the deaths of 299 people, majority of whom were high school students out on a school trip.
It is best to read more about the tragic incident to get a better grasp of what happened, but in a nutshell, the South Korean government and the faulty system failed the victims (this later contributed greatly to the move to investigate related corruption by the President at the time, who was then impeached). The incident involved the sinking of the Sewol Ferry, and the inability of the responders to actively rescue the awaiting victims.
The victims (many of whom were 15 or 16-year-old students from Dawon High School) were instructed by the Ferry's crew to stay still in their compartments. The kids, obedient to a fault, followed through. They were never rescued. In a more haunting way to say it, they were left to die... and everything was covered by the media.
So we remember. Remember 0416 🎗️.
I felt very strongly about this, because during that time, I was a student myself. I can't imagine how it felt for the surviving students to go to school... and be welcomed by an empty classroom and silent hallways.
This piece is a speed painting worth two hours done on MediBang. I wanted something that will serve as the visualization of how I would remember them from this point and moving forward.
I was initially unsure how I wanted it to look, but I thought it would be great to leave it at a bright note.
The final output looked desaturated and dry, so I ended up adjusting the colors and brightness once again with Snapseed. I think it looked nicer this way. What do you think?
Below is a quick progress GIF of the drawing process.
So I did a very, very quick painting before this final piece (it was 25 minutes), and the result is the one on the right. For a very quick painting, I didn't think it looked so bad.
Except it did.
So as soon as I completed this one, I rested for a while and then started again from scratch. This time, I tried my best to incorporate all the details I wanted. I also added in the element of a whale and water, because there's just something so freeing to see it like that.
Anyway, today is like the 0416 every other year since 2014. I will remember, and I won't forget. 🌻
