by Joel R. Simpson

Artwork Description

DUEL IN THE SKY

0.0 x 0.0

The painting “Duel in the Sky” is a representation of the hundreds of encounters between Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots and German Luftwaffe pilots during the period known as the Battle of Britain, 1940. Here we see two RAF fighters known as Spitfires engage two German Messerschmidt Me.109s with one going down in flames with its pilot having successfully bailed out. More than likely the Luftwaffe pilot, if having bailed out over land would have been taken prisoner by the British Home Guard and placed in a Prisoner of War camp for German Aircrews. If the pilot had bailed out over the English Channel, he most likely would have succumbed to his parachute filling up with water and drowning. Yet, if by some luck, the pilot was able to get free of his flight harness and could inflate his life jacket he would either be picked up by British Navy vessels looking for both downed British and German aircrews or he could swim to a British or German rescue buoy where he could await being picked up by British or German naval vessels operating in the area. This painting is a good example that what you might see in a finished painting may not be what was first intended for the canvas. There is actually an uncompleted painting underneath it. Not liking the unfinished product, I shifted gears, did a few more days of research and sample sketches and started anew. In an attempt to cover the blemishes from the previous painting the cloudscape kind of took on a life of its own resembling a big white fluffy ameba rather than a lovely collection of clouds over southeastern England.

Artwork Details

Medium: Painting Acrylic

Genre: Figurative