Plein air at Devil's Den by Linda Young Watercolors

Work in Progress at The Devil's Den

The labryrinth of boulders and crevices in front  of me was known to the local residents as "Devil's Den", a name that would become famous in the history of the Civil War.  The rocky gorge to the left of me and behind earned the name "slaughter pen" for the great number of Confederates killed there.
The battlefield was littered with bodies, blood ran down the rocks as soldiers breathed their last breath. Fathers and sons cried out for help but none was to come. Their place in history and life as they knew it stopped with the bayonnet or bullet from the opponent's rifle.  Before I began to paint, I thought about those things and I visualized just what these rocks must have looked like with man's blood covering them on that fateful day!

Within the underpainting of this work, I used a light wash of quinacridone red as a reminder of the blood shed there. The edges of the rocks were outlined with permanent ink for the harshness and brutality of lives lost in war.  I wanted the edges to appear exact and immovable as those huge bolders are.  Gouache was used sporatically on the tops and crevaces.  For me, it represents the softness of the men who were able to rise up from this place and return to go home to their loved ones.
This painting was completed underneath the awning of our motorhome where we are camping for the week.  I'll be going back home to mat and frame the completed paintings for exhibit at the reception on Sunday.

Linda Young Watercolors 
http://lindayoung.fineartstudioonline.com/contact