Poppies
Medium: Prisma pencil for the flowers, and soft pastel colors for the background. This work is done on black Bristol board.
The symbolism of the poppy has long been that of sleep, peace, and death. Sleep because of the opium extracted from them, and death because of the common blood-red color of the red poppy in particular. Poppies used as emblems on tombstones symbolize eternal sleep. This symbolism was evoked in the children's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", in which a magical poppy field threatened to make the protagonists sleep forever!
Following the warfare that took place in the poppy fields of Flanders (which is the setting of the famous poem "In Flanders Fields") during WWI, red poppies have become a symbol of remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime. On a much lighter note, did you know that poppies grow like weeds on the side of most roads in Italy? They do, and they are a most spectacular site!
