Editor’s note: This story has been updated.
Lily Wang is gifting a large painting she created to the Cloverdale Legion.
Made for the Royal Canadian Legion’s annual National Youth Remembrance Contest, Wang later found out her artwork was ineligible to enter as the contest doesn’t accept paintings on canvas. (It only accepts posters, literary works, and video submissions.)
When Rosanne Mitchell, president of the Cloverdale Legion, heard Wang’s painting wasn’t going to be accepted, she reached out and offered to personally buy it.
“I was absolutely blown away when I first saw it,” said Mitchell. “I just fell in love with it.”
SEE ALSO: Surrey students win in Royal Canadian Legion’s annual poster and literary contest
Wang, a Grade 11 student at Langley Fine Arts School, said she was inspired to create the artwork after learning about the history of World War II in class.
“I did some research about (the war) and that’s how I was able to incorporate all the details,” Wang said. “I tried to make it as accurate as possible.”
Mitchell said the painting belies Wang’s youthful age.
“It looks like the work of someone who has been an artist for decades,” added Mitchell. “And not for such a young, new artist.
She said the skill involved to make such a realistic depiction was “incredible.” She feels Wang’s artwork transports the viewer into the scene. And she marvelled at how a person could create such a piece of art without having witnessed the horrors unfold.
Mitchell immediately offered to buy the painting from Wang when she first saw it.
“She has amazingly and very generously offered to donate it,” noted Mitchell. “So we’re going to hang it with a plaque in the Legion.”
Wang was humbled by the Mitchell’s offer to purchase the piece, but felt she couldn’t take money for it as she created it to try to win a contest.
“I feel it’s actually one of the best artworks I’ve made,” Wang said.
She added it’s just the beginning for her in terms of painting about remembrance and Remembrance Day.
“I definitely want to expand on the topic.”
***UPDATE***
After this story was originally posted to the web, several people reached out to the Cloverdale Reporter to say how much Wang’s artwork looked liked the cover art for Call of Duty, a video game first released in 2003.
(See second picture above for an image of Wang’s artwork next to the cover art for Call of Duty.)
The Reporter reached out to Wang to ask for a comment about the similarities in the images.
“I have used that cover for a reference for my re-creation,” Wang said via email. “The reference is digital art. However, I have changed its perspective, proportion, incorporated more details, and traditionally hand-drawn it.”
