Palau is an island country in Micronesia, it’s located seven degrees north of the equator and back in 2002 I was privileged to be able to visit this gem.
I have a stack of photos two inches thick all from Palau, but I’ll spare you that and only share my favorites.
I started with background and the water, which took several layers of gesso and sanding in between to get the wood smooth enough. I use quality acrylics to paint the backgrounds. My favorite brand is Amsterdam Acrylics, they’re so creamy.
Next, I used paper clay to sculpt the rock feature. I can’t mention enough how much I enjoy sculpting rock.
I used matte acrylics to paint the rock. I start out by painting it a solid black and then adding the colors on top.
For the water, I used first resin for depth and Mod Podge on top for waves. I then started adding model greenery
I made tiny palms using parchment paper
I put it all together and I’m really happy with how it turned out.
I used roots from weeds to create the branches and dried basil to make leaves and add some texture.
The wall dive was incredible. You look up and see the silhouettes of sea turtles bobbing on the surface, you look down and and see black tip reef sharks hunting below your feet. If you look out into the abyss you see giant schools of butterfly fish creating optical illusions. All this and then there’s the wall itself, covered with so much life and color.
Our guide took us to a place called the soft coral arch. When we pulled up and I looked into the crystal clear water, the bottom looked like it was only 10 feet deep and I could clearly see trigger fish. I got hit with some vertigo as soon as I jumped in and saw that the bottom was at least 20 feet down. When you swim through the arch you enter a secluded lagoon filled with all different sorts of soft corals.
