Norman Wilkinson was already a successful painter and illustrator when the First World War broke out. Instead of picking up a weapon, he picked up a paintbrush and used creativity to help protect lives at sea.
Enemy submarines were sinking ships across the Atlantic, and no one knew how to stop them. Wilkinson had an unusual idea: What if you didn’t try to hide ships – what if you confused the enemy instead?
He designed wild, clashing patterns of shapes and stripes that broke up a ship’s outline and made it hard to tell which way it was going. This strange new camouflage became known as dazzle. Wilkinson’s designs were trialled in Portsmouth and went on to be used on hundreds of ships.
F8, our landing craft, may never have worn dazzle in service, but she’s carried it twice since. Most recently she’s been painted to look like the Pride flag. Inspired by Wilkinson’s bold invention, this modern version, designed by artist Angela Chick, celebrates visibility and the courage to be seen differently.
Sometimes a little creativity can make big waves!
Grab your pens and get creative! Dazzle everyone away by creating your design inspired by WW1 Dazzle Paint for Landing Craft F8. Is your design made to be seen? Or will you use your creativity to help F8 by misdirecting the enemy?
Once you’ve finished your design, get crafting: cut, stick, and build your F8 model to see how it would look at sea!
Event Details
Boathouse 4
11:00am-3:00pm, Aug 6-7