FWS descriptive essay

The Great Wave by Hokusai
Great white caps and deep blue bodies of the ocean fill the vast majority of the painting. The wave caps appear to be frozen white and seem to resemble claws or talons reaching ever more closely toward the people in the boats. They give off a frightening feel that makes the viewers begin to understand the intensity and hugeness of the waves. The fury of the waves is shown through the mass amounts of "talons" that are coming toward the people. The deep and lighter blues of the body of the waves show the depth and chaos of the waves. The waves themselves seem angry and fierce to the point of attack on the people that come in boats. The sound of the waves would become more deafening each second. The large size of the waves would cause a roaring and crashing sound to be resounded in every direction. The sound itself would be enough to drive fear into the people on boats. The waves seem angry and foreboding. The waves appear to wish to attack as well as threaten the coming sailors. The treacherous waves are seething toward the apparently calm sailors. The ocean waves are powerful to the point where it creates its own force, it appears that the second the wave crashes down on the boats that it will swallow them up and cause such wreck and destruction that none will survive.
The sailors in the boat appear to not have any worry in the world about the gargantuan wave that is about to hit them. They appear to either be sleeping, or dead. The fact that they are all dressed alike and look alike reflects the culture in which they live. During the Edo period, everyone was required to have a universal dress code and haircut. The sailors' boats are being rushed into a roaring wave and there is nothing they can do to save themselves. It seems as though the wave has come to attack them.
In the background of the hostile and ravenous ocean wave scene, sits Mount Fuji. The Mountain itself is tranquil and peaceful in contrast to the chaos that is occurring in the forefront of the painting. Normally, the mountain by itself would appear to be towering and awe inspiring, but when in comparison to the overwhelmingly large wave, it seems lesser in size and it becomes a place of peace in the painting. Although the mountain is tranquil in the background of the menacing forefront, the sky around it does prove to have a more ominous feel to it. The sky surrounding the wave is black and stormy. The cloud encompasses the mountain in gray and black. It gives the somewhat peaceful mountain scene a more unsettling aspect. The dark sky shows that there was at one point a storm that swept through the area where this painting is set. It gives origin to the wave and its horrendousness. Moving from the base of the mountain toward the top of the sky the clouds move from a deep, deep grayish black to a light gray even to an off white color. The clouds let up and the viewer is able to see a sky that is warmly colored and seems embracing. The change in sky and cloud color shows that the storm that led to the tremendous terror that is the giant wave, is gone now and soon the wave will be as well.