My inspiration for this piece of art was Raden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman. The Indonesian painter was born in 1811 and passed in 1880. He was born in Semarang, Indonesia and grew up to be a pioneering romantic painter from the Dutch East Indies of Arab-Javanese ethnicity. He was considered to be the first “modern” artist from Indonesia. Most of his paintings corresponded with nineteenth-century romanticism which was popular in Europe at the time. The painting ‘forest fire’ shows animals being chased by flames to the edge of their home. Whilst making this the artist knew what message he was trying to create, the tragic tale of life and death so simply put into perspective within the art piece. There is a dramatic use of dark and light within the painting. When reinventing, I decided to use the number 13. Because the number 13 is normally looked upon as unlucky. And a forest fire is an example of bad luck. Especially for animals that already have their homes at risk.
For this composition I chose a mix of different shades and colours, but I thought to add the blue side and the green side to represent both land and sea. And a red stripe through the middle. I incorporated this for the effect of the flames which of course are also in the original painting. When creating this piece I used a few different techniques, like using a sponge to dab and splodge the canvas. On the land side I often used my fingers when adding details. I did this so it could add a more human effect to the surface. On the ocean side I created subtle but visual wind-like gestures. To do this I got the smallest bit of white on the end of a damp brush and swayed it across that side. Creating an ocean like wind you would find on the water. the main feature of this painting is the fact that It can represent something bigger than itself and when people see my painting, they can think of something just a little bit different from each other. This brings life to the art and gives a sense of imagination and meaning. Personally, that is what I think art is all about.