Artist Statement:

For my sixth sustained investigation, I opted to depict the adverse human impact on the environment through wildfires, primarily caused by human activities such as debris burning and campfires, exacerbated by rising temperatures due to climate change. Wildfires wreak havoc on ecosystems, homes, and wildlife. I chose this theme because global wildfire occurrences are escalating yearly, particularly affecting the western regions.

In the initial phase of the project, I began by sketching out my ideas on watercolor paper with pencil. I chose charcoal to represent the smoke, aligning with the project's theme as charcoal is derived from burnt wood. I then went in with gouache for the trees, land, and fire, with a final touch of burning the paper's edges for added impact.

Throughout the process, I encountered challenges with charcoal, a medium I wasn't familiar with. I am not familiar with using charcoal and had only ever used it once before, so I had to practice with shading and blending so the smoke would look realistic and wouldn’t be too smudgy.