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Krakatoa, 1883

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This is my entry for the Random Phrase Contest over at #PremiumMembers. My random phrase was "surprised mainland" and I instantly thought of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa and those on Java and Sumatra who perished. They were quickly overtaken by tsunamis and pyroclastic flows and had no chance to escape. Thus, surprised mainland.

So, first of all... This is the first thing I have colored in over ten years. So please, I beg your understanding. Plus, I was desperately pressed for time, so I rushed about the last third of the picture. That's why some of the sand looks different from the rest (grabbed the wrong color by mistake, didn't notice til it was too late ><). Anyway, please forgive the absolute failure in coloring skills. Clearly, I remember nothing from my high school art classes. Oh, and it's Prismacolors. With heavy use/abuse of the colorless blender.

Now, about the subject matter. Krakatoa's 1883 eruption is a bit of a study-hobby of mine, because not only did its eruption cause the loudest sound in recorded history, but the island also blew itself up essentially and completely disappeared into the sea. But the volcano didn't die. In 1927 it burst forth from the sea again, and today it's a new very active volcano called Anak Krakatau.

This was drawn essentially without any references, because no photos exist of Krakatoa before it erupted (that I've found) and only one exists of it's eruption, and I didn't want to copy that. So after a lot of research I just...made an educated guess and free-handed the entire picture.

Krakatoa was a single island of three volcanic cones, the tallest being Rakata, the middle one Danan, and the smallest Perboewatan. There were several active fumaroles all over the slopes of the volcanoes, which I represented in the picture. The day the volcano exploded, April 27, 1883, Danan was the first to erupt followed by Perboewatan. As the island blew itself to bits, eventually Rakata erupted as well, half of it sliding into the ocean. The half that didn't collapse is all that's left of the original Krakatoa, and it is inactive.

The view is from the shores of Ketimbang on the island of Sumatra. Ketimbang was not only hit by a tsunami, but its citizens were also the victims of the pyroclastic flow, which traveled over the surface of the waters to many places on both Sumatra, Java, and other islands in the Sunda Straits. Places as far as South Africa were hit by the tsunamis. So those people on the beach there are actually going to die pretty quickly... Oh, that large island on the right is Sebesi. The island in front of Krakatoa is Lang, and the one to its right is Verlaten.

The shockwave from the eruption traveled around the earth seven times, and bodies floating on pumice arrived on the shores of India over a year later. The death toll was over 37,000.

There's more to say about this than will hold your interest here, but I recommend starting with the Wikipedia article. It's quite fascinating.

Here is my little practice attempt:

I actually think it turned out better...:XD:
Image size
1014x864px 647.62 KB
Make
HP
Model
HP pst_p04d
Date Taken
May 22, 2012, 11:30:26 PM
© 2012 - 2024 bcbdrums
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uglygosling's avatar

Would this be the view from Java? :confused: IF I remember correctly, Rakata was the southernmost of Krakatoa's peaks, and would appear on the left when viewed from the east.

I like how you tried to depict Krakatoa as the locals (both Dutch and Native) might have seen the eruption.