Words: Syarifuddin
Dadang RukmanaJudul:Penjual Blewah, Medium: Akrilik di atas kanvas
One of the artists who is keen on realistic painting until now is Dadang Rukmana. He studied paintings under Barli Sasmitawinata. Barli's painting tradition and industriousness seem to make a strong impact on Dadang Rukmana. His neat and accurate brush on the canvas and paper is always deliberate. This is reflected not only in his works but also in how he prepares his equipment before painting. It seems that accuracy in preparing the equipment is an important part of making his work.
His choice of objects that will be out on his canvas is always made consciously and intentionally. Such a process not only requires significant amount of time, but also a lot of patience as well. On one occasion he gave vent to his impatience with the piece he was working on. Usually he takes time to leave his canvas alone and return to it afterwards.
Looking at his pieces, his attention to the minutiae of representing images of objects according to nature is beyond doubt. Take for instance several of his works such as “Penuh Muatan” (Fully Loaded). The painting depicts a bicycle commonly used by vegetable vendors to peddle from village to village. Dadang Rukmana are interested in many variegated themes. He is not limited to painting market, sellers or laborers. Lately these themes are quite strong, even dominant. However, this tendency, especially in terms of his choice of theme, are only part of many other themes that he has taken up. Realistic painting happens to be his choice this time. Dadang Rukmana is no stranger to other styles such as cubist, abstract and expressionistic ones.
Back to the bicycle, we can see that the tone of the rust color is executed in painstaking detail. This is by no means a simple task, since it will take several process to create the rust appearance. Dadang Rukmana is a master of many media, but he is particularly well-known for his versatility in water color. His watercolor brushes are time-consuming. First, he lays down the dominant colors. In this case, when the general tone of the painting is green, he will take up that color first and then turns to the red one.
His obsession with neat and well-crafted works has driven him to explore. It is no wonder that many painting techniques in various media are included in his vast repertoire of skills. Watercolor and acrylic paint are among the media that he has studied and the result is quite convincing, without any hint of mere tinkering or slavish imitation. He is not averse to high-tech gadgets, such as camera and computers, in trying to improve his works to the fullest. Dadang Rukmana, who used to live in Ubud for some time, is now living with his family in Malang. (Syarif).
