Tiger, King of the Forest, Pench, India was painted by John Dyer during his Last Chance to Paint – Land of the Tiger expedition in the forests of Pench, central India.
For this painting, John was accompanied by his host NGO, the Satpuda Landscape Foundation, who arranged special permission for him to leave the safari vehicle and work immersed within the tiger forest itself. Forest guards remained with him while he painted, keeping watch for wildlife and potential danger as he worked directly in this extraordinary environment.
That experience of physically being inside the forest is central to the painting. Rather than observing the tiger from a distance, John places us among the trees, leaves and undergrowth, with the Bengal tiger resting quietly within its own territory.
The painting is built around powerful complementary colour relationships. The vivid oranges of the tiger are echoed through the trunks of the trees and set against intense blues, turquoise and greens. This creates a strong visual connection between animal and landscape, as though the tiger and the forest are made from the same colour and energy.
The tiger has an extraordinary sense of presence. It is calm rather than dramatic, perfectly at home and almost absorbed into the forest around it. Its stripes echo the vertical rhythms of the trees, reinforcing one of the central ideas running through John’s Pench paintings: the tiger is not separate from the forest; it is part of the forest.
Above, plum-headed parakeets move through the canopy, adding flashes of green and red to the deep blue woodland. Small touches of yellow suggest light filtering through the leaves, while the dense layers of foliage create the sensation of being surrounded by the living jungle.
This is a painting about more than seeing a tiger. It records the remarkable experience of standing and painting within tiger habitat, surrounded by the sounds, colours and uncertainty of the forest itself.
With its rich complementary colours, rhythmic trees and quietly commanding Bengal tiger, Tiger, King of the Forestcaptures both the beauty of Pench and the profound presence of one of its most important inhabitants.
Item Information
| Description |
Framed Original Painting |
| Artist |
Cornish Artist John Dyer (born 1968) |
| Signed by the Artist |
Signed by John Dyer |
| Painting size |
18 x 18 inches |
| Medium |
Acrylic on canvas |
| Framed size |
23.5 x 23.5 inches |
| Frame type |
The St Ives style picture frame is a Renaissance-inspired cassetta frame, Italian for 'little box', featuring a white stain finish that highlights the wood grain. With a 73mm wide profile and 39mm depth, it creates a recessed central panel, perfect for a timeless, contemporary and elegant display of the painting. |
| Ready to hang |
Strung with picture cord and ready to hang |
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