Today, with the help of internet and other modes, getting high quality painting tools is become quite easy. Indeed, there is a wide variety of artists’ paints available for the professional or amateur artist. Different types of paint are available based on the way in which the pigment is poised or entrenched in. It is this that determines the characteristics of the paint such as solubility, drying time etc. The commonly used mixed media tools are acrylic paint tubes, inks, oil paints, pastel crayons, spray paints, water colors etc.

Professional artists also use what is called an encaustic painting where colored pigments are added to bee wax that is heated. The paste which is then prepared from that is applied to the surface or the canvas. Another popular mixed media medium is called fresco which consists of pigments in a water medium on wet or fresh lime mortar or plaster. This is a durable work of art! Gouache is a type of watercolor paint which is made of heavier and more opaque substance by the addition of a white pigment such as chalk!

Most events and scenes are excellently replicated using the mixed media medium. Here, you can truly use what you want to and create your own master piece! From glass to wood to graphite powder all kinds of ingredients are used to prepare a media painting!

They produce many different types of wonderful pictures. Mixed media can be used for abstract imaginary art too. Both, thinned oil paints and thick oil paints can be used. The paintings can also be dyed. There are many a great effects that can be brought to life using this medium. The canvas is yours. Come and explore!

Texture is a very important part of a painting. It provides character to the artwork. Compared to other crucial elements of the artwork like theme, style and color, texture plays an equally important role. Most often than not, the texture of the painting decides the visual effect and mood of the complete work of art. A painter has to have understanding of finer nuances of texture. One of the most famous artists in the history of world art, Vincent Van Gogh was famous for using bold delineation of textures in his paintings.

Texture can be implied in many ways. An artist can use different tools or by varying brushstrokes, he can imply texture. Different painting tools can help an artist in producing varying textures on the canvas. For instance, using a palette knife will result into a completely different texture compared to a stiff bristled brush. Quite a few artists prefer to use rags to create amazing textures. Similarly, by using different brushstrokes, artists can create different textural effects. Using impulsive and broad brush strokes will lead to rough texture whereas smooth texture will be the output of using gentle brushstrokes. That clearly demonstrates the effect of using a brushstroke or even a canvas on the texture of the artwork.

By looking at the texture, we can figure out what that surface would feel like if it were touched. Artists also use different materials in the paint to bring desired textural effect. Materials like silica or foam are mixed in the paint for desired painting textures. There are some other mixed combinations as well like using bits of rice paper or fabric pieces to paste onto the painting. 

: Image courtesy findmyart.com

M.F.Hussain - He is one of the most gifted artists of India who is known for his strong appreciation of the humans. His paintings are stark and bold and always make a point. Hussain captivates and entices all art lovers.

Francis Newton Souza - He was the first experimental artist from India to achieve wide spread fame in the west. Souza’s work had a good amalgamation of Expressionism and British neo-romanticism.

Vasudev S. Gaitonde - He was regarded as one of the most finest abstract painter of India. His ethereal paintings captivate you and linger on with you for eternity.

Ram Kumar - He is one of the post colonial contemporary artists of India. Ram Kumar has indeed been one of the brilliant twentieth century modern painter especially with his work in Sao Paulo in 1961, 1965 and 1972.

Manjit Bawa – Yet other Indian contemporary artists who tops the chart with his dynamic paintings. The main charm of his paintings is the feel that one gets with the amazing use of color and space.

Krishen Khanna - He is one of the distinguished names in the Indian contemporary art scene. Krishen Khanna makes an impact on the canvas that it sure leaves an incredible expression on the on-lookers. His masterful maneuver of painting evokes great feelings.

Amrita Shergil – She was one of the eminent painters of India. She was the daughter of a Sikh aristocrat and a Sanskrit scholar. Her work was often rejected and called absurd but it sure caught the attention of people who enjoy this absurdity. She is surely of the greatest painters of modern India.

Rameshwar Broota – He is one of the talented painters of modern India. Broota mostly paints in the monochrome technique, black being his favorite. He works with a sharp and thin blade so as to bring in great forms of light.

Thota Vaikuntam is a popular Indian contemporary artist who finds his inspiration from the raw and the rural parts of India. His work reflects the cultures and traditions prevalent in the southern part of India. The artist himself hails from Andhra Pradesh and portrays village men and women especially Telangana women in his art. As a child, Vaikuntam drew his inspiration from village male artists who would often sketch sensuous female characters.

Vaikuntam’s artwork is simple but this simplicity is striking. He uses primary colors which give a sense of reality to his paintings. He often uses charcoal to sketch and his lines are nothing but fine strokes, well-controlled and strong. Colors like red, orange and yellow are artist’s favorite colors and he feels that these colors help his paintings to retain the Indian-ness in them.

In one of his interviews, Vaikuntam suggested “I don’t like using colours that are mix of two, because they are not natural, they don’t exist in surroundings around us, in our everyday life”.

Vaikuntam was born in Boorugupali, Andhra Pradesh in 1942 and since childhood, he was always interested in paintings. In 1970, he completed his Diploma in Painting at the College of Fine Arts and Architecture in Hyderabad. He also completed his diploma in Painting and Printmaking from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda in 1972.

Vaikuntam has received the Biennale Award from Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal in 1988 and a National Award for Painting in 1993. He has also held numerous solo and group exhibitions in India and in various other countries as well.

Contemporary Indian art is growing in a big way and new artists are emerging as Indian art embarks a new global journey through its paintings. One such contemporary Indian art artists of the recent times is Kolkata born Sajal Sarkar.

Be it oil, charcoal or any other medium, Sajal’s work shows a lot of experimentation not just with the medium but with the message as well. He thoughtfully weaves his cobweb to create a vivid representation of his subjects.

In Sarkar’s work, you will mostly see male figures with accentuated features. Neither vulgar nor sensational, these figures represent strength and are aesthetic in their form. His lines are bold, strong and often quite simple but it is this simplicity that represents the male form.

Sarkar uses female forms occasionally.Most of the female forms used in his works are seen alongside the male figures. Even the colors that are used in his paintings are bright making the picture look real and vivacious.

Sajal Sarkar graduated in Art paintings from the Government College of Art and Craft there in 1989 after which he spent four years working at the Lalit Kala Akademi Studio in Kolkata as a practicing artist. In 1993, he later moved to Baroda to pursue his Post Diploma in Graphics (Printmaking).

He did his diploma in graphics so that he could experiment with various mediums. As he graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at M.S. University at Baroda, his interests widened and he began visual experimentation in contemporary Indian art. Sarkar has had numerous exhibitions and shows. He is awarded the Bendre Husain Scholarship and a Junior Fellowship from the Ministry of HR Development, Govt. of India, in 1995-97. Sajal Sarkar is an ode to Indian art.

Amisha Mehta is a name which strikes the chord when thinks of colors and its effect on us – color therapy. Amisha’s works are full of vibrant paintings that catch your attention and emotion as well!

Amisha concentrates on the five elements of nature namely fire, water, air, earth and space in her paintings through which she evokes certain emotions in her viewers.

Amisha strongly believes in the healing power of colors. Her paintings have an emotional impact on the human mind and make you feel connected.

She uses all the seven colors of a rainbow with its hues and shades in her paintings. The concentric circles of various bright colors makes you mesmerized. She feels that colors can have a positive impact on our mind and they can instill a lot of optimism in us.

Holding a degree in applied arts, Amisha worked as a visualizer in an ad agency before she decided to plunge into fine arts completely. Today, Amisha is glad that she has taken this step to explore her creativity and heal people through the use of colors. In fact, Amisha has recently worked on furniture pieces as well which are based on color and light therapy.

In her latest exhibition, Amisha has blended ancient art and symbolism with modern tools and techniques in a way where people can connect with the paintings.

Even though Amisha’s works may seem abstract, they sure establish some connect with the human psyche. Amisha’s work is truly unusual and different that catches attention and strikes a chord with your inner self.

Oil painting exists since the 13th century. Today, this medium is become so popular that a student must learn and appreciate this wonderful technique of art. Oil paints do not dry easily as water paints do with the help of evaporation. They dry with the help of a process called oxidative reaction. The blend of colors and the natural sheen that oil painting gives makes this medium a beautiful way to express yourself! 

Oil Painting is yet another fascinating journey in visual art medium. Oil paints are oil based and are usually prepared by blending colored pigments into linseed oil, poppy seed oil or walnut oil.  Oil paints are yellowish and take a considerable time to dry. To paint with oil paints is indeed a thrill and a joy especially for people who are amateurs. The effect that oil painting gives you is something that entices all art lovers!  To do an oil painting the following are the tools that are required: 

Depending on your subject of drawing you can buy the number of different colored oil paint tubes that you want. Usually these tubes are available in 20ml, 30 ml and 60 ml tubes. 50 ml bottle of Linseed oil, poppy seed oil or walnut oil is also required. However, the most commonly used oil is the linseed oil. A 250 or 500 ml. bottle of Turpentine which is used to mixed along with the paint to thin it. Paint brushes of various numbers (which includes thick and thin brushes). A palette and a dipper holder, canvas board and other materials will include pencil, eraser, cotton cloth, brush holders, jars and tracing paper.

There are no set categories and types of oil painting but it is said that oil paintings that are used to portray scenery are very appealing. You can explore the media just as you like. You can even paint surreal and imaginary paintings with this medium. Whether to use a thin based oil painting or a dense oil painting will depend on the picture you paint and the paint style you use.

Oil paints dry very slowly. Hence once your painting is done; make sure you keep it at a safe place where they can be kept for drying. Also, if you want to clean a layer of your oil paint, you can use alcohol. This will clean your layer of paint because alcohol is a powerful solvent! 

Of recently I have been observing an upcoming contemporary Indian artist’s works and I must say that I am completely mesmerized by the intriguing feminine designs that leave you with some thought provoking questions and strokes and lines that only want me to know more of her – Seema Kohli. . Seema has recently been facilitated by Lalit Kala Akademi for being an achiever as a woman in Contemporary Indian Art.

Her work seems to bring into the limelight a woman’s world – not just an outer world but a woman’s inner thoughts, dreams, ideas and her reflection. You will find a beautiful mélange of colors so very sumptuously woven that all you want to do is say kudos to the celebration of beauty, individuality and intimacy of a woman.

Seema Kohli’s recent paintings explore certain mantras from the Yajur Veda which talks about the beauty of procreation. Her work is not spiritual but yet it has deep philosophical meanings that stay with you like certain verses.

Her series, ‘The Golden Womb’ is a journey through which she depicts a woman’s life and how she procreates and keeps the world going. Her work evokes deep sense of the thought processes that germinate inside a woman and these are portrayed as a serene picture with the colors that she has used from her palette. Kohli has worked with different mediums in the past eighteen years and has created paintings that seem to find answers to the eternal quest…

How many of art aficionados have heard of Bhupen Khakhar? Thos who have must also have noticed his inadequacies in his works. But that is where the fascinating saga of this talented artist began. Yes, from his so called lack of formal training. He, in fact made a point to highlight his deficiencies to harp upon the art works he had created. Khakhar was never really much bothered about his lack of formal training in art and made it a point to highlight this fact in his works. Born in 1934, he was a self-taught artist who reveled in his uniqueness. His style of art was entirely self created and no wonder such confidence did result in beautiful works of art. By profession, he was a qualified chartered accountant but his passion for arts saw him moving to Baroda and join the Art Criticism course at the Faculty of Fine Arts.

Since then, it remained a memorable journey until he breathed his last. Soon after completing his course, he started to paint as a full time passion and organized his first exhibition within next three years. His initial works did invite lot of curiosity and criticism because of the experiments he made like painting over images of deities. That was first of its kind in Indian art circle. He remained obsessed about unconventional mans of painting.

Bhupen Khakhar never hesitated in expressing his innermost feelings though it also invited ire of established critics in the art circle. He tried experimenting with hybrid art cultures and traditions. He was quite expressive about duality of Indian society in his paintings. His compositions were always edgy and this kind of separated him from rest of the artists. Bhupen Khakhar dies in August 2003 aged 69.

 As we are trying to cover emerging artists who remain unknown hitherto, the next name in the series is Jitish Kallat. He has earned a name for himself in the highly competitive and choosy world of Indian art. The way, he has emerged on the horizon of Indian art is truly praiseworthy. His prime plank is autobiographical mode that he uses in his works. Many critics may find it obsessive but yet there is a certain appeal to the way he uses self image in his paintings as the main protagonist. To quote him, “My art is more like a researcher’s project who uses quotes rather than an essay, with each painting necessitating a bibliography” clearly outlines his philosophy towards his work. He explores several aspects of his life in his works. His favorite themes include his personal relationships, death, time and relation with ancestry.

Jitish Kallat also excels in his method of painting. His method is quite economical and he prefers to focus on abstract form of paintings. His narrative is quite strong and he often takes help of visual materials that appeal to his senses. Images tend to float in his art works and it’s almost like a complex web work. The mysterious part of his painting emerges from abstract form where viewers have to solve the puzzle. Everyone is free to make his own interpretation and it is u to the viewer to decode the theme of the art work. His paintings are dual in nature and comprehending it as a single theme seems to be a tough ask.

While taking care of titles he uses texts that incorporate element of humor in his paintings. His art works are truly a treat to watch and understanding the theme is even more interesting.