Passion and courage must be mixed in just the right amount to produce greatness. This comes in play especially when one follows an obscure and underrated art. Who thinks that one only needs canvasses, palettes, paints and fine brushes to create magnificent pieces that create a special place in your mind. This earth that we are born of is enough. “It has the quality to mould and form itself into any shape and it has organic value as well are made up of the sand and will eventually dissolve back into it,” Rahul Arya, one of India’s leading sand artist, says.

Making drawings for his friends on friendship’s day spurred his passion for drawing. He realised that sand was his favourite medium when he drew on the dust-ridden Alto of his family. In conjunction with his remarkable academic record, he never stopped pursuing and exploring the depth of his passion. Being an alumnus of IIT Bombay is a coveted and prestigious achievement; one that many in our country vie for. One must burn the candle at both the ends to reach there, but just because he fit in didn’t mean that he belonged there. After facing resistance and gaining some support, he finally decided to give into sand-arts full time in 2007.

The depth of his personality is clearly reflected in his works and subsequent success. He does everything in the name of his late father and makes sure to always stay rooted in empathy and humanity. This was one of the many reasons why he won the SONY TV show ‘Entertainment Ke liye Kuch Bhi Karega’ and achieved his breakthrough.

Today he owns a film production company called ‘flying rocks’ which is embedded in the motto ‘rare his here’. They scout for rare arts and skills and give them a platform to showcase themselves. The reason behind the name comes from the earth itself, this giant flying rock which we call home! After receiving many accolades and honours including best Film from Carnegie, USA and the Film Division of India, he added another great moment of happiness to his life after getting married recently.

His conscientiousness was palpable when he created beautiful pieces in dedication to Nepal and the Peshawar Attacks in Pakistan. Most recently, he has also paid tribute to MS Dhoni, Irfan and Sushant Singh Rajput. Our primary education has a distinct lack of art education, Arya thinks that he would be incredibly happy to teach young kids how to express themselves through art. His lifelong wish is to feature in an art travel show

He told us that he sees success as leaving a better world behind and with his art he had made sure of that! We wish him all the very best for all his future endeavours.

It’s saddening to be living in the days when no matter how brightly the sun shines the world appears to be covered in soot of dismay. The unexpected darts of these dark times are everyday taking away lives, unbiasedly. On July 18, an artist fighting with COVID-19 took his last breath surrendering himself to the ultimate cessation.

A young sculptor, hailing from Telangana, Shivarama Chary sadly is no more amongst us. In tribute to the artist and in admiration of his work a 40-minute documentary, produced by Vaayudhwani Productions, takes us through his journey so far. Dr. Vajranabh Natraaj Maharshi is the creator of this documentary film. He has conceptualised and directed it along with creating its cinematography.

An artist is immortalized by his work. He might not walk with us on this earth but the work of an artist keeps him alive in the memory. The admiration of the work is greater than the admiration of the artist himself. The film gives us a glimpse of how the life of a sculptor is. It gives us a peek into the past of Shivarama Chary that made him stand where he stood. The exciting element of the film is that Shivarama himself has acted his role, so portrayal has only become more realistic for us.

An artist’s inspiration comes from his own life. Admirers of artistic subjects would find the film intriguing in seeing the process of drawing an inspiration into an art piece. Conjecturing the analogy of inspiration and art piece is what forms the relevance of the art piece and lets us connect ourselves to it.

Watch out for the splendid life of an artist who sculpted with modesty his lessons on his sculptures portrayed impactfully in the film.

Painting is an art where colours are the words and the story which otherwise would be told in hundreds of pages is portrayed beautifully all at once. The depicted story can cover all the themes a written piece, musical tune or dance performance can portray. Delicate artform as it is, it’s an imprint of the artists imagination and an insight into the psyche of an artist. Paintings allude to mythological stories or characters, historical events or figures, conventionalities, contemporary events, spiritual messages and reflect the mirror image of the society and its beliefs.

Let’s meet some of the insightful artists.

Kannan Chithralaya is skilled in various forms of paintings including water colour, acrylic, oil and soft pastel paintings, pencil, colour pencil, pen and charcoal sketching. He is majorly known for his delightful and distinctive realistic water colour portraits. He is a self-taught artist, painting since his teenage days and his mettle in the art is worth appreciation.

Nishikant Palande paintings speak for themselves; the figures are realistic and so is the portrayal. He even runs online classes and workshops of painting to happily share his promising skills with the young learners. The ambitious artist is also the founder of a graphic design studio named Thoughtline Design Studio.

Rajkumar Sthabathy in his paintings chooses the portrayal of Indian society involved in their humdrum routine. His popular collections depict rickshaw drivers, Kumbh mela, street workers, ‘veyil’ (summer) and various emperors among other beautiful portraits. His paintings are intense and eloquent reflection of real surroundings.

Bijayananda Biswaal aka Bijay Biswaal is another vastly talented painter who left his job as a chief ticket inspector in the Indian Railways to pursue painting. He’s known for culturally tilted, mythology based and realistic art paintings.

Finally, another immensely creative and gifted painter Prakashan Puthur. His paintings are the abode of colorful portrayals that range from depicting popular celebrities to common people.

Illustrations have always been a strong medium to bring forth the voiceless and the forgotten. Amid the changing circumstances and enforcements during COVID-19, the following graphic illustrations highlight the plight of those daily wage workers and migrants who are left helpless; with no home and bread to break.

Triparna Maiti is an Illustrator and Animation Filmmaker who makes graphic illustrations and storyboards using her personal experiences. Through her illustrations she expresses her grief and heart-felt concern for those who have no place to go during this tragic crisis. She says, “The faint footsteps of the migrant workers ring louder in my ears than the clanking of utensils witnessed in the whole country.” She raises a thought-provoking question and says “Where is home?”.

Shreya Rawatis a trained filmmaker, with specialization in Producing for Films and Television at Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata. She co-created the “Where is home?” illustration with Triparna Maity. She believes that this illustration was a way to overcome the pangs of guilt she felt for being privileged and not being able to do anything. She quotes,” This was our way of contributing in the smallest way possible to remember the sufferings of migrant laborers and Kashmiris in different lockdowns and to take note of our own privileges at this point.”

The credits for poetry excerpts go to Srividya Srinivasan,who is an entrepreneur in media and communication. She is a published author and poet and voices her concern for the suffering migrants as well as the plight of Kashmiris during the lockdowns imposed in Kashmir. Her words give us all a lot to ponder and contemplate upon.

It is often quite refreshing to see cartoons representing your life on paper; they can add life to a blank sheet, digital and otherwise. It is amusing to see lifelike expressions on lifeless things, not just for children but it is quite fascinating for adults too. Some cartoons give a cute cuddly feeling; some others could be more geometrical and professional; some give a serious appearance and represent social issues; while some just entertain and amuse. All in all, they are an important and imperative medium of propagation, depicting instances and emotions through different shapes and colours. Let’s take a look at some of the very talented illustrators and cartoon artists who add colour to our web space and daily feed. Hence, next time when you want any sort of colouring up in your life, you know where to go!

Divya Bhatia is a cartoonist, illustrator and wedding invitation designer who goes by the Instagram handle “youknowhertoo”. Her exquisite pieces of art are a sight to the eyes; they are exactly the sort of cartoons that give one a comforting vibe, a cuddly sensation and illuminate the day with positivity and optimism; in other words, they are the bearers of the feel-good factor.

Manasi D is a comic artist and water-colour illustrator based in Mumbai. Going by the Instagram handle “manasii_d”, she tells smart and witty tales through her illustrations, which are quite entertaining and amusing. Her comics take up day to day matters and mould them in an epigrammatic style to surprise the viewers.

Kaveri Gopalakrishnan is an illustrator, comic artist and art director. Owning the Instagram handle “kaverigeewhiz”, her works are varied and make use of several artistic techniques. Some of her cartoons seem to have a rural Indian background while others depict stark western attitudes and settings. Her works are diverse with beautiful detailing and shading, giving her cartoons a lively touch.

Lamya Dohadwala is a designer and illustrator based in Mumbai. Her works are plain and geometrical, some having Indian geometrical shapes and patterns. Very detailed and artistic, she makes use of simple and basic shades to ornament her works. Extensively symmetrical, they are quite satisfying to the senses.