How to Paint when I don't have an Art Studio

I am an artist. I like to paint as often as I can. I do paint frequently, in intense patches of time. But what are the options for someone who does not have a studio? I have been seriously facing the crunch of space and  looking to solve this issue. I am sure many artists face the same problem as this.

I have a table where I do my smaller paintings like ACEO, pastels, sketches. The smaller table top easel is used for the smaller upright works. On the balcony, I have set up my large easel. That is for the bigger works. Sometimes I use the portable easel when the work needs to be moved around.

But all these makeshift arrangements have not been easy. I am in need of a permament work place. A proper studio. My own art studio.

And, I am happy to say, that dream is soon going to be fufilled. We are going to shift to a new place, where I can have my own workplace. The garage would be my new studio. I am so elated about this whole thing. I would have a place to set up all my easels, my table, my racks with paints and brushes, and fill up the walls with new work. The new year is going to be great! I thank God for all this mercy.

Should Paintings be made to be Sold?

Exploration, oil on canvas

Should a painting me made solely to be sold? Or is it a labor of love only, with no pecuniary aspects attached to it? It all depends on the intention of the artist, I would think.

A painting originates in the mind of the artist. Much before the artist picks up the pencil or the brush, the image is formed, whether vaguely or clearly. An artists paints, first and foremost, to give shape to the image or idea in the mind. After the image comes the real making of the painting. This involves lines, color, texture and all the details that goes into the making of a painting.

Art always originated in the realm of the mind. But then, the existence of the artists engaged in making this art also becomes important. Artists have to make a living too. Hence, art came to be sold. For the artist to continue making art, her art has to be sold.

But the question, whether art should be made solely with the art market in mind, is highly debatable. It is considered that art produced for the market only does not have a uniqueness. It tends to adhere to the norms, rather than break norms to create something new. The entire purpose of art and creativity - which is to create something new - is defeated.

The Use of Color in my Oil Paintings

Evening Calm
Status: sold

Many of you would be surprised that I started painting from the beginning with oil colors. I started with oil, and it is only later that I also began using acrylic, pastel, and doing sketches. For me, the whole process happened in the reverse way. Art students in art colleges would find it difficult to believe this.

Actually, what influenced me to take up oil colors first? A friend. He is a good artist, who paints regularly. He has given up his day job, supports a wife, pays mortgage for a new home, with his earnings from art. Isn't that great? He has done well enough to do all this. I admire him. He has always been my role model. I have looked up to him. Initially I was in awe of his talent. Now I admire him as an excellent fellow artist.

So I began with oil colors. Those days I was living in New Delhi, India. Due to the dry weather characteristic of New Delhi, I had a great time painting with oil. Especially because it dried so fast there due to the minimum moisture in the air. In that period, I was able to paint quite a few oil paintings, and fast too. I did not have to wait ten days between layers, for them to dry.

After relocating to Santa Barbara, California, the drying of colors has been a major issue. Initially I was frustrated that the paint took forever to dry. Then I discovered a drying agent. That helped somewhat. But I had to wait for the color to dry anyway, of course for less time.

And now I discovered acrylic colors - its quick drying effects. For places like here, acrylic is great. I'm loving it. And then, I've also been trying my hand at pastel.

More Thoughts on Art, Art Marketing and Publicity

Mendicant, oil on canvas, 30"x20"
Status: available

Artists love to create their stuff. Many of us like to remain engrossed day and night in our media, our canvases, our paints, etc. etc. We stay awake whole nights to finish a piece. We think about it when we are not working at it, and thus become the subject of our family and friends' jokes because of our absent mindedness. That is the lot of all artists, we say. That our end is to create art, the things we love.

But is it enough to just create? What is the goal beyond this? Should we conceive an idea, then spend days and nights making it, and when it is finished, should hang it up on our walls for good? Eternity would find these pieces on our walls when we are not there anymore?

Many artists among us would disagree on that. What is the purpose of art? Is it to show just beauty, so that the world becomes a more beautiful place? Many modern pieces of art would not fit the label of 'beautiful things'. They may even be ugly.

So, is the purpose of art to educate the world? Some would stress this fact vehemently. Art educates the world. Especially by encapsulating the present, it records the present, and preserves it as history for future generations.

Therefore, spreading art becomes important. And thus, marketing of finished art, through publicity, and sales, enters the list of things that an artist needs to do. And many artists are inept in that.

Size of a Painting

Title: Between Heaven and Earth

Medium: Oil & acrylic on canvas

Size: 36"x36"

Even in painting, the question of size is sizeable. At least for some people. Some like things miniature. Like miniature paintings, writing your name on a grain of sand. Some might wonder - is that even possible? And how? For others, like architects, large format is the buzzword. Large buildings, offices, townships, cityscapes, skyscrapers. They laze in the sunshine of the humunguous.

For people like me, it is the size, but in the two-dimensional sense. As an artist, I have been most comfortable painting on canvases that are 20"x24" or more, like 40"x40" and 40"x48". It is an accepted fact that a larger surface creates a greater impact.

But it does not mean that one paints a better painting on a larger canvas. A good artist paints equally good pictures on both sizes. But the point is about comfort. If an artist ios comfortable with a larger canvas, then why not?

I have been trying to make smaller paintings too. And the greatest advantage, I feel in that, is the lesser paint and time it takes. A smaller painting gets done faster, so my results are there to see quicker than it would be normally if I do a large canvas. And I think that is not too little an advantage.

And then, one can do a lot of practice in smaller formats. Like with charcoal, ink and crayons. As the days pass, I discover more advantages.

It will be some time before I find out the exact size that would be right for me. But meanwhile, I would continue to work on both large and small canvases. There are joys in both.

Beauty and the Duty of the Artist

The recent years have seen the overwelming availability of information. What they call information explosion, or information overload. In this situation, one thing that is obvious is that all kinds of information are floating around, in tne various kinds of media available.

A new generation has grown up in the midst of this overload. I wonder if youngsters today can discriminate between the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the same way previous generations had been able to.

Now more than ever the profession of the artist assumes more importance. It is the duty of the artist to depict what is good, what is beautiful, what is not ugly, in their creations. The question now is, are they able to do that?

All kinds of art is being created, reflecting the contemporary world. Much of these are not beautiful, but they are being created by artists. Use of extremely clear images, especially in art installations, using materials like blood, urine, stool, gunpowder....it is doubtful whether they are creating any beauty at all. They may be more educative, for in the line of activism. But art?

On being Unattached

Title: Mendicant, oil on canvas, 30"x20"

Original: $600

Giclee: 150

Print on paper: $70

Indian philosophy and religion have, over millenia, tirelessly pointed to one thing.

In religious discourses, public commentaries, cultural practices, that is the only thing that describes everything else. That of renunciation.

The yogis and the mahatmas have followed a lifestyle that is intricately connected to this philosophy. The general population too have not been too far away from this philosophy.

Take the example of Sri Krishna's teachings in the Bhagawad Gita. Krishna exhorted Arjuna to follow the call of duty, and renounce everything else. He asked Arjuna to ignore his feelings and emotions, and also any expectation of a fruit from his work, or labour. But just to do his duty, and participate in the Mahabharata war.

We have seen in art the theme of renunciation, not only among Indian artists, but also from other religions and cultures.