Written by My name is Neha Subramaniam. I am a self-taught full-time artist born and brought up in Mumbai, India and I am currently staying in Dubai (UAE). Drawing and painting has always been my hobby and passion since childhood. I always wanted to go into a creative field so I took a degree in Interior Designing and worked in this field for several years.
But my longing to draw and paint took over and right after my son’s birth (who is, by the way, 18 years old now), I quit my job and started drawing and painting and took up teaching to sustain myself. I loved teaching art so much that I opened my own art Institute in 2004 and was teaching fine arts and hobby classes to kids and ladies.
I taught for almost 12 years, teaching all types of medium. Along with teaching, I took part in lots of art fairs and organized art and craft exhibitions at my own institute. I got featured in some magazines and also was interviewed by local television channels. I got to judge a few art competitions and sold my paintings too.
In 2016, I moved to Dubai. For a year, I did not know what to do. I didn’t want to start again from the scratch in a new country. So I took this opportunity to establish myself as a fine artist instead of just an art teacher. I sketched everyday, polished my skills, watched lots of YouTube videos, and got so inspired.
That is when I came across Anna Mason’s channel and my perspective towards watercolors changed. I was always fascinated by intricate and detailed realistic work. But I didn’t know that this was possible with watercolors. I just feel that everything looks so fresh when painting with watercolors & this became my favourite medium.
So I took her course for 6 months, practised and painted every day for 10 to 12 hours. I loved her approach towards realistic paintings and then there was no looking back for me. I started my own website where I also sell my paintings.
My greatest inspiration is from nature. I love to paint flowers, birds, animals, shells… in short, whatever is colourful. I love to challenge myself with every new painting. I usually work from photographs in my studio. My technique is wet on dry with lots & lots of layers. I start out with a very detailed sketch over which I paint with very light washes. I gradually build up my values starting out with the lightest values, then painting the darkest shadows. This sort of gives me the range & then I know how light or dark I should do my mid tones.
My favourite materials are Arches & Fabriano Artistico hot pressed 140 lbs paper, Winsor & Newton & Daniel Smith watercolors, and Da Vinci short bristled synthetic brushes.
Apart from watercolors I also work a lot with colored pencils. In fact I love to mix both the mediums to get wonderful effects.
My greatest encouragement is from my family, especially from my husband who’s always supported me in whatever I do. Going forward, I want to exhibit my art in art galleries all over the world and I also want to teach again. Thank you so much for reading my story.
Neha Subramaniam
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Brilliant work!!☺ And all the best for the future!😊
Neha, your work is just amazing! That owl is so intricate and has so much character. Thank you for sharing your artistic journey with us!
Wow, Neha, your paintings are exquisite. It’s a joy to see so much life in all your artwork. Your story shows how much were meant to be an artist.
Mind-blowing work!
Fantastic realism in your work! Thanks for sharing your story and beautiful art.
Neha, you art is light-filled and true to life. Thanks for sharing and inspiring me.
Wow Neha! You are such an inspiration and your artwork is so realistic 👍
Neha, your work is incredible and beautiful. You have a great eye for detail, so good luck and I can’t imagine you not being successful in selling your art. Thanks for sharing your journey.
Thank u so much everyone for all ur wonderful comments. really appreciate it. 😉
Your work is beautiful! You are very talented. You are very lucky to have discovered how talented you are and to beable to pursue your dreams! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for showing your art and telling your story. Both are great 🙂
I really love your work and the detail. Thank you for sharing your art and story.
Beautiful work oh so inspiring.
Your attention to detail and use of light and dark makes your work pop with realism! You are really talented.
Simply WOW! 😍❤️
FAntastic. Love your artworks