GUEST ARTIST: “The Beauty Of Watercolours” by Vikas Patnekar

My name is Vikas Patnekar, and it all started at the age of 5 when I was in my kid’s zone, and later, developed in my school. I was very interested in drawing and painting. As soon as I completed my school, I was hooked on watercolours.

In the year 1966, I was born, raised, and educated in the Belgaum district, a beautiful rural area that even today remains untouched by the concrete jungle, in the state of Karnataka, India .

For an artist, life is very interesting when looked at very closely.  Over the past 36 years, I’ve been expressing my muse in watercolours. I learned under the guidance of Mr. K. B. Kulkarni, who was an eminent artist in India.

In the last 20 years, I have done massive commissions and now my paintings are all around the globe, which is immensely satisfactory. The major commissions are paintings done for Lord Attenborough, the Director of the film “Gandhi,” and Macquarie Bank from Australia, ANZ bank, British Deputy High Commission, Consulate General of Germany, Consulate General of Turkey, New Zealand, Switzerland, Netherlands, France, Australia, United Kingdom etc. The list goes on. My paintings were exhibited in US, UK and in India. I have successfully made 27 one man shows (exhibitions) to date.

I will tell you an interesting story in brief. My mentor, Mr. K.B. Kulkarni, was a great artist. He used to paint in almost all of the mediums, but he made me work with watercolours. For 25 years, I was under his guidance, but never once did he say that my paintings were matching the standards. Instead he used to make me work harder.

One day, I took my works, which were commissioned by the Australian Bank and the size was very large for watercolours. The paintings were 6 x 4 feet and when my mentor saw the works, he was stunned.

The words which he uttered were of the highest praise, as if the one and only award I had ever received was from my teacher. He said, “I am suffering from cancer, and before I die, please teach me how you control the watercolours on such a large format!” He died eight days later.

There was a documentary which was done in the year 2007 named “Beyond Colours” which was sent to Cannes film festival. I have given many demonstrations in various institutes, schools and colleges. Many students come to take my lessons in watercolours and are doing well these days. There will be a book launch in 2019 on my life as an artist and my journey over the past 53 years. There is everything about me in this book.

I generally use Winsor & Newton artist quality colours, brushes are Winsor & Newton Series 7, which are the best and Raphaël mop brushes. As for the papers, I use Arches and Saunders, both are cold press and rough texture.

I shall give you few lines about what I feel about this medium. Watercolour is ideally suited to expressing the emotions and moods that nature inspires. It is flexible, fluid and subtle. It invites spontaneity and because its results are often unpredictable, it can be full of surprises.

You may complete a painting and find effects you did not consciously strive to create. I believe that the superior or the infinite power helps us to exceed our humble stability, if one works honestly. This is especially true in painting with watercolours and it adds joy to the experience.

As artists, we have a responsibility to create an awareness in others. It takes a great deal of searching and practice to translate emotions into visual images. How shall we reveal the incredible beauty of nature in its uncountable aspects?

An artist can remind the viewer of a pleasant experience or an area he has enjoyed without spelling it out completely for him. Nostalgia has the power of wonderful recall.

Vikas Patnekar
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Charlie O'Shields

Creator of Doodlewash, founder of World Watercolor Month (July), World Watercolor Group, and host of the Sketching Stuff Podcast. Sharing watercolor illustrations and stories while proudly featuring talented artists from all over the world!

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