I love Autumn
The joy of painting has to be experienced. I have watched artists deeply engrossed with their paints. Once during a trip to Kodaikanal, I had the opportunity to visit an american couple who had a lovely cottage there. They were artists and I watched Mike when he was painting an abstract landscape. Though I am not very fond of abstracts, the way he painted was fascinating.
I watched the way he held the brush and the flourish with which each stroke landed on the canvas, the irreverent splash of colors, et.al, I just watched spellbound.
Then there was this visiting artist who just threw in paint hap hazardly on to the canvas, which he had earlier prepared in front of me, stretching it on a frame and securing the corners. Then in front of my eyes, he went on pouring color after color and voila there was a beautiful landscape: a banana plantation, which he had recreated from memory. I was floored.
Sadly, though I evinced keen interest in the way they created a masterpiece, I have to this day not mastered the art of finishing a similar landscape in a matter of two hours. Or to boldly pour color on my canvas like they did. My form of painting is to take tiny blobs of paint and dab it tentatively on to the canvas, make a few strokes, prop it on the wall and view it from a distance, and make color or stroke changes, till I am completely satisfied. (which will take ages) My final product will be ready for public viewing in say 4 to 6 months. Even then I am never fully satisfied. I will tell myself that it could have been better if I had used this color or that…. I don’t know if all artists have this feeling long after their work is done.
The painting above is my first work in oil on canvas. Long before I could witness and experience the autumn season with my own eyes I made this painting ( or should I say copied from a brochure). The original work is by Easwaran, a landscape painter of whom I am a great fan. My painting cannot be compared to this artist’s work. But it did give me great pleasure after I finished it and put it up on my wall.
