The great artist Pablo Picasso once said – “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Almost half a century after his death, this still holds. Even today, art helps soothe a tired soul after a hectic day of work. While we admire great works of art, we sometimes forget to appreciate the artists who have poured their heart and soul into making it. To celebrate these creators, we bring you 6 emerging artists of Instagram.
#1 Sanya Bountra @artifextrous
Our first artist is a self-taught mandala artist, whose handle name literally translates to the artist in Latin. She is currently pursuing her under graduation in Commerce. She has been interested in creating art since her childhood and started doing it regularly in college. The importance of art in her life can be seen from the fact that despite being someone who is generally sleepy, she is never tired when it comes to drawing.
“Art has always been there with me, be it drawing at the backside of my notebooks or on proper canvases. Art always helps to take me away from the ongoing negativities in life and putting my mind into an absolute meditation.”
Drawing mandalas has always been therapeutic for her. Though most of Sanya’s mandalas are made of ink using fineliners and pens, she has now started exploring the world of watercolours. Her major sources of inspiration are from her surroundings and Pinterest.
Her suggestion for beginners is to keep practising and never be afraid of failure. Sanya’s trick for clicking the perfect picture is to keep the props surrounding the artworks to a minimum and take the photos in natural lighting.
#2 Ketaki Pramod Pednekar @magic_palette_
Our next artist, Ketaki, is a professor of Architecture who loves to travel, read, and collect stamps & currency apart from drawing and painting. A mixed-media artist, Ketaki has received the artistic gene from her father and loves using various art supplies ranging from watercolours to a variety of pens.
“In 2015, I moved to Pune for completing my post-graduation. I was the new girl in a big city and away from my family. I started getting lonely, which is the reason why I started brushing up on my art skills. In 2017, my best friend pushed me to create an Instagram art account which gave birth to MAGIC PALETTE.”
The name of her page has an interesting back story. Despite her loneliness in a new city, Ketaki wanted to create magic in the lives of those who visited her page and bring a smile to their faces. Since a palette was one of her tools for the same, the name Magic Palette came into being.
An introverted tea addict, Ketaki dreams of having a pet owl. An owl is also the logo of her page since her drawing of an owl had led Ketaki’s friend into convincing her to start the page. Her words of wisdom for emerging artists is to practice without comparing oneself to others and focus on creating art.
#3 JyotiChandak @earthy_hues_byj
Our next artist is an engineer turned artist who has worked as a software professional for eight years. A chai lover and a landscape painter, she has on two occasions mistaken the muddy painting water to be tea and has “almost” ended up tasting the brush-cleaning water.
An art lover since childhood, she had eventually lost touch with art. The pandemic was what brought her back to what she loved doing.
“This pandemic made me think really hard about what I actually wanted to do in my life. And my 9-6 job wasn’t the answer. That’s when I turned to my art, my sacred haven amidst all the chaos in the world. I realized that this is what I have ever wanted and needed. The self-realization of my passion keeps me going to create more. The world needs my art. That’s the only affirmation I live by.”
Jyoti primarily uses watercolours since she loves their unpredictability and transparent nature. She has also used acrylics. Her biggest inspiration is from nature, and she paints various landscapes including stormy monsoons, beachy pink sunsets and silent, dark nights. These paintings of nature are what gave way to her page’s name.
A dedicated artist, Jyoti has challenged herself by taking up the 100 days challenge and has a lot of valuable advice for novices. She stresses the importance of using the right kind of paper and getting the basics right. Photos of her artwork are taken in natural light using her phone camera, and she uses decorative items like flowers and stones to make the pictures more visually appealing.
#4 Harshita Dua @artsyharshita
Our next artist wears many hats. Not only is she pursuing her B.Com Honours from Delhi University, but she is also learning Chinese and undergoing a professional diploma course in Fine Arts. Apart from drawing, she likes singing and is a part of multiple NGOs.
“I was good at it since childhood but never thought of making it as my career and pursuing it as a course, but as I grew, I realized that I have a talent that is gifted and I should work on that, and I started improving my skills through regular practice and even joining a course.”
Harshita has been into drawing and painting since her childhood, and to avoid boredom, she loves trying out different media. Gouache, colored pencils, acrylics, oil painting-you name it and she has tried it all. She hasn’t tried making digital art yet, but it is in the pipeline.
Her inspiration comes from multiple sources, including nature, people, Pinterest, and her fellow artists. An introvert by nature, she turns to art to counter all her feelings, be it anger or sadness. Harshita is an animal lover who recently got a pet dog, and her golden advice is to pursue one’s dreams and get a dog as a companion.
#5 Sanjana C. Mirgal @sanj_stroke
An embroidery designer in an export house, this artist has a Diploma in Textile Designing. She has loved painting since her childhood and chose it as her career. Sanjana usually uses acrylic colours for painting but loves and wants to experiment more with watercolours.
There is an interesting story behind the name of her page. Sanjana loves clicking pictures, and painting scenes of sunsets and the sky and so wanted a related name. Incidentally, the first part of her name, Sanj, means evening in Marathi, her mother tongue. This, combined with an artistic word, stroke, led to the name.
“Believe in your work and your ability and keep doing your work-success and appreciation comes to you automatically. In one line I will say, Believe in Yourself”.
Sanjana gets her inspiration from Pinterest and photographers on Instagram, whom she gives due credit for their work. As someone who started her journey as a beginner, her parting words of wisdom for amateurs is never to get demotivated or lose hope.
#6 Sejal Gupta @sejaldgupta
Our final artist in this series is a textile designer studying at National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bhubaneshwar, and is also an Art Educator working with the brand Anupam. An introvert by nature, Sejal enjoys reading books and playing games when she is not creating art.
“For me, art is that which helps me survive. I am glad that I can make people feel something through my work, be it any emotion. Only artists can do that! If I were to express what art means to me, I will be left with no reason to paint. Art is an escape for me, and that is what makes me keep doing it again and again. “
Sejal has explored many different media before finally discovering the one she loves the most- acrylics. Though the medium is very challenging, that is what keeps her going. The only one among the featured artists to use digital tools, Sejal uses Adobe Photoshop to digitize her artworks and turn them into pictures to be used on various products.
A firm believer of the fact that the artist matters a lot more than the products, Sejal’s 32 cheaply priced brushes are her most prized collection. Her source of inspiration is everything she sees in daily life.
Her advice to emerging artists is something which transcends fields and applies to all. She asks people to keep challenging and pushing themselves, and more importantly, compare oneself only to an older version of THEMSELVES and not anyone else.
Also Read : 8 Uncommon Shapers of Art on Instagram
These were some of the brilliant artists that we came across on Instagram. Their stories give everyone the learning that it never is too late to do what one loves, and with hard work, everyone can achieve their goals.
The Uncommon Box brings out the uncommon things we miss amidst the common chaos of everyday life. TUB believes in growing together as a community and gives a platform for anyone passionate about what they do to share their works with the world.
The article is written by Diptisikha. Her Instagram id is @dipsthetic9
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