Just from the Lotus Pond (Framed)

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Anup Gomay has painted a wide range of themes using as diverse styles but the late 19th century painter Raja Ravi Varma, the great master, perhaps, the greatest of the modern India and one of the main founders of the modern school of Indian painting, especially his portrait-painting, seems to have inspired Gomay most. Raja Ravi Varma rendered portraits, portrait-based compositions and mythological themes but it is in his portraits that his best and the sublimity of his art talent better reveal. Anup Gomay, too, has his talent best displayed in his portraits, more often the female, poised in some delightful attitude. Like Raja Ravi Varma his figures are bold images often covering the canvas almost in entirety, usually the men and women from the world around but the unearthliness of their beauty and rare grace revealing in their forms make them breathe some kind of mythicism as do the men and women of Raja Ravi Varma. The figures of Anup Gomay are hardly ever mythical but the situations they are set in have often the reflection of one myth or the other giving the entire painting a mythical flavour.

Oil on canvas, the most favoured medium of modern painters, the painting portrays a young damsel holding, supported on her shoulder, a pair of lotus buds. As suggest her loose hair yet not fully dried, type of ensemble – a mere blouse, and of course the lotus buds fresh as just picked from a lotus pond, the young lady seems to have just finished her bath in the lotus pond of her palace and has done a little ornamentation. There lurks into her eyes an intense passion of love, perhaps also an indecisive mind not knowing who her lover shall be. The artist has conceived his background with a beautifully and diversely moulded column painted with ethnic design-patterns. In medieval palace architecture a verandah supported on such painted columns usually surrounded an indoor bathing pool. The artist has dually used it, one for defining the pool and other for balancing the composition. He has placed the figure of the lady along this column which, besides adding ethnicity and medieval flavour to the painting, affords to her tall figure a pleasant base-line.

The young one has been painted right-inclined though her face is turned to left, as drawn by some object on that side, creating pleasant light and shade effects. This shading shows its more pleasant effect on her face, especially around the eyes, in between lower lip and chin and the neck. Shaded by her hair on her right and by her figure on her left, her otherwise pinkish body colour has been beautifully subdued and varied. The artist has so modeled her figure with her upwards turned left arm that it gives it a delightful curve and to her figure, with one of her breasts covered under it and the other projected temptingly, an enchanting magic. Her jewellery reveals the ethnicity and grandeur of medieval days, and her gold brocaded purple blouse, the grace of elite lifestyle.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.

Oil painting technique – India centric

Oil painting is the most interesting technique in art. Unlike other paintings or art forms, oil painting is a process in which colored pigments are painted on the canvas with a drying oil medium as a binder. This medium helps colors blend beautifully to create layers and also makes them appear rich and dense. Several varieties of oil are used in this painting such as sunflower oil, linseed oil, etc., and depending on the quality of the oil, a particular consistency of the paint is developed. With the use of an oil medium, the painting gets a natural sheen on the surface which appears extremely attractive. India is famous for its old tradition of making oil paintings. This art form was brought by Europeans in the 18th century and is now practiced by almost all well-known artists. Nirmal, a small tribal town in the state of Telangana is the center of traditional oil paintings in India where the local people practice it with dedication. Most Indian artists still use the traditional technique of oil painting.

Canvas of the required size is prepared

The artists use either a wood panel or canvas made from linen or cotton. Sometimes the canvas is stretched onto the wooden frame to form a solid base, or cardboard may be used. The canvas is coated with a layer of white paint or chalk mixed with animal glue. This mixture is then smoothed and dried to form a uniform, textured surface. The wooden panel is more expensive and heavier but its solidity is an advantage in making detailed paintings with ease.

Sketch is drawn on the canvas

Now the artist starts to draw the subject of the painting on the canvas using the actual charcoal or a charcoal pencil. Sometimes, he may sketch with thinned paint as well.

Oil paint is applied using paint brushes or palette knives

Now that the rough sketch is prepared, the artist is now ready to paint. Oil paint, a special paint that contains particles of pigments suspended in a drying oil (usually linseed oil), is again mixed with oil to make it thinner for applying it on the canvas. Proper consistency of the paint is maintained to avoid its breakage. The most important rule for the application of oil paint is “Fat over lean” in which the first layer of paint is thin and later, thicker layers are applied. This means that each additional layer of paint contains more oil. This results in getting a stable paint film. Traditionally, paint was applied using paint brushes but now the artists also use palette knives to create crisp strokes. To paint using this technique, the edge of the palette knife is used to create textured strokes that appear different from that of a paintbrush. Sometimes, oil paints are blended simply using fingers for getting the desired gradation.

Smaller oil paintings, with very fine detail, are relatively easier to paint than larger ones. The most attractive feature of these paintings is the natural shiny appearance that is obtained on the surface because of the use of oil paint. The blending of colors looks extremely realistic and this is the reason why oil paintings are loved by everyone throughout the world.