The Artist

I still remember my drawing in grade 3. The old teacher really liked it and gave it 99 marks. She held it up and examined it. The truth is it was a weak painting even considering my age, but the other students were worse. Nobody took art seriously considering it a waste of time and a bad career choice. I was the only one simple minded enough to have great enthusiasm for it. And now I think they were right.

I left my small village school and went to a big school and found in that great school not a single person even meekly interested or having the slightest ability in art including the teacher. But its cousin music was still very popular. You see everyone wanted to be doctors and engineers, but still wanted to sing at a social event just to impress the others. But drawing and painting had no such value and parents discouraged children from it.

But the trouble is I wasn’t a good artist. I had the soul of a good artist but the skill of a mediocre draughtsman. But I kept drawing and painting even after I left school. Unfortunately I could not find a job as an artist and instead decided to become an accountant. I passed my accountancy exams but my career as an accountant was a disaster and left me ill.

So in the year 2001 I embarked in a career as an artist. But embarked is too big a word to use if you are poor without influence and start work as an artist in Sri Lanka for it is a struggle. I always felt that my knowledge of art was incomplete so I decided to improve it. The Council Library was the only library then that had good books on art. But unfortunately I could not afford the subscription. To borrow books from the  Council I needed a membership card but they don’t always check when you enter the reference section, so I went there for many weeks and read but did not borrow. One day the clerk got suspicious and asked for my card, I stuttered that I had forgotten the card and rushed back.

I now had to find a new way to read so I got another bright idea. I went to bookshops in Colombo and read the books discretely without buying them. I agree these methods sound dishonest and I am ashamed to admit them now, but I hope the management is not too strict with these practices. For one thing we do not have any good public libraries here where the poor can learn. And also, I think many people whose books they sell at one time might have done this.

From this I was able to grasp such things as Aerial perspective, Linear perspective and Composition. I applied these methods to my drawings and paintings and tried to sell to friends. Alas nobody was interested. As I said there was a general lack of interest in art which pervaded the whole country. People are just not interested to buy paintings drawn by other people, most of whom they consider childish.

The other reason was cost. Materials used in fine art are really expensive and even if the artist made a very modest profit the price would be very high. Assuming the paint, canvas and the rest cost 1500, to frame it, it would cost 2000 and if the artist only made 500 on it, the total cost would be 4000. For 4000 rupees the customer can buy a large ornament or a clock or other solid object that they consider valuable.

I decided to tackle the problem of cost by using inexpensive material to draw impressive paintings. One method I tried was to use only pen and paper and do drawings that resembled etchings. The cost was less than 10 rupees but they still looked good.

I also used cheap oil pastels to draw impressionist paintings. Another method I used was to use water colours applied thickly so that they resembled oil paintings. To cut cost I also framed my own pictures. These methods meant that my cost was now very low and many people could afford to buy my paintings. I also used a wide range of styles from impressionism to abstract expressionism. Soon I became popular for my unusual methods.

I make a living but I am not rich. Some people call dreams illusions. As we become older these illusions dissolve, leading to despair. But how much better is it to have an illusion than it is to despair. I also want to write a book called “How to use inexpensive materials and make impressive paintings”. However it might turn out I know one thing. I really like art and I am my favorite artist. 

Written by: RJX