Sketching The Transcendent Sundargarh – II

Two Days of our Sundargarh sketching trip had gone in a jiffy. The first day it was all about Sundargarh town and the second day the beauty of Tangarmunda, its people and the food had left lasting impression on me. Everything from how the plan changed from Sambalpur to Sundargarh, our journey from Bhubaneswar to Sundargarh and the sketching experience had just been perfect. But the best was yet to come.

Read the first part of Sundargarh Sketching Trip here

Surreal Sarabgarh

09 Jan 2019

Kedar had planned a grand finale to our Sundargarh Sketching Trip. The destination was Sarabgarh Dam, which is approximately 30 kilometers from Sundargarh town. It was also the second day of the bundh which meant we had to leave the town early in the morning once again. By now we were quite used to the chill of the hard winter and got ready well in time. But our auto guy Ashish did not arrive. He had misplaced the auto keys and just could not find it. Due to bundh getting another vehicle was not going to be easy and almost impossible so early in the morning. But somehow none of us felt flustered. Probably the sequence of events in the past few days had given us a sense of calmness. Somehow we knew things will work out. And then suddenly Ashish arrived in his auto. He had managed to start his auto with the help of some jugaad. Wasting no time we got into the auto and though a little late our journey to Sarabgarh dam finally started. But the challenges were not over yet.

In a few minutes after going out of town, Ashish realized that he was out of gas. Being a day of complete shut down he was not hoping to find any gas station open. But once again we all were at peace and were just not getting worried and asked him to keep moving. And again as if a miracle there was this small gas station in the middle of nowhere waiting for us. Ashish was the happiest one at that point, but his joy lasted only a few seconds when he realized that he did not have the key to open the lock of the gas tank. But the trend for the day continued and a solution presented itself no later than the problem was encountered. One of the gas station staff tried to open the lock with his bike key and yes you guessed it right. The lock opened as if it was the original key. Sometimes reality is actually stranger than fiction.

Only when we reached Sarabgarh dam that we realized why Kedar had planned this as our ultimate sketching destination. This place was a paradise. It was something out of a fairy tale. Sarabgarh was Surreal, quiet and enchanting. As we were soaking up the beauty, Kedar had already started looking for lunch arrangements. We happened to find two villagers passing by and Kedar asked them about eateries in the vicinity. As expected there were none and out of the blue Kedar asked them if they could prepare lunch for us. We had just met these two people in the middle of nowhere for the first time in our lives and Kedar was expecting them to prepare lunch for us! But the biggest divine intervention was just about to happen. The elder of the two instructed the younger man to get lunch prepared at his home. We just could not believe our luck. On top of that, the lone fisherman who had caught some fresh fish from the dam also presented himself to us. It was as if Biswajit’s prayer was answered. He was craving for fish earlier during our journey to Sarabgarh. I wanted to pinch myself to check if I was dreaming. But Sarabgarh was no less than a dream.

Lunch Menu at Guru's place — Lunch Menu at Guru’s place

Soon we found a great place to sketch. But problem with beautiful views is that…….. they are beautiful. This beauty can sometimes be overwhelming to the extent that one can easily get carried away by it and not pay attention to some basics of a painting like composition, abstraction and design etc. And somewhere in the middle of the painting when things don’t seem to work out you suddenly realize this and more often than not you feel like a fool. My first work at Sarabgarh dam was all about this struggle. What started in the most enthusiastic ways soon turned out to be a little more than a square foot of confusion and exasperation. But I did carry on and finished the painting. In the end it turned out to be one of the most popular works of the sketching trip; yet another miracle of the day. And for the second work I turned 180 degrees from my place and had this beautifully designed and abstracted scene in front of me. It was crying out to be painted and I obliged. And soon it was time for lunch and as we made way to our vehicle there was good news waiting for us.

Two cute members of Guru's family — Two cute members of Guru’s family

Ashish had found the keys. The keys were there in one of the pockets of his jacket while he had been looking everywhere for it. As our vehicle moved to our lunch destination he looked visibly upbeat and we too, were happy for him. As per our host’s instruction we had to drive up to Masabira village and then all we had to do was to ask anyone where Chuin’s house is. And that is exactly what we did and landed up at our host Chuin aka Guru’s place. Guru was not at home and we were a little hesitant to get inside the house, but Guru’s family welcomed us and served us lunch consisting of Rice, Fish curry and Aloo Bhaja. Sitting on mud floor smeared with cow dung under the thatched roof and having food so lovingly served to us on plates made up of Sal leaves in a person’s house we had met a couple of hours earlier and in a place that seemed to exist in a parallel reality, I could not help but feel a sense of gratitude. The food cooked so simply tasted like nothing I had eaten before, the modest house felt like the most luxurious mansion, the strangers seemed like family. A remote tribal village in Sundargarh, which I had never even heard of, felt like home. Surely this had to be the biggest miracle of the day.

Relishing the lunch at Guru's home — Relishing the lunch at Guru’s home

All good things eventually come to an end. We had to start our journey back to Sundargarh town in some time and had about an hour in our hands. So back at Sarabgarh dam I sketched vigorously. I wanted to make most of the time I had at Sarabgarh. I did two sketched at the same time, working intermittently of each of them painting as fast as I could. And then finally it was time to return.

The next morning we had to start our journey back to Bhubaneswar.

A Fitting Closure

10 Jan 2019

The previous night Ashish had made sure to keep his keys at the right place and was there on time to drop us at the bus stop. We caught the first bus to Sambalpur at 6:00 AM which reached its destination at half past eight. On reaching Sambalpur we moved straight to the temple of Samaleswari or Samalai, the residing goddess of western Odisha. Any trip to western Odisha is not complete without a visit to Samali temple. So we had decided to take the morning bus to Sambalpur which would give us about 5 to 6 hours before our train left from Sambalpur station. At the temple premises we took a room at the guest house and got ready for the day.

The temple was relatively less crowded and we had a good darshan of the goddess. After the darshan and some hot and delicious breakfast from a street vendor it was time to sketch again. As we settled into different corners of the temple premises for sketching the physical exertion of the last few days was starting to take its toll. My body just wanted to rest. But my mind was getting excited at the prospect of sketching the beautifully play of light and shade of Samali Temple. I somehow forced myself to focus and started sketching. And as the sketch slowly started to develop the physical exertion also went away. As the scene was well lit I was using a lot of primary unbroken colors in the sketch and probably those colors were working their magic on me.

Or may be it was the blessing of the goddess which had been guiding us through the last five days.

Sketching session was followed by delicious temple lunch prasad. And after a short nap it was time to return back.

Sundargarh has been a revelation. It was pitch perfect in everything an artist could ask for. The beauty of nature, the simplicity and warmth of the people, the simple nutritious and mouth watering food and a feel of transcendence in the air; it had everything. But there was even a bigger revelation. It was about the working of nature.

Nature has a rhythm. Sometimes we are lucky enough to get aligned to this rhythm in mind body and spirit. And when this happens everything that a person needs just present themselves to her… at the right time. All one need to do is to have faith in this force and walk on. And what follows is what every person truly wants on this earth.

True Bliss!

En Plein Air at Sarabgarh - 1, 09 Jan 2019 — En Plein Air at Sarabgarh – 1, 09 Jan 2019

En Plein Air at Sarabgarh - 2, 09 Jan 2019 — En Plein Air at Sarabgarh – 2, 09 Jan 2019

En Plein Air at Sarabgarh - 3, 09 Jan 2019 — En Plein Air at Sarabgarh – 3, 09 Jan 2019

En Plein Air at Sarabgarh - 4, 09 Jan 2019 — En Plein Air at Sarabgarh – 4, 09 Jan 2019

En Plein Air at Samalai Temple 10 Jan 2019

A Holistic Approach to Science Education

This paper was presented at National Conference on Science Education at RIE, Bhubaneswar held between 29.11.2018 and 01.12.2018.

In Hindu mythology, Hiranyakasipu was an Asura king who was considered immortal because of a boon he had earned. He could not be killed by human, deva or animal, in day or in the night, indoors or outdoors, on earth or in space, with either weapon or tool. To kill Hiranyakasipu Vishnu took the form of Narasimha who was a part-human, part-animal. He came upon Hiranyakasipu at twilight, when it is neither day nor night, on the threshold of a courtyard (neither indoors nor out), and put the demon on his thighs (neither earth nor space). Using his sharp fingernails which were neither weapons nor tools, he disembowelled and killed the demon king. The lord of the universe Vishnu was forced to be creative as conventional wisdom had failed in the case of Hiranyakasipu.

When we think only in terms of conventional knowledge (what we already know) Hirayanakashipu could not have been killed. But when we think in terms of possibilities outside our knowledge then a new idea in the form of Narasimha can be born. Possibilities are things beyond our immediate knowledge. To work with possibilities is to be creative. Creativity emanates from our imagination and intuition. Imagination and intuition are two of the main pillars of education; science education notwithstanding. And these are the two things that get suppressed in our education system today.

Developing Wider Cognitive Faculties

The first thing that a child learns is language and for rest of his life all his learning is based on this faculty. As language has developed depending on our need, its usage is generally limited to what we know. Any idea that is outside the realm of language is often lost as one doesn’t have the means to express it. The correlation between language and thought has been the focus of many researchers and to a great extent it is understood that language also shapes our cognitive processes. But all human experiences cannot be expressed with language. Some are expressed better in other ways of perception like music and arts. The intelligence quotient that deals with such experiences is known as non-verbal IQ.

While language can work well enough for other disciplines it does not work well for developing a scientific mind just on its own. Learning in just the way suppresses imagination and non-verbal IQ. Hence we have to start looking at alternate ways of imparting science education. One of such ways is to make science learning experiential. When learning becomes experiential through real life and daily activities it is much more effective. However all science based learning cannot be done this way. Abstract concepts of science have to be learnt in abstract manner. But to increase understanding of the abstract according to Devi Prasad[3], other forms of perceptions need be developed in students. Sight and Sound perception are two strong perceptions which can help in learning in a great way. But these two also have not been allowed to develop in our current education system.

The faculty of sight is not as essential to our survival as the sense of touch. We live more by our touch than our sight and, we use our eyes to give information about the solidity and felt shape of things to our sense of touch. By associating touch with sight in early years of our childhood, we learn to differentiate the solid from the fluid, the soft from hard and the sharp from blunt, This association of sight and touch becomes so intimate that the habit of seeing the touch sense of things becomes habitual. Hence instead of seeing things as they are we start seeing them as we know them to be, which is informed by our sense of touch. This habit according to artist and educator Harold Speed[5] blocks our eyes and mind from having a complete visual experience of the world around us.

To illustrate this point when children are asked to draw a wooden table they end up drawing a rectangle with four legs[5]. In fact most adults too would end up drawing such an image of a table. But in reality the appearance of a table changes with the angle from where one is viewing it. But when we touch the table (even with our eyes shut) the sensation does not change. Our sense of touch informs us that there is a rectangular board with four legs. Hence most people would draw a touch representation of a table than a visual one. In this process we end up sacrificing the true capabilities of our sense of sight. The faculty of sound is also not very different and in fact it one of the least developed faculty in an average human being.

From Left to right: Reproductions of drawing of table made by 5, 36 and 58 year old persons respectively

But the question is how do we develop the faculty of sight and sound in students! And the answer to this question is very simple. Just like we used the sense of touch to make sense of the world, it is through observing and understanding the world around us through our eyes and ears students can develop these senses. And this is where art education comes into picture. Though already present in the syllabus art education has been neglected and pushed down to such a level that, instead of opening up minds of students it has helped only to further close it down. Students are taught to draw symbols of things on paper instead of encouraging and teaching them the art of seeing. That is why invariable all paintings of school children end up looking same; consisting of hills, waterfalls, rivers, trees and a house. In most cases however the students drawing this picture would never have seen hills or waterfalls in their entire life.

Visual art education should help students to break out of their world of assumptions (what they know) and make them see things as they are. The job of an art teacher hence is to unblock the minds of students and increase their visual perception. Activities that can support the development of visual perception are regular sketching and painting from life and maintaining a daily visual diary (sketchbook). But the most important role is played by the teacher who helps students to open up their eyes to the visual truth around them. Similarly sound training of students can be done by learning music formally. Researchers have indicated that learning music improves brain development and increases non-musical abilities in children[1]. It can be supplemented with spending time in nature and tuning their ears to various sounds of birds, animals, rivers streams etc.

It is a known fact that Einstein credited playing his violin and visualization[4,2] capability for his scientific breakthroughs (which he called as thought experiments) and many great scientists like Copernicus, Galileo, Maxwell, and Feynman, to name a few—were all artist-polymaths. Analysing data of early scientists, we can see that the early scientists were often illustrators, poets, and musicians. This may often have been out of necessity because scientists needed to have a variety of skills that we take for granted today. A serious astronomer needed to be able to sketch his observations, and a physicist needed to recognise frequencies by their sounds while conducting an audio experiment. But the relationship between arts and other functions of brain can not be denied and hence is fast becoming an established field of neuroscience. Coined “Neuroaesthetics,” the study of how neuroscience and art intersect is a popular topic among academics.

More and more studies on this topic are showing how some of the early connections are formed in the brain by regular practice of arts. In one such study[2] using eight public schools, researchers created test “art groups” with students who had fallen behind academically. The “art groups” received ongoing music and visual arts training as they progressed through the year. In just seven months, the art students that were once far behind their peers had caught up in reading and were performing 22% better in math than the other students. In a similar study, students given piano lessons over a short period of time performed over 30% better on temporal reasoning tests (Temporal reasoning is the ability to visualize three- and four-dimensional objects, a key skill for any artist or scientist).

Tests	Performance of stronger Students without training in arts and music	Performance of weaker students after receiving arts and music training for seven months
Mathematics	Similar to their previous performance	22% better than Stronger Students
Temporal Reasoning	Similar to their previous performance	30% better than stronger students

Table 1 – Correlation of art and music education to academic performance in abstract subjects in Ref[2]

Ethical Approach to Learning

The end of the Renaissance coincided with the beginning of the Scientific Revolution. Humanist education was emphasized during this period, and many scientists were trained from a young age in the arts of drawing and poetry. Later scientific development saw a surge during imperialism era as west found it to be a great tool to spread dominance over rest of the world. And in modern times science has become a slave to capitalism. It has been made to create the most destructive weapons of war and weapons that threaten the very existence of this natural world. Nature has been compromised for capitalist gains using science and technology as a medium. Science has also provided human kind all kind of unimaginable luxury and indulgence. Thus science which should have helped in eradicating inequalities has actually aggravated it[1].

The lacuna exists right in our social and education system which looks at science as a tool of gaining power. A student never learns about nature and social values in the real sense. A holistic view of the world including human conditions and our philosophical quests which can give direction to science is never allowed to develop in students. Science and its usage are glorified in our text books and are never examined critically. Alternate views are also shunned and not allowed to develop. For example green revolution is still glorified in text books as a success of science. But now it is becoming more and more clear that this unsustainable form of farming was in fact a curse for our agricultural system which not only has made the soil infertile, it has led to plethora of other problems like excess of pesticide in food, loss of indigenous varieties and bio diversity, depletion of water resources and deteriorating economic condition of farmers because of dependence on external inputs. And additionally as science shunned our traditional form of agriculture the knowledge of the same has almost been lost. It is only now that we are realizing that we have to go back to our traditional non industrial form of agriculture to solve all problems created by green revolution. In fact according a UN Conference for Trade and Development(UNCTAD) publication of 2013 – dramatically titled ‘Wake Up Before Its Too Late’, [6]small scale organic farming is the way to feed the world in future and not GMO technology. But somehow we do not tell this to our students and make them see things only in black and white.

To make proper use of scientific knowledge appropriate value system must be developed in students. This value system can not be developed by books. Arts and humanities play a big role in this but at the same time it has to be both experiential and conversation oriented. Such conversations have to be reflective in nature and not prescriptive. And the conversation can happen in the science class itself if need be and not in just humanities class. When learning happens in compartments, students get disconnected and do not look at science within the framework of a value system. Science for science sake is thus allowed to develop instead of science for society sake. To reverse the damage, it demands teachers to turn into educators and take up bigger responsibility of building character of students along with knowledge.

Conclusion

Creativity lies in fluidity of thought that is not bounded by solid compartmentalized way of perceiving the world around us. Intuition comes from wholesome understanding of the world; when we observe the world more closely using all our faculties of sense we find new ways of connecting the same dots. Our education system has been instrumental in suppressing creativity and intuitive thinking which are a must have for learning science. Moreover due to lack of focus on character building in schools science is ending up being used as a tool for satisfying the rich and powerful. In other words our education system is currently breeding Hiranyakashipus’ who are not only are mechanical and bookish in their way of thinking but also are ideologically deprived.

Comparison between Narasimha and Hiranyakashipu

Science education when looked at in isolated manner is not going to be of much use for the students or the society. It has to be seen as a cog in the wheel of development of students and the society. Then only it can really fulfil its potential. And for that to happen we must make science learning experiential and relate it to our daily lives. At the same time we need to develop other perceptual faculties like sight and sound in students for a holistic cognitive development. This needs a major change in our curriculum to make arts an equally important subject in schools. But the approach to the arts has to be appropriate and must be aimed at improving the understanding of the world, nature and human conditions. This demands nothing less than excellence from the art faculty in schools. And last but not the least schools and curriculum must focus on inculcating appropriate value systems in students. This is the only way we can create Vishnus who by using their knowledge of science, intuition and creativity can transform to Narasimhas and solve the real problems around us and create better societies around them.

References

[1] Simin Soleimanifar, Zahra Jafari, Masoud Motasaddi Zarandy, Houman Asadi and Hamid Haghani (2016), Relationship between Intelligence Quotient and Musical Ability in Children with Cochlear Implantation. Iranian Journal of Otorhinolaryngol 28(88): 345–352

[2] Garreth Dottin (2016), Einstein’s Violin: The Hidden Connections between Scientific Breakthroughs and Art.

[3] Devi Prasad (1998), Art- The basis of education, ISBN: 8-123-72314-8

[4] Robert Greene (2012), Mastery, ISBN: 1-781-25091-X

[5] Harold Speed (2017), Oil Painting Technique and Materials. Dover Publication. ISBN: 0-486-25506-9

[6] United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2013), Wake Up Before Its Too Late, UNCTAD Trade and Environment Review

Few Pics from the Conference

IIT KGP En Plein Air Diary – Chapter VI

The Insignificant One

29 July 2017, Day 6 of the shoot

When sun comes out after continuous rains of almost a week, it really does look bright and glorious. The light looks fresh and the greenery even fresher. Which is how it was today morning -the lush green Jnan Ghosh stadium washed in the ochre light of the sun was a stunner. And when nature is at its best you know who the only real artist is.

Also read the Prologue , Chapter I , Chapter II, Chapter III, Chapter IV and  Chapter V of IITKGPEPA Diary!

With grass below my feet.... — With grass below my feet….

As I approached Jnan Ghosh stadium today early in the morning, I could see NSO classes going on in full swing. The physical training coach was shouting out commands for an aerobic session and a huge gathering of students in front of him were following his movements and instructions. As I got close their actions seemed to be almost nonchalant and understandably so. There was something common between the NSO squad and me today morning. Both of us did not want to perform what we were supposed to perform in Jnan Ghosh.

It was indeed a difficult task to paint today morning as I just wanted to enjoy the fleeting beauty of nature to the fullest. I wanted to enjoy that emptiness of space around me where Mother Nature was busy playing with an analogous and minimalist colour scheme of yellow and green. But I was there to do a job. So I tried to fill up my canvas with same hues and tones to capture the rare golden ochre light which was slowly turning harsh as the sun moved overhead.

The work I ended up with was a decent one. But still it was a humbling experience to paint at Jnan Ghosh stadium today. The beauty of nature is beyond human imagination and human grasp. Every time I am faced with such beauty it makes me realise of my insignificance and the insignificance of what I do.

But I guess this realization is a good thing and one of the major benefits of painting en plein air.

Next - Redemption at Harrys'

On Education System in India

It is a well known fact that the current education system in India is a derivative of the education system put in place by the British during their rule. The system put in place by the British was mainly to reduce their administrative costs by producing low to mid level government officials. Unfortunately we still follow a similar style of education today. All it aims at doing is to produce job ready professionals. Below are a couple of the main features of the British education system that is prevalent even today.

Our curriculum evaluates people on individual basis. There is no stress on doing things in a team and building confidence and trust in others.
Examination and grading system seeks to evaluate students based on a single template. Evaluating students based on only few subjects in an individualistic way through the template of examinations is never good for the confidence level of a student. Moreover the down to 2 decimal places grades are also used by parents to compare and contrast and put undue pressure on students which further hampers their self esteem. This reminds me of a quote by Einstein, which goes like this. “Every person is a born genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to swim, it will live its life believing itself to be a fool”.

These are just a few issues in our education system which has been there since the British rule. But there is a plethora of other evils which have plagued the education system in India. The reasons for this degradation are manifold. In the following sections this will be discussed. Our education system has degraded to machinery which only aims at producing individualistic conformist working class society, aspiring to make their lives better by earning more and more. It does not encourage independent thinking, inward gaze, creativity and intellectual development and many other things needed to build better individuals and a better society.

The Drawbacks of Current Education System

When India became independent education was seen as a tool of empowerment, which would bring about societal changes and find solution to problems in the country. And during that era education system probably did fulfill its purpose. But if we look at the situation today can we really say that the societal change envisioned at the time of independence has really occurred? Has poverty been eradicated? Has the rich poor gap been closed? In fact it has increased if numbers are to be believed; 26% of India’s wealth is held by a few elites. Few here does not refer to thousands. Not even hundreds. It refers to tens of people.

Even if education system has failed to bring about societal changes, does it really serve the purpose for which it has come to exist? Does it really produce high quality employable youth?

A report from an independent survey claims that at least 47% of the Indian graduates were unemployable.
90% of the engineering graduates were deemed unemployable.
Roughly 84% of the graduates did not have the cognitive ability to get jobs.
90% lacked fundamental English proficiency and basic communication skills to get jobs.

So our education does not solve societal problems. Neither does it produce high quality employable professionals. What are the reasons? Before finding functional and structural flaws lets look at the intent behind the dispersion and reception of education to understand this issue.

The stakeholders in the education machinery are students, parents, teachers, schools, society and the state. Lets examine education from each of their contexts.

Student –In primary education level as higher marks and academic achievements are encouraged, getting higher marks or passing exams ends up becoming whole purpose of receiving education. In higher education level the intent is to score good marks to get a better job or clear tests so that one is not stuck behind.
Parents – Most parents send their children to school so that education can secure their future. They look at education as a means of income, social status, security, better marriage prospect and a better material life. Parents send their children to expensive schools by spending a significant part of their earnings, so that their kids can get a better exposure. But again the idea behind getting better exposure is to keep ahead in the race and not necessarily become a better individual.
School Administration –In case of government schools, running a school is about finishing paperwork, keeping things under control during school hours, acting only to keep things mostly functional. In case of private schools, it is about profits, marketing and keeping the numbers (results, achievements etc) right. Private schools in some instances have threatened to disown students with lower scores to keep the average scores of the school looking healthy.
Teacher – Most of the teachers are teachers because they did not find a better job. So naturally teaching is just another job for them. It is not like there are no passionate teachers in India, but their number is very low.
State –The policy makers lay down the law and common man just follows it. There is no two way flow between policy makers and the end users. Hence policy makers are really not accountable in our system. And then you also have the politically motivated syllabus in school to make matters even worse.
Society – Indian society consists largely of the middle class. The middle class in general is a conformist one which like status quo. However it does expects revolutionaries and innovators to be churned out of the system. But not from their own homes.

None of the stakeholders except the state (probably) looks at education as a tool to build better individuals, better society and a better country. It is not thought of as a system to enable individuals realize their potential, build character, develop sensitivity to the world around them, develop a sense of responsibility, passion and ownership. Even state does not really look to improve the system continuously. And that has caused the system to become what it is; a rate race. Here are some of the manifestations of the misplaced purpose of education in Indian society.

Everything and everywhere it is about rote memorization. Attitude to explore and learn is suppressed.
Standardized tests with limited scope evaluate students. Hence the true potential of students is never explored.
As education is seen as a means of financial security, it has become the major social yardstick.
Extreme pressure on students to be in top bracket is also leading to increase in rate of student suicides. Limited seats in top education institutes have added to this pressure.
Increasing dissatisfaction in students and job sector as most people are going through things and doing jobs that they do not like or do not have aptitude for.
Poor standard of teachers and teaching methods.
Extremely unhealthy competition among students.
Development of very individualistic and opportunist environment.
There is no scope for failure in the system as learning is not the real aim, but grades are.
Knowledge gathered is bookish and hence inability to apply it in real life.
Lack of critical thinking.
Lack of broader worldview among students and hence inability to take decisions.
Lack of ownership and apathy towards taking up responsibilities.
Lack of emotional and intellectual development in students
Lack of confidence and independence.

Other Concerns

In addition to the issues that we have in our education system we also need to examine what are other major gaps in it. Below are a few concerns that need to be raised.

In recent times there has been a increase in the rate of farmer suicides. The number of registered farmers in the country is on a rapid decline. Youth is moving away from agriculture in search of ‘greener pastures’. Clearly majority of people do not want to take up agriculture as a profession. Unfortunately it all starts with the schooling system. The subjects that are taught at school never really give an exposure to student on agriculture. Neither does the system inspire anyone to become a farmer.
On the similar lines the system is not designed to inspire people to become naturalists or soldiers or artists or social activists. The list of such professions is endless.
Our education system is completely focused on the outside. The gaze is always outward. There is hardly anything in the curriculum that enables students to turn their gaze inwards.
Only number and language based learning seems to be in curriculum. Experiential learning, Visual learning etc do not get any importance.
Creativity is not nurtured. The grading system and template based evaluation tends to suppress creativity.

Can there be a solution!

Even if the way education is imparted is improved upon; lets say grades are abolished and focus is on learning, will students develop an attitude of understanding rather than mugging? Will parental and societal demands of ensuring a better future not drive them to innovate and find short-cuts. And if education becomes more understanding oriented and not job oriented will society still be interested in education?

Unless there is a change of attitude towards education, it becomes very difficult to bring in any change. The attitude of all stakeholders is in question here. So we end up with a chicken and egg problem here, for which there may not be any right answers. One thing that is known for sure that change can not be brought about overnight. In this case especially it will be excruciatingly slow. As quantification of the effect of change will be difficult and initial changes will be minimal it will always be under scrutiny by the cynics.

Here are a few suggestions on how the loop can slowly be broken.

School years are the formative years and hence the best time to instill values and aspirations. So carry out different programs in schools to
1. Expose students to agriculture, gardening, nature, animals, wildlife
2. Pick up some reflective activity like sketching, theater, music or dance
3. Do team and collaborative activities
4. Carry out make and learn (instead of read and learn) activities (esp for science subjects)
5. Help students realize their potential and aptitude through an environment of continuous open and intimate conversations (We already have numerous names for it like Adda, Bhat, Khatti etc).
6. Discussion and Dialogue based learning of abstract subjects
All the above and such activities will need to have an output that is tangible, which should be celebrated as an achievement.
Schools must have a homogeneous mix of students from cities, villages and small towns.

My Solution

My solution to revamp the education system in India is to follow a holistic approach to education, which is aimed at developing creativity and intuition, values, critical thinking and positive attitude, ability to take decisions, inward gaze and an attitude of continuous learning among students. Education should inspire. There are a very few schools in India that are having a similar approach to education. If they are brought under one umbrella and more such schools are built it will become a movement and will open up the way to achieve the dream. Secondly education should not only be restricted to schools. Home education is equally important if not more. Awareness among parents and guardians and few tools to enable them to guide and inspire their wards in the right direction would close the loop.

Here are a few areas of focus and the activities related to them. All areas are quite open ended and not specific and exact like maths and science. The learning is mostly visual, experiential and intuitive. It encourages creativity and innovation. A lot of group activities also build trust and camaraderie among children. These are also aimed at inspiring students to take up agriculture, nature wildlife conservation, arts as their profession.

Nature Awareness and agricultural activities – We protect only that which we love. And a person who has not grown up in the lap of nature would find it difficult to really love nature.
1. Setting up water holes and food bowls for birds in schools. As birds come down to have a bite or quench their thirst kids keep getting used to them and develop interest in them.
2. Adoption of stray dogs and abandoned cats by school
3. Maintenance of school garden by students
4. Growing few fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses etc in school campus through natural farming method which also may sometime need maintaining a cow shed in school.
5. Inclusion of these animals in school rituals and traditions. A school in Michigan provides a sanctuary to a mother duck who returns every year to lay eggs in the school. When the ducklings are old enough they walk through the hallway and led to a nearby water body with the help of students and staff. This now is a yearly ritual of the school.
6. Every student being assigned to plant and maintain at least one tree through his schooling time.
7. Students involved in growing food at home with their parents (again as a lifetime project).
8. Students themselves spreading awareness about community farming, forestation to local communities and helping them setup community farms.
9. Guided forest tours and camping. Not just a day affair, but spending a good week or so in the forests.
10. Organic waste management training for parents and students.
Art Education – No everyone can or should become artists. But everyone can and should practice and appreciate art. There are places in India which have this culture of learning, practicing and appreciating all forms of art and that reflects in the life style and outlook towards life of the people in those places. Such a culture must be nurtured from childhood.
1. Visual art, Music, Dance and theater should be made compulsory subjects in schools and there must be enough time assigned for it.
2. Art exhibitions, music and dance concerts, theater productions should be taken to schools or kids should be brought to such places on regular basis.
3. A couple of theater, music, dance productions each and art shows must become compulsory output of every school on a yearly or half yearly basis
4. Inter school competitions should be done on a regular basis and a lot of prestige should get attached to such competitions.
5. Students to maintain sketchbooks as a visual journal. Sketchbook sharing sessions to be held in schools and among schools.
6. Idols need to be created in these fields for students so that they can be inspired. Big names in these fields should be brought to schools and interact with kids.
7. Group art projects and community art projects and installations.
8. Storytelling and story writing
9. Story book illustrations
10. Schools or classes getting their own annual original story book published with illustrations, all done by students.

For specific and exact sciences here are a few suggestions that come to my mind.

Labs should be setup in all schools. If there is no space for labs, class room can be converted to labs.
Education should happen in labs. People should make first and then learn from it rather than the other way round.
Labs work should carry more weight than theoretical evaluation in learning process.
There should be team project works in lab and students should be evaluated as a team and as individual.
For teaching theory there should be discussions and dialogues and the teacher should act as a guide and moderator.
A form of teaching whereby absorbing knowledge rather than dissipating knowledge should be encouraged. Meaning the students proactively must question each other and the teacher instead of teacher pushing things down their throat.

I made this painting titled ‘Childhood’s End’ way back in 2011 and wrote the above piece more than a year earlier. Children are intuitive, creative and inquisitive by nature in varying degrees. Instead of nurturing that we have been suppressing it for a very long period of time now. But there are a few who have been doing their best to bring about a change. But a change is not possible here unless majority believe in it. Because the change here is a psychological one. Its a change in our value system. Hence a continuous dialogue is necessary. Support to those who are trying to bring changes is necessary. Even the smallest of actions is necessary. Otherwise our society will continue to chase it shadow be stuck in an infinite loop for ever.

Why I Paint What I Paint (And Don’t Paint What I Don’t)

I Don’t Paint to Make a Political Statement

No I don’t paint to address social issues. Neither do I paint to make a political statement. First of all I do not understand politics so well. All I understand is politics divides people. In today’s world of allegations, counter allegations, media choreographed events and heavily opinionated individuals I just don’t know what the truth is. Today someone makes me believe in something strongly, only to find out the very next day that it was all propaganda. With my limited knowledge about the world it also becomes extremely difficult to make a judgement on what is real and what is not. As an artist I seek truth and freedom through my work. Hence I choose to remain at a safe distance from this world of falsehood.

I paint my surroundings. But people can always find political meaning in it.

Suppose a cosmic event turns me omniscient and under the heavy pressure of moral obligation (which all superheros seem to have) I paint to change the world. But who is going to listen to me? Millions of art works get created around the world everyday. Many of them even by well known artists and artists with superlative skills. If people have to listen to someone in all probabilities they would listen to those artists; not me. And then is anyone really listening? Today everyone only has something to say. Social media has made it much easier for people to just keep saying something. Everyone wants to be heard. In effect there is hardly anyone who listens. In conclusion the paintings I would be making to change the world would end up changing me into a grumpy painter, because no one would just listen to me. By the way are you still listening to me!!

Irrespective of what I have said till now, it can so happen that I can still stand for something I fiercely believe in. And to bring about those changes I have two options. In the first one I take direct action to address the issue. For example to do my bit on environment I get a few friends together and we can have a tree planting drive. Not only we plant the trees, but we take care of it till it can stand on its own. Second option is to paint a masterpiece on climate change and hang it in a sophisticated air conditioned gallery under impressive lighting system and open to a packed house of art lovers and collectors. I am sure the second option would be far less effective to do my bit on environment. In fact all the air conditioning, lights, high end cars of the art lovers would have generated sufficient carbon footprint to offset whatever change my brilliant painting can bring about.

What About Finding My Own Voice!

Can you spot the difference? On top is a preserved fish in a natural history museum while at the bottom is a preserved fish that sold for millions as an art work.

But after all this blabbering they would still ask me the million dollar question. What about finding my own voice? What do they really mean when they say that? Is it being different from rest of the crew? Is it being original? But I really can not do it for the sake of it. Inventing something for the sake of it and hoping that it works is not going to work at all. That is more like style for style sake. It is the pursuit of excellence that is objective and something real. To be able to produce highest quality of work (irrespective of the subject) while working with lot of freedom and heightened sense of inner and outer perception is something that I pursue (Btw freedom is not about moving brush aimlessly on the canvas). And in that journey somewhere I hope I find my voice. And then lose it until I find a new voice. Finding my voice or developing my style is going to be just incidental. And it is also not going to be constant. It will always be work in progress. It will always be evolving. I can not get trapped in it.

In case you are wondering what this is I’ll surprise you by saying that this is a painting titled Blood Red Mirror which also sold for millions

Human beings are meaning making machines. They will find meaning where there is absolutely no hint of it. And when people find their meaning in being at a higher intellectual plane than their counterparts then they can stoop to the lowest level of pretension. A flat red canvas or a stuffed animal meant for natural history museum can sell for millions. As a person my idea of life’s journey is to go beyond judgement and assumptions that create such meanings. Its a journey based on observation and active listening of the without and the within. It is a journey to understand as things are and not as we assume them to be. That is how I believe I can go close to Truth and Freedom.

Why I paint (What I paint)

The joy experienced in painting with freedom stemming from skill is sometimes also felt by others — The joy experienced in painting with freedom stemming from pursuit of excellence is sometimes also felt by others

In case you have made it till here I would disappoint you now by saying that the above outburst may be completely unnecessary to understand why I paint what I paint. I paint landscapes, nature, animals, birds, humans, faces, figures, scenes from everyday life, things in my immediate surrounding because I just like to paint them. That is it. Direct interaction with nature and life around me is what inspires and motivates me to paint. That is the person who I am. For me being authentic is originality and if I persevere long enough with my authenticity it would eventually seep through into my work.

By painting what I paint I do get to see myself in a mirror. My work not only tells me who I am it also tells me who I can be. It tells me about a better self that I can become. May be the act of painting becomes independent of the subject someday. May be by painting something else I still would get to see the proverbial mirror. But probably it would be devoid of the joy I experience. And living without joy is something that is very hard for me to afford.

Enough said as of now. I’ll probably be singing a new song tomorrow as my worldview broadens. Tomorrow probably I’ll be laughing at what I have written now (Not that I am not smiling right now). But as of now I got to ‘Shut Up and Paint’.

shut up and paint meme by Milind Mulick — Shut up and paint meme by watercolor master Mr Milind Mulick

Updates on IIT KGP En Plein Air Project

On 21st July 2017 when I set out to IIT Kharagpur for En Plein Air project I realized was not travelling alone. I was travelling with the wishes as well as expectations of a large community of IIT-KGPians. There were different facets of KGP life that each of them wanted to see through my paintings. I must admit it did make me little nervous. The other realization was, I was not going there just for IIT-KGP En Plein Air project. There were a few of my contemporaries who wanted to relive their KGP times through me. And I have been unfair to them and have not really kept everyone updated. Finally here is the update about the life in campus, my experiences and of course IIT-KGP En Plein Air project.

The Campus and Academics

First things first. If you have not been to KGP in a while the new look campus would hit you. There are flawless roads with cycle tracks on each side and separate places marked for parking with proper signage everywhere. A lot of new state of the art buildings have come up where classes are held. Technology guest house has been expanded and someone told me it has 3 start rating. Hostels have been extended. There are new buildings and new floors. A few halls now have 4 floors which also including Azad hall. The mess has become bigger. Rotis are now made by a huge roti making machine in the mess. Gymkhana too has a new building. The area behind gymkhana has been developed into a lovely park. There is so much change in the campus in terms of infrastructure, its almost unbelievable. At the same time greenery of the campus is intact and did not look like it has been compromised with.

And to top it all there is a law school and people are studying stuff like economics. In humanities there are credit subjects like visual communication and in the law school there are courses like international environment laws which anyone can take up as an elective. Now I really loved this development. IIT KGP is now more like an university where individuals are given enough opportunities to realize their true and full potential. The way things are developing we may soon see a school of fine arts and a school of performing arts soon in the campus.

The Student Life

Student life is probably as hectic as it was 15 years earlier if not more. One good thing is classes start at 8:00 AM as opposed to 7:30 AM. But still there is a mad rush to get to classes on time. Life still revolves around projects, credits, profs, classes, labs, presentations, apping, mugga, exams, CAT mock tests. But what is heartening to see is the kids are doing much more than all this. There is an art club called SPECTRA and students do some really amazing works of art. They learn from each other, from external faculty, internal faculty and they even put up an art exhibition every year. There is a film making club called TFPS and they come up with short films every now and then. My interaction was mostly with TFPS as they were involved in IIT-KGP En Plein Air project. And I was amazed by the talent each of them had and how they are channelizing it into creative domains.

I was even lucky to meet few individuals in final year who have done their internship in media houses as they want to pursue their field of interest. One of them was already doing some work for a digital media company designing posters for them. These I believe are great signs of the times we live in.

Vegies/Eggies and Harrys (Now called Tikkas) continue to be the lifeline of students. Harrys breakfast consisting of dal puris, sabzi, coffee and rasagola though has become expensive (Now it comes at approx Rs 40/-), still feels like one of the best breakfast that one could ever have sitting under a banyan tree in the company of friends and birds. Little sisters restaurant is now a favorite Friday night hangout place for students and business for LS is booming on weekends.

Unfortunately I did not get a chance to go to chhedis and hence no updates from there. A new canteen has come up in Neheru museum (Kali Da). Situated on the first floor of museum it is lined with arches overlooking the pristine surroundings dotted with very old banyan trees. There is a certain old world charm about this place and its a place for the romantics for sure. One could write poetry just sitting here. And hence I had to paint this place and I am glad I could paint here.

The Film

I reached KGP on 21st July (Friday). The plan was to shoot as much as possible on the weekend (Saturday and Sunday). The first place that we had planned our shoot was in Jnan Ghosh stadium on Saturday early morning. With butterflies in my stomach I hardly got any sleep on Friday night and could not wait to paint in the morning. But as luck would have it, there was a heavy downpour on Saturday morning. And the weather forecast said it was going to be raining continuously for the next 5-6 days. Talking of good starts, this situation really did not qualify to be one. But we did shoot that day albeit in a different location. Chemical department cycle stand overlooks Neheru Museum. And since it had protection overhead our first shoot happened there. Hijli detention camp was the first thing I painted and the rain just added so much character to the scene. It was as if nature created the scene especially for me to paint. Starting shoot at the old building was symbolic in a way because this is where IIT Kharagpur was started.

The next day we shot at Azad hall where the ex hall president Sashwat arranged a big umbrella for me so that I could paint under it in the rain. And thus the ball kept rolling. I was in a hurry to cover all places. But universe had other plans. It was creating the right ambiance for me to paint at different location. But I had to be patient. The footage of one of the places we shot at got deleted by accident. But it was a blessing in disguise because I really did not like what I had painted there in the first place. So we shot again and this time the painting was perfect. The director of the film Lokesh had mentioned one day that in a film director is the God. But in a documentary God is the director. And the whole experience of painting and shooting at IIT KGP turned out to be such that I had to agree with him.

I returned back from KGP on 31st July. The film now is in editors hands. Additional footage is also being captured in parallel. Background score for the film also is yet to be sorted out. At this point everyone wants to know when the film will be completed. Honestly I also cant tell. But I guess it will take at least another 30-50 odd days for sure.

Not everyone gets an opportunity to go back to IIT KGP campus to experience KGP life again. But I did and through me hopefully many of you would get a slice of the cake. I relived some old memories and created new memories. And all that probably has seeped into my works that I created there. Hopefully they will touch a chord somewhere.

And lastly I would like to thank TFPS guys and everyone who made my experience at IIT KGP such a memorable one and also those who have supported the IIT KGP En Plein Air project. Thank you for this amazing gift.

The Creative Process of making Art 2 : Reinventing Oneself

There are times when you could be at the top of your game. Painting well, painting in a good rhythm, creating masterpieces on a regular basis. But still the satisfaction of creating them is a short lived one. This little voice in your head starts whispering in your ear and keeps telling you that you have become too comfortable. And when that happens it is a tricky area to be in for an artist. You know you are in a good place and common sense tells you to enjoy it as long as it lasts. But then the creator inside you never likes to be ‘comfortable’ and wants to create something new. And funnily enough this situation is the trigger to reinventing oneself; Yet another creative process of making art.

I too am trying to reinvent myself and in this post I’ll share my method which I have followed till now.

The Comfort Zone Trap

Spontaneous creation of from a 'blank' state of mind — Spontaneous creation of from a ‘blank’ state of mind

The comfort zone builds up slowly. But it surely happens multiple times in a creative journey. Its a nice place to be in, but not for long. Because the more you get attached to it the more difficult it becomes for the artist in you to develop. So its good to be aware of this fact and just keep doing a sanity check once in a while if you are getting into the trap. A close look at your recent works will help you. Check if a certain pattern is glaring at you from those works. Check if you are getting repetitive. Do an honest assessment and your works will tell you if you are slipping into a comfort zone.

Well I did not do any such checks. I just strongly felt I need to do something new. And that I guess came from subconsciously seeing a pattern in my works.

Starting From Blank

Refining the spontaneous sketch during conscious exploration phase

You have identified that you are in a comfort zone and you want to break out from it. But now what. How do you let go of your style to do something new that you are not even aware of. This is a good problem to solve in the creative process of making art. I am going to tell you the process I followed and its just one way of doing things. You can invent your own method. You can even try my method. It is fun by the way.

Conscious Exploration of 'new style' — Conscious Exploration of ‘new style’

I started from blank. I also made sure that I don’t use my regular paper, brushes and palette. First I arranged my paper, paint and brushes around me so that I can start painting as soon as I want to. Then I randomly picked a reference photo without looking at it and then closed my eyes. Next I visualized darkness and meditate on that to allow my mind to become empty. At some point I opened my eyes, looked at the reference pic for a few seconds and then started painting. I just let my hand move as fast as possible in a subconscious and spontaneous manner. I took around 10-15 minutes to paint and then went away from my easel. When I came back to it after sometime I tried to find a new visual language in it which I can pick up and explore further.

Explore and Allow Yourself to Fail

And I did find something I could pick up on. In this case because of the nature of the paper I had to limit my washes to light ones and number of layers to only two. And as I had ‘thrown’ paint at the paper, some parts of the painting was not painted. I had taken a spontaneous decision and had ‘drawn’ the unpainted parts with a rigger brush using black paint. So I decided to try these things out. That is

‘Throwing Paint and leaving a lot of white of the paper
Limiting maximum layers to only two
‘Drawing’ with rigger to suggest the unpainted parts.

Now again this step is about exploration just like the last step. But this is more conscious while the previous step was more subconscious effort. In this step as you can see from the pictures I was trying different ways of ‘throwing’ paint and leaving out whites and also different ways of drawing the unpainted details. Some seem to work while other did not. The idea here is to paint with abandon and try things without fear. The more you fail the more you learn. Allow yourself to fail in this step of Creative Process of making Art.

Finding the ‘New’

The whole idea behind the previous step of conscious exploration is to get used to the new thing you have found and establish it in your mind. The paintings that did not work teach you what to avoid and the ones that worked teach you what looks good. This way your decision making becomes better in your new found style. And as you keep painting more and more holding on to the spirit of the new method this decision making gets more refined and your muscle memory also get stronger. And then there comes a time when you become really good at it and the next comfort zone sets in. And then its time to break the barriers all over again.

As far as my exploration goes there was a divine intervention. One of my idols happened to nudge me a little to align me to the right direction through a comment on one of the works I posted on Facebook. Now I’ll try to look for subjects to suit this new style and keep refining it. As I keep at it hopefully I’ll find a new visual language somewhere on the way. And again hopefully that would lead to a set of accomplished and satisfying works till I get dissatisfied again.

The Creative Process of Making Art 1 : Generic Creative Process

As an artist, there is this particular question that I often face from different people on a daily basis. I am sure all my artist friends around the world must be facing this question too. And the question is “How muchtime do I typically take to make a painting”! I generally answer this question as, “Anything between a few minutes to a few years”. And then the eyebrows start to get raised.

The Creative Process

People often look at the time taken to make a piece of art as when a person is actually painting. And that time for me ranges from a few minutes to a few hours. But that is just the final execution time for the painting. All the time spent before that to reach that point in time when I am actually painting is more important and that time is highly variable. All the thoughts processed, all the ideas explored, all the actions taken to crystallize the idea and get clarity (many times just trusting intuition) and every other little things done to reach a point when I start to put colors on paper (including the action of putting colors on paper) is what can be called as my Creative Process of making Art. And this process varies depending on whether I am working outdoors or at the studio, working from life or working from photographs, working on some painting of my own or working on a commission.

Though its termed as a process its not necessarily a set of steps that I follow or have to be followed by anyone. The creative process sometimes can be purely spontaneous while at other times its methodical. But generally it is a mix of method and madness most of the times. In this series of posts I’ll take you through my creative process for different contexts. In this post I’ll touch upon my creative process in very broad terms.

Inspiration

In my opinion art can not happen without inspiration. Inspiration is basically that strong and sudden emotion that makes you want to go and create. It can come anywhere and anytime. It can come from a beautiful scene, a song, a story, from another art work or it can just be idea that strikes you. Inspiration can come from anywhere and many times it is from places you least expect. But unless you are looking for it there is a very small probability that it is going to strike you. So to begin the creative process look for inspiration and let it strike you.

Exploration

While painting outdoors I just sketch anything that catches my eye to form an idea

Just because you have been inspired, it does not mean it can turn into a master piece right away. However in some cases inspirations seems to give birth to great art works directly. It seems so because rest of the creative process happens inside artist’s head and that can not be observed externally.

When inspiration strikes, the next step is to search for that idea which would express your intention (born out of the inspiring moment) clearly on canvas. This is where imagination starts to come into play and continues to play a role in rest of the process. For me just sketching without any fixed ideas in head (exploring) or making small thumbnail studies helps in reaching the idea that would work on paper. Sometimes nothing works. In such cases just give it some time and space and the idea would come when you have almost forgotten about it.

Research

Many a times a painting needs some background research for factual correctness. For example if you are painting a scene from a bygone era you can not paint the figures with cell phones in their hands. You need to find out about things like clothing, vehicles, architecture etc of that period. Research typically includes reading, internet searches, talking to experts, travel and discussing with other people. While painting outdoors this process is much simpler as the subject is right in front of you.

Preparation

This stage consists of a lot of sketching if I am painting from a photograph. I generally use different mediums to sketch. I also make sketches of different sizes. While painting outdoors also I do a few sketches of my surroundings to get a feel of the place.When you sketch your hands and mind warm up and ideas start to get crystallized. It brings clarity in your head.

This stage may involve learning to work with a new medium or picking up a new skill or technique. In such cases preparation time is typically a few months to few years. The exploration stage also involves sketching. But here the sketches are done with some idea and intent unlike the free sketching in exploration stage.

Feeling for the ‘Aha’ moment

There are only subtle differences in these two sketches. But the Aha moment came for the one on the right probably because of the difference in lighting

This is the stage that is quite elastic in terms of time. Sometimes I am okay with the first sketch itself. And more often than not it takes many sketches to reach that ‘Aha’ moment. Its that moment when the sketch is able to match the unseen vision. And it does not have to be the latest sketch you would have done. It could be an earlier sketch which did not appeal to you when it was done. But later when you see it with a fresh mind it seems to work. Here you can ask how can a sketch match up to something that is still not clearly visible even in your head. Well the question is absolutely valid. The eureka moment is actually intuitive and its like a spontaneous uplifting emotion that I have come to trust. And when that moment comes I dont explore any further. That sketch becomoes the reference for my final painting.

Sometimes that ‘Aha’ moment never comes. In such cases I dont go ahead with the painting. But sometimes I just looks at technicalities of the composition, color scheme etc and go ahead with the final work just to see how it turns out.

Execution

This is the implementation stage where the final painting is executed. All the previous process steps put together can be called as the build up stage which as I said earlier can last from a few minutes to few months and can go even up to years. All that time helps to bring clarity and confidence for executing the final work. But that clarity and confidence does not have to be 100%. In fact for me it has never been 100%. There is always room for spontaneity and improvisations. Especially when working with watercolors there has to enough room for things to happen naturally on paper.

Avoiding the ‘Oh No’ moment

Most paintings are killed when they begin to approach completion. A false stroke here and there towards the end of painting especially when working with watercolors can spoil all the good work that you would have done before that. So I prefer to be careful and take time to do the final touches in a painting to avoid the ‘Oh no’ moment.

Contrary to what I have said here sometimes an unintended stroke has actually worked for the painting. But the chance of that happening is very low.

Evaluation and Adjustments

The top painting was rejected after evaluation stage and painting below was done at the back of the paper.

When a painting has just been done one can be very attached to it. At times you may never see any glaring issues with it and at other times you may find faults even where there is none. So when I finish a painting I put it away for a few days. Typically 2-3 weeks works fine. Then I come back to it and do a critical evaluation. Depending on the evaluation I may do some minor changes and adjustments. But I dont do any major changes. If there are huge issues with the paintings I dump it in rejects drawer. Sometimes I paint it again on new paper or on the backside of the paper. Cropping the picture is also one of the things I sometimes resort to.

Learning

The creative process does not stop when a painting is done. You would always learn something new (however small it may be) from every painting. Its a good idea to document it by taking pictures and making a note somewhere. You can also take feedback from appropriate persons about your work and see how can you improve it. Many a times you stumble upon a technique, brush stroke or color mix in the process of making a painting. Make a note of it in your sketchbook and see how can you use it in your subsequent work.

The creative process is not linear. Its a loop and hence a never ending process. An artist just keeps traversing the loop again and again throughout his life. But every traversal of the loop makes her a better artist and her works more mature. Creative process is like a roller coaster ride of emotions. Generally the lows are more than the highs. But the high, when it comes is that of pure joy.

Be a Creator

The Psychologist

About ten years back I was gifted a revelation.

And it came from an Australian lady who was my co-passenger during a journey from Delhi to Dehradun. A child psychologist by profession she was in India for a detox holiday at Haridwar. And very soon we were chatting about the changes in child behavior patterns in Australia. She was very vocal about how intrusive technologies like phones, internet were decreasing the attention span of children and decreasing their ability to learn. According to her children who were introduced to the virtual world of TV and other form of videos in their growing years were more likely to become less interested in real world as it is not as exciting as the virtual world. They would get ‘bored’ easily and be more aggressive in general.
The other problem was of instant gratification of getting what they wanted without really having to work for it or wait for it. And she held the parents of the children responsible for this. Parents who spend little time with their kids would want to make the child ‘happy’ during the little time that they spent with her. Hence they would fulfill all the demand of the child immediately, thus encouraging consumption. And this leads to the child not learning to cope with delays, failure of getting what she wanted, which ultimately leads to the child becoming prone to stress. And thus the chat went on for a very long time on how this affects the society as people become less social and more unaware of their surroundings.

The Revelation

I was gifted a revelation. But I really never took it. I thought to myself, “Well this is probably a thing of Australia and it would not be so in India. So I am okay. We are okay.”And today it does not take much intelligence to say how wrong I have been. The growing usage of TV, Internet, phones, the bombardment of information, the growing working population and changing social structures have changed everything. In fact all these issues are no more limited to children alone. It is a common problem for the entire society.
But when I look around there are certain people who seem to be completely unaffected and equanimous. And in most cases these people are either musicians, artists, writers, actors, classical dancers or ordinary people who practice any of these disciplines in their free time. Now one thing was clear to me that all these people did practice some or the other form of art (Not that there were no one in this category who did not practice any art. But I was trying to find out a common thread, which I finally concluded to be arts). But it was still not clear to me why.
And then I had my revelation through two words.
Consumer and Creator.

Consumption and Creation

Two simple words with two opposing ideas; But can not exist without each other. Both need to balance each other out.
But today’s society has a heavy leaning towards consumerism. Towards a culture of unbridled consumption. All the time in a day people are consuming. Movies, Videos, Status Updates, News, Tweets, advertisements…… and the list is never ending. We are consuming information in some form or the other all the time along with other traditional consumer goods like clothes, gadgets, cars etc. And then we are working jobs like never before so that we can keep consuming more. Consumerism seems to have consumed us.
The act of creation is exactly opposite to the act of consumption. While it takes no time to consume something it takes a really long time and virtues like focus and patience to create it. While consuming is about instant gratification creating is an activity with a slow learning curve and long term rewards. While consumption is about the external world creation is about focusing on the inner self. While consumption is about alienating the soul creating is about becoming one with universe.
Eureka. I had found a very objective solution to counter balance the effects of increasing consumerism in today’s society. Everyone in this modern era must practice art in their everyday lives. It is one of the easiest and joyous path to becoming a creator. It really does not have to be arts. It can be even writing a code or making a gadget or even gardening. It just has to be an act of creation.

There is agreement

My Eureka moment did not really last long. All it took me was a little search on internet to find out that other people were already discussing on the same lines of consumption vs creation. In fact I was pleasantly surprised that many people are already walking this path to better their lives.
Instead of concluding, I’ll leave you with this TED Talk video titled ‘Be an Artist. Right Now’ by celebrated Korean author Young Kim Ha. Watch the video and you conclude for yourself what do you want to be.

Consumer or Creator?

What does the word artist mean… to me

There are a few standard ways in which the word ‘artist’ is used. Some people use it to refer to a profession. So if someone is a doctor by profession and at the same time is an amateur but passionate painter he cant be called an artist! Some people refer to a person with a talent in any of the arts field as an artist. For example anyone who sings or paints or dances automatically is called as an artist. So is being an artist is about being in a particular profession or having a particular talent? My answer is neither. For me being an artist is an attitude that seeks to judge less and understand more, thus expanding the seekers mind.

Depending on the place and time we belong to, we develop our own value system and sense of reasoning, which is necessary for our survival. And like all systems our reasoning system is also based on some assumptions, which help in faster decision making. For example when we are shopping for apples we tend to pick the ones that are very red in color. Here the assumption is that if the redder the apple, the sweeter it is. Though it works some times, the other times the greener apples turn out to be sweeter. As the pace of our lives increases exponentially, speed of decision making also has to cope up with it and hence more assumptions have to be made, which in other words makes us quiet judgemental to meet our ever increasing survival needs.

An artist is someone who tries to break out his set of assumptions. He tries to overcome this natural disposition of using his assumptions and instead seeks to understand. He tries to overcome his own boundaries of logic seeks to be emotional.

Lets take an example. In a class when people are asked to draw something (an eye for illustration) most people immediately draw an almond shape, with a few concentric circles inside the almond shape. A few look up at their neighbour’s eyes and try to draw the shape that they see. The people who have drawn the almond shapes are drawing what they already know, which is nothing but their assumption about the shape of the eye. But the others who looked at their neighbour’s or even the teacher’s eyes are the ones who are trying to understand. It is this attitude of observing keenly to understand makes the artist more aware and emphatic of his surroundings and himself. This is the artist’s gaze that helps one to expand one’s mind and be joyful.

Because artists try to observe and understand they have the ability to see more beauty and meaning than what meets the eye. And the desire to communicate this makes the artist create. It is said that the best way to paint is to paint is with the heart of a child and with the skills of an adult. Skills are external while the attitude is internal. External development can be achieved through hard work, practice and discipline. But the internal purity, which enables one to paint without judgments, with innocence and awareness at the same time and with an imagination that is not bounded by the limit of logic makes a painter an artist.

Unfortunately whatever I said could easily be bounded by the expanse of my own mind. One really has to find one’s own meaning through honest effort.