Say hello to Bengaluru through art

Art House introduces  amateur artists to the city through outdoor classes in painting
Art enthusiasts take their passion outdoors to get to know their city better
Art enthusiasts take their passion outdoors to get to know their city better

BENGALURU: Sightseeing, shopping and pub hopping are not the only ways to explore Bengaluru. How about using art to get to know the city better? Art House, an organization of professional artists that trains young artists, is hosting its annual 10-week long workshop titled, ‘Discover Bengaluru through Art’.
This outdoor event was started in 2010 just for the sake of exploring.

“When I was an art student back in the 90s, we would submit 25 paintings a day, and spend most of our time outdoors. When I visited art schools in 2010, I saw no students painting outside,” says Krishna Prasad, founder of Art House. “I thought that it was important to get this new generation of artists to paint outdoors. That’s how this initiative came up,” adds Prasad, who has been painting for 17 years.

Walking to Water Reflections, Rocks
To understand how to draw something reflecting in water, the participants are taken to Sankey Lake. To understand different kinds of textures, they head to Lalbagh and examine rocks and observe clouds. To understand architecture, they’re taken to various temples in the city. When it comes to understanding landscape, the go-to spot is MG Road.

It’s also interesting to see how the city has changed by studying landscape. Prasad says that when the workshop started seven years ago, the participants were taken to a rural area in Rajajinagar where cattle and agriculture were captured through art. Since 2015, the area has changed through heavy construction work and several buildings, making it less attractive to paint.
Now, from rural landscape, the class is studying city landscape, so as to capture the essence of Bengaluru.

Learn and Display
This class is held every Sunday for 10 weeks. On the first day, basics of art such as how to use a brush and how to create water colour transparency is taught. In the second class, forms such as that of tree and clouds are explained. An art exhibition will be held this September at Venkatappa Art Gallery, where the participants and amateurs can put their work on display.

The workshop is open for registration and costs RS 7,500 - this includes the necessary tools for the classes. This is a one-time fee, as after this workshop, you get free access to other training workshops to better your art.

This is done to ensure that young artists can not only sharpen their skills, but also get an opportunity to display their art. This was a personal struggle for Prasad. “When I had just completed my art course, I found it extremely difficult to put my art on display. Galleries only take art that sells by renowned artists,” says Prasad, who studied at Chitrakala Parishath. “This initiative was started to cater to young struggling artists. Art House was established to provide a platform for artists just out of art schools,” he adds.

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