CHENNAI:Artist Divya Ramachandran loves to explore different kinds of painting. Charcoal sketches, watercolour paintings and a myriad of techniques - she has done it all. While surfing the internet for different kinds of paintings, she came across an Australian regional art called dot painting. “Dot painting is a popular technique of painting in Australia. People paint mythical animals like turtles, kangaroos, and animal characters in children's story books using dots,” she says.
What is dot painting? “It is a technique where smaller dots are connected to create a bigger image on a canvas. Artists call the technique as pointanism. We use a set of specific tools to paint accurate and precise dots,” she says. Divya has been practising dot painting for almost five years now. But of late she is also concentrating on mandala dot painting. “I didn’t take any formal lessons on dot painting. I watched a lot of paintings on the Internet for inspiration,” she says.
Her frequent travels across the world are a source of inspiration. "Many of my paintings are inspired by the seasonal transition in Australia, when the colour of the leaves and trees changes,” she says. She also loves to paint waves using different colour dots. “I colour them using vibrant shades,” she says. The choice of colour plays a major role in dot paintings. Different shades of same colours are used to create the desired effect. “You need to intensely focus on the painting while working on it, to maintain the symmetry. Once completed, you will feel accomplished and happy. Maybe that’s why it is considered a relaxing therapy,” she says.
The similarities between mandala and dot painting are many, but there are notable differences. “Unlike mandala painting, dot painting has a lot of patterns, such as spiral and circular patterns. On a canvas, these patterns are improvised to create a bigger picture,” she says. A combination of the two, mandala dot painting, is gaining popularity now. “This is because of its similarity to mehendi designs,” she says.
Divya has conducted dot painting workshops for kids across the city where she teaches different patterns. “I use cotton swabs to teach kids. Most of my elderly students are interested to learn mandala dot painting, which requires perfect symmetry,” she says. She also hosts paint parties where they break down the salient features of famous paintings. She wishes to recreate them with her own twist in the future.