CHENNAI: Be it drawing, painting, sculpting, photography or a creative solution in branding and designing, this city-based artist has the skills to teach and answer all your queries. Meet Dewakar Chandran, founder and director, Life and Art Academy, as he gears up for a live portrait sketching workshop today he shares his journey — from advertising to opening his own academy and more…
Dewakar says he imagined a platform for aspiring artists to grow, teach and learn the nitty-gritty of art from one another.
This led of his art academy in 2013. But, his interest in visual arts can be traced back to his childhood. “I’ve always been interested in arts. Fortunately or unfortunately, I wasn’t great in academics. So I quit and looked for other opportunities…that was almost 20 years ago. I got into advertising and realised I had always had the creative streak. But learnt everything by myself,”
recalls Dewakar.
Specialising in surrealism, he recalls his first exhibition at Lalit Kala Akademi where he had 50 paintings. “Whatever I know today is from reading books, journals, discussions with other artists and so on. I chose surrealism because it is more in-depth and not like landscape or still-life. Besides, I’m able to connect with that type of art,” opines Dewakar who also runs d5 studios, an ad agency.
Three years after beginning his journey as a director and mentor in his art academy, he teaches everything from mould making to terracotta jewellery and sculpting to pottery, today. “I am also interested in studying the human anatomy, and sketching portraits. Portraits aren’t easy and needs attention and focus,” he elucidates.
Shedding light on the lack of people willing to pose for a live-portrait session, he rues that not many people connect with the art and thus don’t see a need to sit for hours. “Yes, the process of sitting for two to three hours isn’t easy. There are very few people willing to pose as a model and we usually have a regular set of models,” he says.
The type of exposure an artist gets through live sketching is important, as they get to learn the nuances of human anatomy and on how to approach the subject. “The intention of this workshop is to give a hands-on experience on what to do during live portrait sketching. This is for both beginners and people who already have tried their hands in it,” he says.
So, what does one have to look for before sketching? “Observe,” says the artist who is also a wildlife and bird photographer. “It’s very important to observe and study the subject before you start sketching. Every face has a predominant feature and the artist should try to identify that. Only then will he/she be able to convey the characteristics of that person. From the jaw-lip to forehead, everyone has a feature that stands out and is unique. The artist has to have an understanding on how to look out for these details,” he explains.
Another important aspect Dewakar points out is the understanding of light and shade. “You need to shade in the right places. Portraits might seem easy but they’re not. An artist shouldn’t go wrong in a portrait. If he/she does, the final product will look bad and be completely different from the person sitting in front. This again comes with practice,” he says.
Talking about opportunities he says that being a good portrait artist can fetch good commercial prospects. “People are thinking beyond greeting cards for gifting these days and we even get calls to make personal sketches of people. This is how the scene is now,” he adds.
The live portrait sketching workshop will be conducted today between 10 am and 1 pm at Life&Art Academy, Parameswari Nagar, Adyar. For details and to register, call: 9840451111