KOCHI: Alappuzha native Praveen G Nair’s watercolour paintings seem to be a play between realism and abstract art. His subjects, primarily streetscapes and faces, are rendered without distinctive features giving the impression of being viewed through a misty glass
Five years ago, having tagged along with a friend to a stationery store, Alappuzha native Praveen G Nair found himself drawn to the aisle displaying art supplies. Praveen, who had never so much as touched a paintbrush after he passed out of school, claims he had an epiphany that hit him like a bolt of lightning. He felt a compulsive need to create art. Without a second thought, Praveen bought a palette of watercolours and a piece of charcoal.
Since then, not a single day has gone by when the 34-year-old has not sketched or painted. Over the years, Praveen has achieved such skill at his art that anyone viewing his works would take him for a trained artist. Watercolour painting is Praveen’s forte, and he uses the medium in a way that it retains its truest quality. His subjects, which are primarily streetscapes and faces, are rendered without distinctive features giving the impression of being viewed through a misty glass. Thereby, the artist accords the same characteristics to his works like that of watercolours, effervescent and devoid of a stable shape.
This deliberate resistance to detail is what makes Praveen’s art unique. “My tryst with fine arts happened quite by accident. So, I went through a big learning curve. I did not know there was a special paper one should use for watercolour paintings. It was all through self-learning and watching YouTube videos,” quips Praveen, who works as a graphic designer for an advertising firm in Kochi.
On closer inspection, Praveen’s paintings seem to be a play between realism and abstract art. His renditions stop just short of donning realist elements. Hence there are colossal buildings with no differentiating design characters, windows or doors and portraits dissolving at the edges where facial features can be barely identified.
“As a graphic designer, I refer to several photos and paintings online. One day, I came upon an image that was vague and hazy. That attracted me a lot and from that moment on, I have been inspired to work with watercolours and create art that almost seems like its flowing or fading. I think of myself as a painter and not a photographer or a photo-realist artist. In my opinion, a painter’s eye, which has a specific vision, would be different from what a photograph can capture. I am not interested to make something akin to reality,” says Praveen who also on occasion employs charcoal and oil paints.
The artist is particular about recreating something that has seen the intervention of man. The reason why there is no trace of landscape art in Praveen’s oeuvre. “According to me, nature’s beauty is God’s creation and I don’t think I can add anything to that. Therefore, I only focus on streetscapes, cityscapes, portraits and figurative sketches. My friends send me reference pictures to paint, I also source from the internet,” he adds. Having sold a few of his works to art collectors in Turkey and Germany, Praveen hopes to sharpen his skill and portraits and figurative paintings.Find Praveen on Instagram @praveen__g__nair