CHENNAI:Strokes of black, white and a few subtle colours run through the page, creating circles, dots and other shapes. Although it looks as a huge piece, a closer look would reveal intricate designs that have been combined to make the bigger picture. “A popular art form, mandala is not easy to work on. But it can relieve your minds off complex thoughts,” says artist Prasun Balasubramaniam. This Coimbatore-based biotechnologist-cum-artist will soon be in the city to conduct a session on the art form that she says has only done her good.
“This is my first workshop in Chennai, and I am really excited. I have had good response from Bengaluru and Coimbatore, so I am looking forward to sharing my works there. Art has a lot of scope and I wish to spread it across in Chennai as well,” she says.
An art enthusiast since her childhood, it was during her Physics classes in grade 11 that Prasun started doodling on her books, without knowing the art form. “I read an article two years back about zentangle and mandala art and that is when I understood more about it and started following works of artists on social media to get inspiration,” she says. But she realised that she should dwell into her own thoughts and draw on paper, and started posting her works on Instagram. Today she has more than 7,000 followers.
The intricacies in the designs make Prasun feel at peace. She is also keenly promoting the art to create more awareness on mental health as well. “When I started doodling, I was suffering from depression. But once I began to draw regularly, I was able to overcome all the mental health issues completely,” she shares adding that though many suffer from depression, anxiety and other issues, they are still not comfortable to open up about it. She aims to reach out to them through these workshops.
Her challenges? “It is time consuming. Even the smallest designs take up to nine hours to complete, as it requires to be neat and perfect,” she says. Prasun uses only pens to draw and promotes the same in her workshops too. “Even if people make errors, I teach them how to cover it, using the colours and pens.”
Though she uses colours, Prasun prefers black and white because colours can be confusing. “Colours are important, but when you are drawing a professional piece of art, black and white is intense and conveys a lot more,” she explains.
Products draws on
● Calendar
● Cups
● Books
● Stickers
● Badges
● Mobile covers
● Guitar
Tools used
● Pigma micron pens — black lines
● Sharpie pens — for colours
● Posca markers — all mediums
MyCopie will conduct the Mandala Art workshop by Prasun Balasubramaniam on Mar 11 from 10 am onwards at GLM Meridian Hotel, T Nagar. For details call: 9176808449