BELAGAVI: “It is not just what you see, but what you see needs to be more beautiful. And this is what an artist does or thinks when they start on canvas,” said internationally noted artist Vikas Vinayak Patnekar, a native of Belagavi who is now settled in Mumbai. He is known for watercolour paintings.
In an interview with The New Indian Express, Patnekar, who has been awarded Artist of the Year 2018-19 by the Red Tree Art Gallery and Co in the US, shared the story which changed his life. He said, “If children are interested in artwork, parents do not mind if they do it in their free time. It is a common notion of most families, who usually give first preference to studies which can help their son or daughter get a good job. Same was the case with me until I could manage myself to earn my livelihood through my art, in which I succeeded in 2001,” he recalled.
Patnekar said, “The credit of my success in the field of art goes to my Guru late K B Kulkarni, who was a genius. He helped me sharpen my skills in painting. After completing my education in 1985, I relocated to Mumbai to look for a job and landed one as an illustrator at an advertising agency. To continue my craze for art, I needed money and I had no choice but to get a job,” he added.
The artist said that the cost of one drawing paper on which he sketches is Rs 1,600 and the cost of the brush which he uses to paint is more than Rs 26,000. “Hence my craze is very expensive. The value of my art was identified by art lovers from Western countries, from where my popularity shot up.”Patnekar has organised exhibitions of his paintings in several countries and has received a good response. In one case, he recalled that he had displayed a total of 21 paintings in an exhibition in Australia and on the last day, a youth purchased 18 paintings.