Art flows from edge of a knife

Paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and K.M.Adimoolam fascinated him since childhood. However, he chose a specialty that may sound bizarre but actually works very well as his paintings show. The artist works with just a knife to move the vibrant colours on canvas. In artistic terms, it is called ‘Impasto technique’.

The artworks made by such techniques would leave a realistic background.
“Travelling throughout India, I have painted real-life portraits of people, bringing out this ethnicity in them, and historical places portraying the fading architectural styles that have had a huge impact on me. I hope that my paintings have a similar effect on its viewers,” expressed artist Rama Suresh. Since his first depiction on ‘The Colour of Nature’, he has been working with portraits of live human beings, their anatomy, skin-tones especially focused on backview.

A plethora of live examples of realistic ‘backview’ paintings can be experienced by art lovers at the ongoing exhibition in Soul Spice gallery till May 19.

Inspired by rural life in various parts of India and by the art in the Ajanta-Ellora cave sculptures, Rajasthan and Gujarat and their people, the gigantic statue in Shravanabelagola, the artist M.Rama Suresh has experimented with a range of techniques of texture rollers and colour. Growing up with the belief in art adding character and value to people’s lives, he pours his soul into characters in art creations. Thick layers of paint shaped with broad knife strokes and finishing with ‘Intaglio technique’ make for an intensely sensual viewing experience.

First, the child-level scribbling, second, pencil sketch, third, drafting, fourth the thick colour application and fifth, pigmentation comprise the core technical part of such an artwork. The artist had many guides and mentors like Dr. Alphonso A. Doss, Mr. R.B.Bhaskaran, Mr C.Dakshinamurthy and Mr G.Raman etc through his career.

Women clad in traditional and colourful clothes are shown going about their daily chores. Men are seen taking bullocks to the fields, driving hay-laden carts on.

The multiple hues originated from the base colour white, so his painstaking efforts are taken in gathering the theme for his paintings. Some are mirrored in his creations and each one of them stands as a solo opus of his dedication to that work alone, capturing the live expressions. At present, he is running the studio Art Expression, where he trains interested candidates passionate about portrait paintings.