It takes courage to make your way up in life as an artist and no one knows it better than Ajit Hulamani. The 41-year-old artist from Dharwad took great effort to learn his craft, and he admits that his journey has been about learning and studying art as much as he paints. Ajit has spent most of his life pouring over paintings done by “great artists,” as he calls them and cites MF Hussain, Leonardo Da Vinci, Salvador Dali and Vladimir Volegov as his biggest sources of inspiration. He personally loves doing portraits as that was where he began his journey as an artist. “From when I was in school, I began doing portraits that I learnt from my teachers. My first few paintings were portraits of the celebrities that I loved,” says Ajit who masters the art of abstract with his new series. He understands abstract paintings as ones that do not come from a place of deep, intrinsic meaning, but are more about how they make you feel when you look at them. It is really about the colours and the form that they take. Ajit explains, “This series will be interesting for art lovers and artists. With my abstract paintings, I pay attention to the combination of colours that I use, textures and I try to be as creative as possible.”
His happiness knows no bounds when he speaks of his family that supported his dream to become an artist, “I spent six years learning fine arts after which I took up a job as a graphic designer. But, I eventually left the job and even gave up many other significant government jobs to become an artist. Since I began painting professionally, my brothers and my parents supported me as making money with the paintings was not easy.”
Ajit’s art is a symbol of hope for every kid that dreams of making it on their own one day, doing what they love. “I feel like I am chasing my dreams and I’m happy that I got the opportunities that I did. It takes a lot of hardwork and luck to achieve greatness with art work.” Today Ajit acknowledges the growth he has had since then and is grateful that he earns well from his paintings now. In the next couple of years, he hopes to produce conceptual paintings ridden with messages on society. Ajit Hulamani will be showcasing his series of abstract paintings at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath from July 24 till 26.
