“I can paint for hours, if you let me,” says Ira,12, Hong Kong Art With Sara Series #10

Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section. Here I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing their art.’

This write up by 12 year old Ira Ratnaparkhi from  Hongkong is so refreshing,  with her honesty and passion oozing out. Ira was a participant at MeMeraki’s brilliant art workshops, a company committed to revive the attention for Indian folk art across the world.

=================================================================

I decided to do the Patachitra workshop because I was bored at home during the summer holidays and you can’t go out due to the pandemic. Also wanted   to do it because I thought of trying something new other than Madhubani,  which I have tried to learn before. I have always been interested in drawing and art and love to draw or paint since childhood.

I chose Patachitra and Warli because they looked a bit easy to do, and I was interested in Patachitra. Though both the drawings were not that easy to  draw.  When I was doing the background of the Patachitra, I used some of my   Madhubani techniques and double lined everything. When we were drawing   the Warli, I used brown and red paint and white paint for the Warli people.

In my drawing, The Warli tells the story of normal people doing their work. The  story could also be that they are cleaning and making food because it’s a special occasion or festival. The Patachitra tells the story of Ganesha. The  artist told us that he had to draw Ganesha more than 100 times when he was a  student. No wonder his is so good!

I love to draw and paint because it makes me peaceful and happy. Since I don’t  like to talk too much, I paint. When I draw, I love to listen to music. It helps me  focus more and get the painting done quicker.

I have tried different kinds of  mediums such as watercolour, canvas, acrylic,  pencils and sketching, nibs etc. Usually, I can sit for a long time in one place  and paint for hours if you let me. Sometimes it takes one day to complete a  painting and sometimes it takes me many days.

I chose to draw in the first place because my mum said I should learn a type of  art. I chose to draw Madhubani as a project in year 6 for my school exhibition  project, and since then I have gotten better at it.

I think everyone should learn a different kind of folk art from their home  country.  In India, there are many folk arts to choose from, and each state has  its own style of folk art and handlooms and design motifs. Indian folk art is  very beautiful. They think of lines in different ways.

Even if you love painting you still need to learn it, as an experienced teacher  can teach many secrets and techniques. I have learnt the techniques of applying layers and correcting mistakes from my painting class. Sometimes I have to do more than 4 layers on one painting just to get the right texture of  the colour and blending.

When I get impatient, I spoil the painting. I also get  upset when the teacher  and I do not agree on the exact shade or corrections. I love painting and hope  to try oil painting and many more kinds of folk art.