Videos
Vijay Kiyawat: The combination of the left & right side of his brain, resulted in this!
The inspiration for my art comes from literature, music, trees and flowers, the monuments and the worldwide travel that I undertake. I have very strong combination of the left side of the brain and right side of the brain. The left side of the brain provides the organizational capability coming from my engineering background and the right side comes from my passion for art. That helps me creating fantastical, surrealistic, mysterious art works which are full of imagination and strong on composition rather than on reality. I have held several shows including solo shows in Singapore, Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai and India Habitat Center New Delhi. I also held shows in Chicago, London and other cities. Characters of my water colours come from the corporate world who are art organizers. My art works are adorning homes in U.S.A, Germany, Japan, Switzerland. I must dispel a myth regarding water colours. People think that water colours have no long life and that is not true. Water colours if made on acetic paper and stored correctly,avoiding the direct sunlight, can last long. Water colours of JMW Turner last for longer time. Water colours that represent my work are meditation, just me, and my dream garden based on a Spanish dream.
Painting with sponge roller on YUPO
Yupo is made of synthetic material. Being non-absorbent and having high surface tension, it does not retain/absorb water or watercolor. I have developed a technique of applying pasty watercolors upon it using sponge roller. Pasty colors stay where applied and it is possible to either mix the next layer color with the base color, or do away with the base color. The results are stunning. The texture is unique. High whiteness and sheen of the paper impart high vibrancy to painting. Details can be painted with brush using slightly less pasty color. At the end of video there are three paintings showing typical results. Please do send me comments once you have tried this technique.
How to stretch a cockled watercolor painting
Watercolorists often experience no matter how good the stretching of blank paper is, the paper still gets cockled after they have finished the painting. I have experienced paper as heavy as 300gsm or even 650gsm getting cockled after painting. Flattening by keeping under the mattress or by steam ironing etc. does not completely help. Watch this video to learn my technique. It will give you dead flat shiny crisp paintings, that are a delight to the viewer. In fact it is no longer necessary to stretch the paper beforepainting. Gallery owners too can flatten their old cockled watercolor paintings. Please do send me comments once you have tried this technique.
Painting folds of clothing in watercolor
Watercolorists often wonder how to paint real looking folds in clothing. This video will demonstrate how I paint folds in robe of a Monk. In the beginning the demo explains the color theory for both, the folds as well as the highlights. I must admit, there could be other ways of painting equally real or even better looking folds. The technique that I adopt has given me excellent results though. I welcome comments from learners as well as experienced artists. Please do send me comments once you have tried this technique.
Positive Harmonies
In this video done for the government of India, I explain how during
the lockdown period I kept myself busy learning new things about nature and art; and painting some humour associated with lockdown times.