Breathing life into colours

Nature is art and there are a number of artists who have been strongly influenced by it. One such person is Kanthraj N, who enjoys painting landscapes.

A national-level volleyball player, his interest in art began as a young boy. Choosing water colour as the medium, he has until now captured over 5,000 landscapes.  

“Looking at my interests, my brother guided me to join the College of Fine Arts. It is here where I grooved my interest. I went on to complete my diploma in painting and then did a six year Masters course in Art. A topper in the University, I made regular sketches,” says Kanthraj. He had 200 paintings of landscapes before he completed college.

An expert in landscapes, water colour is his drug. “I am from a poor family and I did not have money to buy paints. Water colours were cheap and it was Rs 60 for 12 tubes of colours. Hence I bought them then and now I am passionate about this medium,” he says. Following his own methods and techniques, he feels that water colour is also a tough medium and adds, “I am still exploring this medium.” While majority of his art works are figurative and inspired by the real landscape, there are other paintings that he terms as creative landscapes.

“I have done a lot of landscapes. Each time you do the same landscape, it has to be a little different. There are times when I try and see these landscapes from a different perspective and that is when my art represents my thoughts. It will be monotonous if I try and represent the same landscape a 100 times,” he says. “An artist’s life is a journey that explores different levels of art,” he says.

“There are so many abstract artists these days. But a true abstract artist goes through a long journey. Abstract art is nothing but figurative art in depth. It is one aspect of reality emphasised,” he explains.

A non-commercial artist, he has not faced any challenges as an artist as he says, “I do not do art for commercial purpose. I paint for the love of art.”

As a young lover of colours, he followed the works of the old master JNW Turner who was “an extraordinary landscape artist”.

“I breathe art. It has been over 17 years that I have been painting regularly. I cannot go to bed without running my brush through the canvas. My day is incomplete without painting,” he says.

Kanthraj, who exhibited his works at the national level art exhibition — ‘Strokes on Nature’ recently, wraps up saying, “I will definitely use my brush as a weapon to save nature. The villages are developing and there are more infrastructures than trees. With my paintings inspired by nature, I will make people realise what they are missing out.”