Indian graphic novelist Abhishek Singh narrated the story of Nachiketa and Yama during the live public art demonstration at JLF
Besides sessions and discussions on literature, visitors at Diggi Palace were surrounded with more things to explore — art, books and fashion. One thing that grabbed a lot of attention at the festival this year, was the live public art demonstration by Indian graphic novelist Abhishek Singh. Singh’s paintings, drawings and digital works have featured in various exhibitions around the world and he has been to Jaipur a lot of times. It was his first time at ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival this year.
Singh started painting on a blank canvas on the first day one of the festival, drawing applause from many quarters. The artist, who is also the writer and illustrator for the graphic novel, ‘Krishna, - a journey within, shared his experience with AFTERhrs.
“The idea behind the painting was to tell the story of Nachiketa and Yama, I felt this would be the most apt theme to paint in a festival where people are coming to seek knowledge and have a dialogue and exchange thoughts, because that’s exactly what’s happening in the story as well,” he said.
Born in Gwalior, Singh has lived in a lot of places in India. When he started painting on day one, he prayed to the trees, the air and the sun. “With their help, I hoped I will be able to complete the painting in a decent way on the fourth day. On the way, people also gave me a lot of love and embraced the painting; so I think, together we finished it,” expressed Singh, who further quipped that he would love to keep coming back here. “It is the universe that keeps making plans, and I follow those things. I am sure Jaipur will call me again. It would be lovely to come and tell another story here, the next year,” he added.
He started every morning at 10 and then worked without any breaks till 5:30-6 in the evening. “I made it like that because I trek in the Himalayas and I love that, I go there and do long treks, so I mentally made this into a trek. Once I am locked into the painting, I keep travelling and will keep walking till 5:30pm,” shared Singh while surrounded by many art lovers, who waited to get a picture with him. Some of the people even got sketches made by him on their notebooks, and he was humble enough to accept everybody’s request.
As it rained heavily on the first day of the festival, the artist continued painting, “I was still painting for a while, thinking it will stop, but the rain wanted to keep going on. I felt that the rain wanted to bless the painting. So, now we have some raindrops in the painting as well.”
Sharing about the experience of painting live and being surrounded by many people, he added, “People were very nice and patient. They looked at what was happening, and I think, to look at art — it’s a slow process unlike music, where the performance is done in one hour. Everyday, something got made on the canvas, so a lot of people would come back the next day to see how much it’s been done or what characters have I made, what stories are they telling. So the interactive part was really great.”
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