Art in Udaipur

Yesterday in Udaipur we were walking up the street from our guest house when we saw an artist hunched over a painting, hard at work.

We stopped to chat and met Lala, an amazingly talented artist who makes beautiful paintings. There are a number of miniature artists here in Udaipur, but I like Lala because besides his incredible talent he is also very creative, with new ideas he is trying all the time.

We spent almost an hour in his shop looking through his paintings. He told us he learned how on the street when he was young.

I noticed a sign that said art school, and learned that Lala teaches people if they want, from 12 pm to 4 pm, for 500 rupees (~$8 USD). 

How could I not go??

So today at 11:55 I showed up and he was ready for me. He showed me a bunch of different pictures to choose one I liked. After careful consideration I chose this one:

He cut a piece of white silk to fit over part of the picture, which is what I would be painting on.

He showed me how to cover the silk with a glue-paste made from the water rice is boiled in so it was smooth and stuck onto a wooden board. We waited for it to dry, then painted the silk white, and measured out the border.

He gave me a piece of tracing paper and mixed up some brown paint from a stone. His paints come from natural materials like this.

On the tracing paper I painted the outlines of the picture.

Then I put the tracing paper on the silk with a bit of home-made carbon paper beneath it, and went over the lines to transfer the image to the silk.

He mixed more paint and I painted over the lines, which advised to just use as a guide of what the picture should be like rather than follow exactly.

Next came the background! He mixed more colors from his stones and then showed me how to fade one into another.

Then it was a matter of filling in different pieces at a time, blending, and outlining, slowly in tiny increments which he carefully taught me one at a time over the course of four hours.

Break for chai

Back to work!

Add a border.

Add details.

He wrote my name in Hindi at the bottom.

When all is complete you can carefully pull the silk off of the wood. Lala trimmed the edges. I'm glad he didn't give me this job, as straight lines are not my forte.

Finally he set up my new painting with his ingenious packaging, which is a piece of plastic tube cut to fit the size. Painting is rolled up inside and voila! A tiny object you can throw in your bag and throw around without ever damaging the delicate work inside.

It was such a wonderful amazing experience, and I loved every minute of it. If you have ANY interest in art whatsoever, this is a must do. 

Lala is funny, patient, kind, and incredibly talented, and was happy to share his craft. His wife, Asha, was also there sewing in the corner, her Singer machine making gentle tapping music to paint to. The shop has open sides, so while painting I was also able to watch the neighborhood cat, cows, school kids, grandmothers, and babies go by.

If you are ever in Udaipur, do it do it do it.

It is one of the very best things I have done on this trip so far. And what a souvenir to have! 

I keep taking it out and looking at it again. I can't believe I made it. Thank you , Lala!