Once while browsing through his Instagram news feed, Kumar came across a collection of pictures of Resin art; and that was where his love for the medium began. He tells me that he was completely taken in by the beauty of it and yearned to produce his own pieces. So he set about trying to acquiring materials to pursue his dream, but he ran aground when most of the hardware shops he inquired at didn’t have them. But as luck would have it, he came across another practitioner of the art form at his office, during an art competition. He took some advice from her and took the first step in his journey.
Before coming across this medium, Kumar was into drawing Mandalas; but of late he has completely surrendered himself to Resin art. He started practicing in April of last year and worked things out by himself. By August, he had a good grasp on the medium. Using his skills Kumar set about creating pieces that were based on coastal landscapes. In fact a majority of his work is water based and one gets the feeling of looking through a ship’s porthole while looking at his seascapes “Any art looks good in blue” he explains “It’s a color that people don’t get bored of and besides, who doesn’t like the sea?” Who doesn’t indeed, Kumar tells me that each seashore and coast is different and one can virtually paint hundreds of them and still not get bored. He also adds that he has gotten a lot of positive feedback for his seascapes.
“When I started out, I didn’t have any intention of making money out of this, I saw the amazing things that others were doing in this medium and I wanted to do the same.” But when Kumar started posting pictures of his works online, people gradually started giving him commissions; and before he knew it he was spending most of the day working on his commissions, while he reserved the nights for his day job as a technical support lead, for the United Health Group. When not working or painting, he prefers to get astride his Suzuki, go for a relaxing ride and hug the curves along the highways.
Apart from paintings, Kumar creates art on a wide range of things such as wall-clocks, jewellery, river tables, counter-tops, mobile phone cases and even stairs! He tells me that he also plans to work on furniture in the future. “As long as it’s a flat surface, I can work on it” He usually uses wood or glass for his clock faces and uses the same type of paints for both. One of the tricky things about resin art is that it takes a while to be cured, and the time depends on the kind of resin used and the number of coats applied. On an average, it takes a week to complete a piece like a clock, while smaller pieces like phone cases and jewellery are finished within three days.
Kumar tells me that almost ninety percent of the work in resin art is preparing the base, which he compares to the pitch in a cricket field. “If the pitch isn’t right, then the performance of the bowlers and the batsmen are affected, the same goes for resins. The base must be sealed, so that the resin is not absorbed needlessly. Then the artist must compose what they want to paint on the surface”, which as Kumar says, must precede the painting process, “You should select the colors and design, and figure out what you plan to paint on the surface. It would be unwise to mix your paints and then decide on a design”. Kumar also stresses the importance of presentation, “People want to see something different, so take a lot of pictures and videos and make sure that the small details are visible; this way people will be able to look at your art and appreciate its beauty from all aspects.”
Though his foray into resin art is fairly recent, his skill is quite apparent and awed by this many asked Kumar to teach them the craft. “When I started out I never thought I’d be teaching anyone, I just wanted to learn this medium.” But when a lot of people began expressing an interest in learning from him he decided to host a workshop. His first workshop was held online during the height of the pandemic, and he held twelve sessions. However his commissions keep him busy and he only plans a workshop when he does not have too many commissions on his hands. Kumar tells me that his clocks and mobile phone cases sell like hot cakes, and since starting out he has shipped over four hundred mobile covers and five hundred clocks.
Kumar tells aspiring young artists not to jump the gun and make art solely to make money, “Instead, pour out your heart and soul into your art and try to make each piece of art into your masterpiece. You must be satisfied with it before showing it to others”
You can connect with Kumar and see his art works on his Instagram handle @kumar_resin_works
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