From a Chief Ticket Inspector in the Indian Railways to a professional painter, Bijay Biswaal talks about following his heart’s desire and not giving up on his dreams.
The most rewarding moment was when our Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, mentioned me on his famous, nationally televised talk show ‘Mann ki baat’.
Bijay Biswaal
My perspective is clear, I paint what I love. Don’t try to please everybody. Life is short, make your strokes count!
Bijay Biswaal
What is the primary role of an artist? How do you describe yourself in the context of challenging people’s perspectives via your work and art?
An Artist is much like a selective historian who either captures the beautiful snapshots of time or Life’s raw, hard-hitting realities evocatively and with power. I may fall in the former category. I see beauty in the most mundane things. I am kind of an escapist. Happiness is what comes across in my artwork. My language of art is quite simple and relatable, probably the reason why my work resonates across the board. It connects with the masses and classes at the same time and I would not have it otherwise. If I were a movie-maker I would probably be making movies like Basu Bhattacharjee or Raju Hirwani.
One thing I have understood as an artist is that you will not be able to paint your best if you bother too much about people’s perspective. I must paint what my heart craves to paint with sincerity and passion. An artwork done with strong artistic self-belief ends up being a winner and often finds patrons. My perspective is clear, I paint what I love. There will always be people who will love your kind of Art and others who would not. That is perfectly alright. Don’t try to please everybody. Life is short, make your strokes count!
Bijay Biswaal on the conceptual difficulty and uncertainty of creating new work.
I am a voracious painter; highly driven and focused, my mind is bubbling with all kinds of ideas for my canvas. I am comfortable in multiple genre and media and am easily engaged. I paint watercolour, acrylics and do lots of drawings. There is always more than one work on my easel. While I am doing one acrylic, I make sure my next two blank canvases have ideas earmarked for them. But it’s always a challenging task when you have a bigger canvas to paint on; the bigger the canvas the longer the gestation period. Watercolours are relatively simple as you deal with mostly simple subjects like landscapes or still life and the size is modest too.
I never suffer from painter’s block since I always keep myself busy with something or the other. I draw for two to three hours daily and since I don’t watch TV or Netflix, I have sufficient time for sketching as well.
What would you call your style? Let’s talk about the evolution of your practice over the years. Tell us about your commitment to your current medium.
Style is something that others notice while you are busy doing your own thing. I have never consciously tried to have a style of my own. Style happens when applying your strokes and putting your lines on canvases. You develop your own rhythm to paint and that becomes your style.
In broad terms, you can call me a realistic artist. My artworks are simple, easy on the eyes and soothing. I am like a story-teller, I want my art to engage the viewer and so I try to have some narratives about it.
My style has been mostly shaped by hundreds of hours I have spent outdoors while doing watercolour plein air. The outdoors teach a lot; from composition to perspective to tonal values. I learned many things in the outdoors that helped make up for my lack of formal art training. The ideas I capture outdoors sometimes help me compose a big size canvas back in my studio better.
I make things larger than life on canvases; be it a prime minister walking down the rain soaked railway platform like a common man or Shiva and Parvati dancing underwater.
I consider myself a born artist.
Bijay Biswaal
Let’s talk about your career, or if you prefer the artistic journey. What were your biggest lessons and hiccups along the way?
I consider myself a born artist. Ever since I was old enough to understand myself, I knew drawing and painting would be my destiny. Never thought of making art a career but I knew it was something I couldn’t live without. I took up a job in the Indian Railways as a safe career option. Moreover, I wanted to be financially independent so I could buy art materials which are expensive. The initial years at my workplace were a nightmare.
Soon, I rearranged my time and priorities and started painting trains and platforms that I would see daily.
My paintings and caricatures had started getting national and international recognition by the year 2010, but the train series that I painted by 2012 /13 suddenly caught the fancy of the Art-loving public in a big way. Most of my railway platform paintings titled ‘wet platform’ went viral across all social media platforms. From posts on Whatsapp to Facebook and Twitter, my railway paintings became the talk of the art world.
The most rewarding moment was when our Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, mentioned me on his famous, nationally televised talk show ‘Mann ki baat’. This brought me instant recognition and gave my art huge exposure and commercial success. I never looked back. I decided to quit my job and become a professional artist. It was a risk worth taking and I am so happy that I did.
I am now living the kind of creative life I always craved for.
What are you looking for when you look at other artists’ work? Which shows, performances and experiences have shaped your own creative process? Who are your maestros?
I am inspired by many out there. I love realistic narratives, the kind of art western Renaissance masters created. From our very own late cartoonist, RK Laxman to Leonardo da Vinci, my list is quite long. I love strong forms and compositions; it could be a pure abstract or a hardcore representational work. It’s the sense of aesthetics that attracts me. Jeremy Mann’s confident strokes to the crisp washes of watercolorist Alvaro Castagnet, the range of inspirational artists is incredible.
I am a huge art watcher. I try to visit art galleries whenever possible or just surf through Instagram for the most exciting artworks. I need my daily dose of inspiration by looking at hundreds of exciting artworks especially during this time of Quarantine and Social-distancing.
Plein air painting sessions have definitely shaped my style the most.
Every sincere artist hates to be typecast. Although it helps to have a genre to your name, you can always use that genre as a springboard for a newer artistic venture.
Bijay Biswaal
How does your interaction with a curator, gallery or client evolve from the initial interface, to the working-involvement-relationship?
As long as I was in a day job, I did not have the time or energy to seriously build a professional rapport with them. Only recently, have I started interacting with galleries and clients, mostly online. It’s always a very rewarding experience when galleries (both brick and mortar and online) start showing an interest. Of course, the relationships between artist and galleries and curators are dictated by market dynamics. They expect me to paint certain things that they consider is my genre or style. However, as a creative person sometimes you need to explore. Without making a marked departure from your style, you can still have room for self-evolution.
Every sincere artist hates to be typecast. Although it helps to have a genre to your name, you can always use that genre as a springboard for a newer artistic venture.
Think of the biggest professional risk you’ve taken. What helped you take that risk?
Quitting my job to become a professional artist was the biggest risk that I have taken. From the comfort of a regular income source to jumping into a world of financial uncertainties is definitely a risk, especially when you are over the age of fifty. Most of my friends and acquaintances advised me against it. But the biggest support came from my wife.
In hindsight, I think I took the best decision of my life. The transition from a railway employee to a busy professional artist was surprisingly smooth and fulfilling.
Any mentor, curator or galleries that deserve a special mention for furthering your journey? What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?
I am lucky enough to have many friends and well-wishers who have supported me on my artistic journey. I have found support from a few galleries but if I have to remember one, it’s the Mumbai based online gallery Artzolo.com, the young couple Priti and Vishal Singhal who have supported my journey all along.
My wife continues to be my biggest mentor till date. Best piece of advice is; don’t paint to earn money. Paint honestly to satisfy your own creative self. Money will follow; which is what is happening to me right now.
Tell us about your artist studio, what kind of place is it? Could you describe your usual work-day in the studio?
My studio happens to be in my home in Nagpur, Maharashtra; it is my dream space. I spend most of my waking hours in there. From 8 am to 6 pm, I am there with three hours for lunch and a power nap. I start with water colours and then spend a few hours on acrylic. Afternoons are for sketching that often carries on till late evening if I find my sketch of the day, engaging enough. I am a music and podcast buff and listen to either of the two while painting.
Bijay Biswaal on commissions.
When it comes to art, I try to have a very open mind in terms of how and where I should do it. Although a studio is the most comfortable place for any artist to paint, there are occasions where you feel more excited and inspired. Often I end up being more creative while painting in workshops alongside leading artists. I try to give it my best. I am open to commissions when I am getting to paint what I relate to and the money is decent.
What was your first sale? Do you handle the commercials yourself or is it outsourced to a gallery/agent?
I sold my first watercolour in the year 1992. Even as a student, I used to earn from magazines doing illustrations and even painting signboards during my summer holidays.
It works both ways. Since I am active on many social media platforms, I am directly accessible to prospective clients. But since handling customers is sometimes a very distracting job, I would rather have galleries do that for me. I am still uncomfortable talking money with my art-lovers turned buyers.
How does your audience interact and react to the work you put out into the world?
That is pure dopamine for me. I love that part of being an artist. The common thread in their reaction is that I am an honest and inspiring artist. I have a fantastic relationship with my fans and followers. I love interacting with my audience and have over a 100K followers on Instagram, apart from my active presence on Facebook and Twitter.
What are you working on now? What’s coming next season?
I am in the middle of working with some of my dream subjects that I have always wanted to paint. There are other projects and works on commission that I can not divulge here.
How has the Lockdown affected your practice and plans?
Contrary to my fears, I have not had a dull phase during this quarantine. I am regularly getting commissions and selling paintings and sketches at regular intervals.
These are critical times. This lockdown is a great disruptor but we are slowly figuring out a way out of this. Soon all will be business as usual.
Art will always have its patrons.
For enquiries contact Bijay Biswaal: biswaaltheartist [AT] gmail [DOT] com
Before you go – you might like to browse our Artist Interviews. Interviews of artists and outliers on how to be an artist. Contemporary artists on the source of their creative inspiration.