We have been admiring the work of Pooja for some time now. Her watercolor and gouache artwork is simply incredible. Pooja recently came on as a Princeton Brush Ambassador and we are so thrilled to have an artist of her talent on our team.  Pooja is part of the Art Philosphy Design team as well as an educator on Skillshare.  Not only can Pooja paint but she has many other talents such as candle making!  Read more about Pooja below or head to her biography by clicking HERE.

When did you start painting and what inspired you start? 

I started painting when I was little over ten years old. My only inspiration as a child has been my mother. Having seen her paint with various mediums like acrylic, oil, pencils, clay, ceramic; there were always a variety of options available at home. I distinctly remember imitating her brush strokes with crayons and being in awe of her color mixing capabilities. So, I am very sure it was somewhere there in me since I was a kid. But if you ask me about serious painting, I picked up brushes after college and after working for several years in the IT industry. It was in 2016 that I decided to get back to art more seriously and see if I had an alternate career option through it.

What’s the best piece of art advice you’ve been given?

This is a good question indeed! I am always hungry for advices and tips. I spend time reading about processes and how it is done. But the best advice I have been given is – it takes time to create and one should be patient in the creative art journey. My hasty decisions in finishing tiniest pieces of art have failed. I have learnt that the more you become patient towards art the more you will learn.  I try not to get flustered or anxious on the days when I am not able to create. I simply start fresh the next day!

What are your favorite Princeton brushes?

The Princeton Heritage Series 4050 Synthetic Sable is my favorite! I use brushes from this series for both gouache and watercolors. Round 0,1, and 2 are my favorite to work with for all the fine details in gouache illustrations. For watercolors I mostly use round 6 and 8. More recently, I have found special love for the Neptune Series. I use round 4 and 6 to paint a lot of leafy strokes and florals. The bristles are super soft and hold a lot of pigment and water. All of the Princeton brushes have beautiful tips and they snap like a dream to get natural and effortless brush strokes! What else do you need in a brush anyway!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by By The Lakeside Art Studio (@by_the_lakeside) on Mar 26, 2019 at 12:27pm PDT

What’s your favorite piece of art that you’ve created? Why? 

This is a tough one! It is like asking a mother to select her favorite child.  But if I really have to talk about my favorite pieces, most of them would be my commission works. Working close to requirements and specific color palettes and painting it for someone else always brings out the best in me.

What’s one art tip that you can share with our audience?

The best tip I could share with all those who are passionate about art is – Be confident about your art but at the same time never stop learning.

All of us are exposed to social media and we follow a whole community of artists. While it is always nice to seek inspiration and feel motivated it may sometimes force us to compare our styles and work with other artists. This may result in distractions and you may endlessly spend time in looking at others’ work. Instead, limit that time and focus on practicing and learning new techniques.

What do you look for when you’re looking for something to draw?

I always try to interpret the first impression I get after looking at, say for instance, a flower. The softness of the petals, the striking colors and the way it connects to stems and leaves. I try to paint the basics of what I see on to paper and build up there on.

What artists influence your work most?

To be honest, there are such talented and creative artists all over the social media, it would be unfair to name just a few. Every scroll is a good piece of art and that really influences me to do better and practice more.

What is your creative process like?

I don’t have a fixed process that I follow but I do make sure to have a systematic approach when I am working on commissions. I usually try to get all the requirements before hand that includes –

• Delivery time (I never say yes to something which needs to be done under crunched timelines and in a hasty manner)
• Color palettes
• Intention of the piece – whether it is a gift or for home décor
• Once I have the basic idea I do some pencil sketches showing various options and give all the information such as dimensions, colors, etc.
• I wait for the client to pick up the design from the given options and then begin work from there.
• Once I start the work, I do share progress and updates with the client. I never keep the piece a surprise till the end.

To read Pooja’s biography, head over to our Featured Artists HERE.