Palette this!

From angels to gothica, Kirtana Krishnan's designs have graced guitars, walls, T-shirts, bags and all-time favourite canvas shoes

Thane-based artist Kirtana Krishnan likes to call herself a custom painter. She'll paint on surfaces and objects according to customer tastes. Often, the theme is also the customer's idea. Her tryst with the painting brush began two years ago when canvas shoes caught her fancy. Soon, she moved to guitars, walls and life-size canvases.


A pair of shoes designed by Kirtana

The canvas call
"A friend's aunt who was organising a live art show at a restaurant in Pune needed a few artists at the venue. That was the first time I painted on canvas -- it was satisfying to work on a big platform," she recalls.u00a0 Kirtana did not grow up with dreams of becoming an artist. After completing a Bachelor's degree in English from St Xavier's College, she toyed with different ideas. "I wanted to become a writer. I worked as a copy writer but got bored," she says.

One day, she decided to try painting a pair of canvas shoes at home. "It was strictly okay. Soon, I started painting shoes for friends. A friend offered to pay for a pair he wanted made for his girlfriend. The orders poured in," she says.

Strings attached
After a year of painting shoes, which she has decided to take a break from, Kirtana moved to other mediums. Kirtana, who's also a guitarist, decided to paint her guitar. Soon, she started taking orders to jazz up guitars. "I don't get too many orders for guitars as colouring on its surface can spoil the tonality of a guitar," she explains.

"I painted nearly 30 pairs of shoes and was keen to try new surfaces. That's when I discovered my love for painting canvases," she adds, about her warming up to this art form about a year ago. Her most difficult order to date has been painting a wall of a production house that took her over a month to complete.

Kirtana draws inspiration from song lyrics and poetry --u00a0 Nannou by Aphex Twin and Music by German poet Rilke are her favourites. She describes her style of paintings as gloomy; one look at the spread and it's obvious that figures and faces dominate her canvas space. "Some interesting themes include the number 13, the Iranian revolution and robotics.
u00a0
I research extensively on themes before I begin work," she shares. Not content with the canvas, she also freelances as a graphic designer and hopes to build a career as a graphic designer.

Email : kirtanakrishnan@gmail.com
Cost Guitar: Rs 5,000 onwards;
Wall art: Rs 10,000 onwards;
Canvas: Rs 3,000 onwards