Brown Sketchbook

Artist Nikita Chhabra

A passionate artist who has got a steely resolve. Name a medium, and we’re sure that she has tried it. With her first try, over a short span of days, at mediums like calligraphy or an oil painting, you can witness her growth in her social media posts. With the others, she has already shown her exemplary interpretation and control over it.

I am Nikita (@studioartsymessy), an artist and art teacher from Delhi. 

Since childhood, I have been into visual arts, and during the last three years, I took up art as a career and worked with it every day. 

My inspiration for art has never been constant. Sometimes my failed attempts inspire me to try that particular subject multiple times, and sometimes it’s the curiosity to try something new and witness the challenges involved in it and the work of master artists! It keeps me inspired and motivated!

Lately, I’m into still life and human portraits, and I practice them through watercolours and oil pastels.

Some Q / A with Nikita

1. Which genre of art interests you the most? Realism/Impressionism/abstraction etc.

I have always been inclined towards realism, and I try to implement a bit of impressionism in my strokes, but I feel that’s a long journey for me. I have always wanted to find a midpoint between realism and impressionism but always end up making it super realistic 😀

2. What do you feel about the current situation with art in India?

In India, art as a career does not get as much recognition as it does in the west, but I’m hopeful about it because I can see that times are changing for sure. With social media platforms like Instagram, it has become easier for artists to create their audience and customer base. I also feel that beautiful Indian folk art has existed here for the longest time. It needs to get the respect and popularity it deserves. As Indian artists, we need to be more aware and vocal about the beautiful art forms that originated from our land. 🙂

3. Have you created an art work that evoked criticism?

Almost all of my artworks face criticism from myself. I become my critic, and if I don’t feel confident about something, I ask friends and family for constructive criticism. I have been lucky not to face criticism publicly, but if there’s constructive criticism, then I would surely take note of it and try to improve.

4. As per your opinion, What should a person who just stepped into the arts field concentrate on?

For someone who is just starting their art journey, I suggest they stick to one medium or subject for at least one or two months. Even if someone has a degree in art, the only thing which makes us better is consistency. Practicing the same subject or medium regularly helps in fast-forwarding our learning curve, and if you’re like me, who wants to try every subject and medium, then make at least 10-20 artworks in that particular theme before you switch to something else. Our trials and errors are our best teachers; So don’t give up on the regular practice.

5. What are your hobbies? How do you usually spend time?

I spend most of my time doing art as I love it the most. Other than that, I love listening to music. I love Indian classical music, Old Bollywood, and Classical rock.

Learn to use oil pastels with Nikita.

Have you tried the brown kraft sketch book yet?

Here’s why you should try using a Brown paper with brown sketchbook for a change.

Brown sketch paper brings out the uniformity in the overall composition of a painting.

There has also been an observation that using tinted paper brings out realistic effects.

A huge advantage with brown paper is that you can go from dark to light and vice versa.

We can relate the preference of using a tinted paper to a concept called under painting.

Under painting creates a tonal base that adds coherence to the painting and helps us to connect the color values.

At Ayush paper, we have Brown Sketchbooks of 180 GSM with various beautiful patterns and sizes.

What Nikita thinks about our Brown Sketchbook

“The brown kraft paper sketchbook is a dream for every portrait artist. I like to use opaque mediums on tinted paper because it gives a base colour for skin tones. I have used gouache/poster colors, oil pastels, and charcoal for my portrait drawings in the Ayush Paper brown sketchbook, and the paper quality and thickness is just perfect for these mediums. 

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to try tinted papers – it’s a game-changer!”