Bengalureans are giving October’s global art challenge, Inktober, their own twist.
Saitejas Chandrashekar has illustrated festivals like Ayudha Puja and Vijayadashami with elements from Gond art, which is practised by the Gond tribal community of central India. “The artform mostly uses dots and dashes and I have tried to use them in my works,” explains the musician and founder of Hamasanada Foundation.
A visit to Bhubhaneshwar earlier this year inspired him to try Gond art. “It touched my heart the moment I saw it. I had never drawn before but started soon after. One of my students told me about Inktober and I was inspired to work on my own prompts with Gond art,” says the Vidyaranyapura resident.
Flower power
A resident of Vasanth Nagar, Rohini Kejriwal followed the official prompts for two years and then started her own art challenge. This year, it is themed on flowers. It is part of the engagement activities she drives at HoovuFinds, a flower-appreciation community she has started on Instagram.
The prompts include Indian flowers like marigold and hibiscus, experimental art like ‘line drawing’ and ‘self-portrait as a flower’, nostalgic cues like ‘mothers/grandmothers’ and ‘scent’, and earthy ideas like ‘bloom’ and ‘butterflies’. She shares the artworks created on the day’s prompt on her Instagram story.
“#Hoovutober is a community arts challenge initiated to get people back to the practice of drawing, on a regular basis. There are no rules to follow but one can use the #Hoovutober hashtag so others taking the challenge can find and inspire each other,” she says.
Going local
Shriya Murthy has been making illustrations about Bengaluru since 2019. She started this October with an Inktober official prompt ‘tempting’, and drew Malleswaram’s famous Hotel Janatha, and posted it on her Instagram account @thegrittyglasses.
“Though I started off with an official prompt this year, I will be working on my own prompts after this. I drew an average day at Sankey Tank after that. My next illustrations will feature the BMTC and Iskcon,” shares the Jalahalli resident.
Strike poses
Lilian D’Mello, a Filipino-Indian art model, has kickstarted #Liltober, a series of photographs in which she strikes poses to simulate the official prompts. Artists online can either create and post artworks inspired by these or create their own versions.
Several Bengalureans are attempting #Liltober. Such as, Vanidas Mangathil, a full-time artist who likes figure drawings.
“This is the first time that I am participating in a month-long online campaign. I am a watercolour artist who mostly works on landscapes and streetscapes but I am interested in communicating concepts through figures,” says the Marathahalli resident.