Bonsai Bumblings: Meet Dr.Malathi Venkat who Paints Pictures on Her Home Walls

Dr. Malathi Venkat lives in Georgia, United States. Once she shared a wall painting she had done in her home with our common music troupe Whatsapp group and it was too beautiful. So, I decided to find out more from Dr. Malathi about her painting journey.

Malathi Painting

1. How did you get the idea for painting a figure on your home wall?

It started way back in 2009 in India when I was living in Pune. I quit my job and had free time. I wanted to do some art for my two girls. So, I decided to do wall art in their bedroom. We decided to have a girl theme with Disney characters like Snow White, Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel mermaid, Belle, and Aurora Sleeping Beauty.

Every day, the girls would give some suggestions for the art. My girls decided on the colours also. My husband is very creative and is a good spectator. I tweaked the painting based on their suggestions.

Initially, we centered the painting for the bed. So, it was not centered on the wall. To center it on the wall, I added Tinker Bell from Peter Pan to the painting.

Recently, I did a Ravi Varma painting of a lady with fruits on my house wall in my home in the US. I had drawn this painting in my home in Pune also. But, I repeated the same in my home here.

Both my homes where I did wall painting were our own houses. So, we did not have a problem with getting permission from owners.

Wall Painting in her Pune Home

2. What type of paints do you use?

I use acrylic paints. Here, in my US home, we have wooden walls with emulsion paint. So, I used acrylic paints. My home in Pune also had emulsion paint on the walls and so I used acrylic paints for painting.

Oil paints are the best. But, they are very costly. Moreover, if the walls had distemper paints, oil paints may combine with the existing paint on the walls.

Oil paints take longer to dry. Oil paint may take 2 days to dry in Summer and 4 days to dry in Winter. Acrylic paints dry within 1 hour. If mixed with water, it may take 2 hours.

3. Can you explain more about the process of your painting?

First, I draw a sketch on the wall with a pencil. If I make any mistakes, I use the eraser or a damp cloth to remove them. When painting, I draw an outer boundary first. And to paint a dark colour, I first start with the lighter shades. For example, if you want brown colour, you first start with yellow ochre or mustard colour. To draw dark green, you start with yellow, light green, and then dark green.

This is because all realistic paintings will have shades. Brown skin is a combination of green, red/orange, blue, and chrome yellow shades. Every skin tone has shades.

If I’m painting about famous characters that already exist, I first take a printout of the images/paintings for reference. These are fixed characters with specific body colours. For example, Jasmine, the Disney princess is an African American. However, mine is not a copy art. I do a freehand sketch for any medium I use and then improvise.

Wall Painting in her US Home

4. Which part of drawing on the wall was most difficult for you?

If I’m drawing a portrait, the face and especially the eyes are the most difficult to draw. When a person sees a portrait, the first thing they look at is the face. So, the face and eyes have to be perfect.

5. Which part was easiest?

Body parts are the easiest to draw. You can change the alignment or position of the body parts while drawing and so it can be adjusted easily.

Dr.Malathi Venkat

6. What are the aids you used for wall painting?

My paintings on the wall will be over 6 to 8 feet in height from the ground. If I paint at 6 feet from my height of 5.5 feet, there will be distortions and the painting will go up or down. So, I have to paint at different heights at my eye level. In order to do that, I use ladders, benches, and stools to adjust the height and paint. When using a ladder, I stand on a different step for different levels.

You may have to finish painting the face in a single shot. So, hands pain when you stand on a ladder and paint.

7. What are the other type of paintings/artwork you do apart from paintings on walls?

I create Tanjore paintings, Glass paintings, Ceramic paintings, pot paintings, portraits, canvas paintings, wood murals, candles, coasters, polymer resin paintings on ceramic or wood, and calligraphy. I have also done the illustrations for a Children’s picture book.

Tanjore Painting by Malathi

8. When do you mix water with the paints before painting?

If we use only paints, then it has a thick flat look. Mixing with water gives life to the part we are painting. For example, if I want to paint hair, I mix blue, brown, black, and white shades in a palette without water. If I’m painting the sea, for waves I use thick white paint to lift it. For water or the sea, I mix water with blue paint. Only then you will get the real wavy look.

Ceramic Painting by Malathi

9. When do you usually paint?

In India, I used to paint in the nights after dinner. I may start at 9 pm and carry on painting till 2 am. It takes 2 hours to get into the groove. After that, you get totally immersed in making it perfect. I listen to music and paint.

Here in the US, I paint on the weekends after lunch for 2 to 3 hours.

Pot Painting by Malathi

10. Which brand of paints do you usually buy and where?

For oil paints, Wilson is the best. For acrylic, there are multiple brands like Craftsmart, Camel, and Fevicryl for beginners or intermediate. But professionals can go in for Wilson or My Artscape for all types of paints. Bob Ross is very high-end and very expensive both for oil and acrylic.

I buy paints in Art shops even if they are expensive. I don’t recommend online buying of paints or at stationery shops. I like to mix the colours to get shades. For example, if I want Sky Blue, I would prefer to mix it on my own.

Oil on Canvas Painting by Malathi

11. Are you planning to conduct any training sessions for your art work?

Yes. I plan to do online training sessions. I’m preparing an introductory webinar about the different artwork I can train on, what all art can be learnt online, and how it will be done. I have also done face-to-face training sessions before and they were very successful.