This weekend, an art gallery in the city will play host to the country's first-ever iPad painting exhibition by adman KV Sridhar, aka Pops
This weekend, an art gallery in the city will play host to the country's first-ever iPad painting exhibition by adman KV Sridhar, aka Pops
Nearly 30 years ago, when the art student KV Sridhar, aka Pops, began working in the advertising industry he more or less gave up on the paintbrush. Work was hectic and there was hardly any time to bring out the canvas, line up the paints, get the charcoals together and make space in the studio. In fact, he even maintained a studio overlooking the Arabian Sea but managed to paint only 11 canvasses in three years. 
Young women from his native place and chairs feature in most of Pops'
works. Pic/Datta Kumbhar
However, in the past three months, Pops has painted over a 100 canvasses and worked on nearly 200 sketches. No, he hasn't given up on the advertising world, yet. He has, nonetheless, discovered an iPad application (app) that helps him unleash the professional artist in him, without all the above-mentioned hassles.
Pops first started doodling with art-related apps on his iPhone but soon found the canvas too small and the Fountain Pen app too amateur for his liking. Although, he admits that even the iPhone paintings got him a lot of attention, "especially from the girls." Eventually, he discovered the Art Rage app on the iPad he picked up while visiting his son in the US. "Art Rage impressed me because it allows you to paint on a textured canvas of your choice. It allows you to paint in oil or water medium and use tools like knives or rollers," says Pops. Also, the application expects the user to have a certain level of understanding of the process of painting.
With the discovery of a new app, Pops turned into a child with a new toy at his disposal. Having gone through a tough phase as a student when as a prolific painter he would struggle to get white sheets and other material (back then, he painted 30-40-feet-high film posters to make money), now Pops is overwhelmed by what he can do with a simple device. "This app gives me all the material I want. It can give you endless number of white sheets for which, at one time, I'd really struggle."
The other factor that works in favour of the iPad app is that it is very convenient. Pops often paints while he is on long haul flights or in boring meetings (when he pretends to be taking notes). "I can paint whenever I want," he says. Since he paints using a stylus (a writing utensil), for Pops even the virtual painting seems real. He claims that when the paintings are printed onto canvas, one cannot figure out that they were created on an iPad. "The only thing is that I feel odd about putting the stylus in my pocket after I'm done painting. I feel that I'm spoiling a nice shirt. Usually, you hold the brush in your mouth or you have an apron and these gestures just comeu00a0 naturally to me. But I do miss the smell of turpentine and linseed oil," he admits.
At: Scarecrow Art Gallery, third floor, Bilquees Mansion, opposite Standard Chartered Bank, DN Road, Fort.
Till: June 30, 11 am to 8 pm
Call: 9920822323
Log on to: https://ipops.in/
All proceeds from the show will go to an NGO working for women's empowermen
How to paint on an iPad?
Pops will also conduct a workshop for artists who'd like to understand how to paint on an iPad. The workshop is free of charge but there are limited seats. Mail some of your artwork to Pops, who will select the final participants.
On: June 30, 3 pm
Mail:u00a0 ipops@scarecrow.asia
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