Riyaa.
Type a sentence, get a painting. That is the promise of AI image tools, and people have embraced it fast. Everypixel estimated in August 2023 that more than 15 billion images had been created with text-to-image tools since 2022, a total photography took 149 years to reach and generative AI reached in about 1.5 years.
Yet while the world speeds up, fine artist Riyaa is asking people to slow down. Riyaa, founder of Riyaa dartstudio and Color Castle Art Academy, believes the creative trend that lasts is not a faster tool but a slower habit: learning the fundamentals.
It began with curiosity. Riyaa's love for painting, and a keenness to understand its basics, is what led into the field. Trained at European art institutes, Riyaa built a career in statement paintings and custom portraits, made in chosen techniques, styles and dimensions to reflect a client's individuality and lift their space. The clients include global HNIs, CEOs, VPs and politicians.
The work has travelled too. Riyaa has been exhibited and awarded on Indian and international platforms, from Paris, Berlin, Florence and London to Delhi and Mumbai, and has won a Bronze medal in the All India Mandala contest.
But success in the studio sharpened a worry. Much of today's art, Riyaa observes, is made with selling in mind rather than learning. Paintings get finished in a hurry, when a beautiful piece needs observation and grounding. "I'm passionate about closing that gap," Riyaa says.
At Color Castle Art Academy, Riyaa guides students through technique, runs workshops and hosts Color Castle Celebrations, art-themed events for the community. The teaching is structured: drawing, proportion and colour, explained clearly. "Once students understand the foundations, they stop copying and start creating with confidence," Riyaa says.
Riyaa blends classical European training with a simple belief: anyone can learn art. Instead of asking students to copy a style, Riyaa teaches drawing, colour and form as tools for personal expression. The approach is structured yet accessible, which is why beginners and experienced artists alike see real progress.
The case for picking up a pencil goes beyond skill. A World Health Organization review of more than 3,000 studies identified a major role for the arts in preventing ill health, promoting health and managing illness across the lifespan. For Riyaa, the lesson from the classroom is simpler: "Guidance and patience matter far more than talent."
That idea shaped Riyaa's books. The Portrait Atelier is a three-part series on drawing the human figure: realistic face sketching, hands and legs, and movement and poise. The first volume runs through twenty chapters, from tools and the Loomis method to facial proportions, individual features and daily practice habits. Riyaa wrote it after watching students give up on portraits, convinced they lacked talent. What they lacked, Riyaa says, was a clear, step-by-step method. "Portrait drawing is a skill, not a gift. With the right fundamentals and steady practice, anyone can learn to draw a face with confidence."
More books are on the way. Riyaa is expanding the series with Acrylic Fundamentals, The Language of Watercolour, Mastering Botanicals in Acrylic and a new book on colour theory, alongside the next volumes of The Portrait Atelier.
Riyaa is no enemy of technology. AI, Riyaa says, is a useful tool for inspiration and reference, and online classes and social media have made art education more accessible than ever. The risk is learners chasing quick results without understanding the basics. "Technology will keep evolving, but the trained eye and the skilled hand will always remain the heart of art."
Three lessons guide Riyaa. Fundamentals set creativity free, because technique is a tool, not a limit. Art belongs to everyone. And growth happens in the community: every step, from painter to teacher to author, came from sharing work with others.
The vision is equally clear. Riyaa wants art to be a lifelong skill rather than a passing hobby, with solid foundations within reach of every learner. In an age of instant images, Riyaa's advice is old-fashioned and quietly radical: look closely, practise daily and learn the basics first.
