BHUBANESWAR: Legendary Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” Sketch, doodling, fine art, digital painting, graphic designing and concept artist is an emerging career option when it comes to painting as a whole. However, due to lack of scope and opportunities in Odisha, many artists quit and indulge themselves in regular courses and jobs which indeed is a sheer waste of true artistic potential. In fact, hundreds of migrate out of the state every year to prove their worth in the same field.
Prioritizing this, Orissa POST talked with few potential artists in the state. Some who have given up, and some who haven’t lost hope despite of all odds and are struggling to find a path and chase their passion.
As a young child, Gopal Panda from Rourkela was inspired by his father’s rough scribbles on newspapers and random pages. He was drawn towards coloring books, often spending hours drawing his favorite subject. Over the years, he has focused more on his own art often creating paintings that come alive. It has been fifteen years since Panda made his transition to a freelancing artist and has prolifically created hundreds of art-pieces since then. His recent exhibition in the capital was a huge success. Some of his paintings were auctioned for 25,000. His dream of developing and designing gaming characters has literally no scope in the state. Eventually, this would force him to migrate out of the state.
“Starting with doodles, digital drawing has always fascinated me. Even though the odds are high, I am extremely optimistic about perusing my career in this very field no matter what happens.” said Gopal.
On the other hand, Devidutta Rout, an exceptionally gifted artist from Phulbani has almost given up his passion. He is absolutely clueless on how to channelise his passion in the right direction in a place like Odisha.
As a boy, Rout started with sceneries. Gradually his love for painting made him try different forms that earned him a lot of appreciation in the circle at the tender age of 13.
“I am currently preparing for competitive exams and trying to get a job to help my family financially. My father, most of all, does not approve of painting as a career option for obvious reasons. I still paint. When I get lucky, I get paid. Though the pay is meager, I am always in a grand mood to do what I love. Art might stop someday but the artist in me will always be alive. ” said Rout.
Dibya Parsad Rout from Jajpur believes that “where there is will, there is a way”. Dibya has bagged numerous prizes in state level ever since he was a boy. Currently he is selling his paintings online in healthy amount. His sketches sell between 25k-75k.
“As far as the frequency of orders for online art is concerned, it is largely irrelevant as art is still considered a luxury product. In certain cases, the orders are infrequent and there are huge variations in order sizes on a particular day. There are days when an online art portal does not get any order and then they get decent orders on some other day. The only challenge for an online medium is to build trust among new buyers and also retain your customer base. This would make buying art online a less intimidating affair.” said Dibya.
Dipti Ranjan Das, OP
