Little more than a year ago, I was faced with an obstacle that many artists face. Little money and a lot of ideas and images. As I wondered how to use an alternative to the conventional oil and canvas, I learnt from my uncle about a German artist who uses the black wax of shoe polish as an alternative to black pigment on canvas. The canvas however, is an expensive surface in itself. So, I decided to use hand made paper. Cheap and environment friendly, it's the ideal surface. Its available in matted and in rough, the later is not available in canvas. So I set off...... started experimenting with liquid shoe-polish as well as wax. In this process I have discovered territory in the world of mediums I didn't think existed.

To make it brief, over the last year or so I have spent a lot of time using this new medium with water, egg tempera…and basically any thing I can get my hands on. I'm still learning more each day that I use it. It always brings about something new. It reacts to simlple things like temperature changes, changes in the rate of evaporation etc. I am still trying to discover the more with this medium. It has three main positives: 1) hand made paper is Rs40 for a large sheet. Less than 10% of the cost of a canvas of the same size. 2) shoe polish is also very cheap. 3) It allows one to use larger surfaces and because of the size of the liquids bottle top.

The results are promising and each day there are new horizons to explore. It changed my way of thinking as well as painting. In all, its given me a new perspective to life it self.

Utkarsh Sanjanwala