Soon Iranna poured white and black acrylic on the palette. As he mixed the shades with water and painted a mask over one of the faces, I squinted hard to make sure I didn’t miss anything. He was done. Now it was my turn to paint another mask. “Just fill the gap. That should not be difficult,” Iranna said. Easy? Tell ME that. I dipped my brush in the palette and then just as the brush touched the canvas, it froze. “What direction should the stroke take,” I asked without stopping to wonder if I hadn’t displayed my ignorance enough. “Any. It doesn’t matter,” came the immediate reply. Filling the centre was easy but as I tried to work along the charcoal outline, I told myself: “Basics, just the basics. Just stick to the outline.”

Five minutes later, I stood back and looked at my unimpressive mask. Iranna chipped in with the finishing touches. He painted over it, added a little water and a drop of white and Indian yellow, and the mask magically transformed into a stunning piece of art. Ok, maybe not stunning but definitely striking.

Iranna suggested that we now work on an installation. Titled Wounded Tools, this is a donkey layered with fur in tiger stripes. “It portrays power play. Donkeys are used by everyone and the tigers can’t really be used,” he said. I almost said “thinking art” but remembered I had said that before. This time I nodded appreciatively. While most of the white fur was already covered with yellow paint, my task was to help Iranna with the unfinished tail. “We have to use a lot of water or else the fur will harden,” Iranna said. Iranna made the fine lines for me and then handed me the brush. This time I felt better. I painted like I had in school. “This is easier,” I said.

... contd.