We recently connected with Priyadarshi Upadhyaya and have shared our conversation below.

Priyadarshi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I wasn’t born artist. I am still not a full time artist. I do have a regular job. I started painting back in 2017 . I was watching some YouTube video and an art video was recommended and it got me interested. Then I decided to try myself some art . So I started learning from YouTube channels. Although I am still learning , I have gained some confidence. I have worked both with oil and acrylic . I prefer acrylic since it involves less cleaning and its more forgiving medium. It is possible to paint using acrylic and look like its in oil. Just need lots of practice and patience. I didn’t have any obstacles while learning. Although I wanted to see if I can find an artist who teaches oil portrait but couldn’t, not in person classes. Well I like what I do now.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As I mentioned before, I learned painting from YouTube and have continued since then. I love it. I do portrait art, landscape, abstract, using oil or acrylic. I take art very seriously. It is my passion which I pass on to my customers no matter how much they pay. I spend as much time possible on a piece of art before it is finished . All of my clients have been very satisfied when they buy my art. Every art piece I sell , is very close to me . It is like a baby , you want to take care of forever. No matter how many followers you have , your art will always belong to you even after you sell it. You pour your heart to it. One thing I want my clients to know is that they aren’t buying my art , they are buying a piece of me . I dont judge my art in how it looks. All my art pieces are equally great .

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Well an art piece has an emotional value which no one can put a price on it. If I ever win a lottery :) , I would open an art gallery which will have art pieces from unknown and struggling artists. I will give them a platform to get their art out there and let the art world know that they exist because I have been there as well and in some ways I am still there. Not every artist is lucky to have a regular job to support their family. It breaks my heart when I hear some art peice sold for millions and here are artists with beautiful art struggling to make their daily needs.Art world is very exclusive and it shouldn’t be. Buy art from your local artists , you will be surprised to find a gem . Support local artists

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For many artists the monetary aspect is a motivation and rewarding, in real world . And it should be. An artist should not be broke . Local governments should support them. Local artists should form a group to meet once in a while. Many successful artists dont want to share their experience and talent with other due to competition I think. When you get an appreciation and approval from other artists , you feel happy and its very rewarding.

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