Ashok Khant

The rural life is beautifully captured in artist Ashok Khant’s works as he is influenced by his surrounding rural life of Gujarat. In oil and water colour mediums, his portrait paintings come alive with a natural touch.

Tell us about your journey in the field of art?
I come from a small town Bhayavadar of Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Right from childhood, I liked to observe the village life. I used to love the rustic life and the simplicity of the rural people. I have always loved making portraits. When I was young, I used to make portraits of film stars from the film posters and used to paste them on the walls of the shops of my locality. At that time that was the only medium to display my art. I did not know about art galleries. I started my journey as an artist in a small town of VallabhVidyanagarand in 1978, after completing my art education from College of Fine Arts in 1979 I did my Government Diploma Art (G. D. A.) in 1989. During my diploma, I came across works of senior portraiture artists like Hiralal Khatri and Kanhaiya Lal Yadav. I also felt the desire to have my solo show like these senior artists. I started making portraits of common people around me. I used to go the railway station and bring interesting people to my home and made their portraits. I did my first solo exhibition of portrait works at the Ravishankar Rawal Kala Bhavan, Ahmedabad in 1987.

Please share your style and medium of work?
My style of work is portraiture art. I work in oil and water colour mediums to paint portraits, landscapes and realism. I am immensely passionate about this age-old art form.

Which great artists inspire you?
I have been painting ever since I can remember. The old masters artists Rembrandt, Jacques-Louis David, Johannes Vermeer and Peter Paul Rubens have inspired me and influenced the development of my art works. Among Indian artists I consider  J. P. Singhal , Raja Ravi Verma, Hiralal Khatri and Kanhaiya Lal Yadav as my mentors. I have learnt the art in depth from their techniques and the use of colours.