Ramandip Singh – ARTIST

Raman Singh

Interview with artist Raman Singh —

1. Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Raman Singh and I am a fine artist as well as an educator. I am from India and have just finished my Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. For the last few years I’ve been traveling, teaching art, and producing paintings that focus on evoking strong emotions in the viewer. My paintings are inspired by my personal experiences, individuals I know and places I’ve been.

“Popi”

2. Why art?
My Life would seem worthless and useless without Art. About a decade ago, I attended a boarding school in India which turned my world upside down. Due to being in an unfamiliar environment, I had no friends and was in solitude quite a bit. What I did have was a binder full of images from my favorite cartoons and videogames. Art became therapy for me as I drew and re-drew my favorite video game and T.V characters. I would lose myself in it and time would pass by quickly which helped me stay sane.

3. What is your earliest memory of wanting to be an artist?
I began drawing in Elementary school, but didn’t consider it a career choice until High school. I thought I would grow up in a science field or work in an office somewhere until one day my high school art teacher changed all of that. She saw me carrying around my cartoon drawings after I joined her class and came to me and said she wanted me to paint. I was the only one in that class that started painting in oils while the rest of the class was doing the structured assignments, I started getting more and more personal projects along with those assignments. After my first painting, I was ambitious, something came alive in me and I spent every single of high school after that to stay up and paint. It was then that I knew that painting would play a large role in shaping my future.

“Bathinda”

4. What are your favorite subject(s) and media(s)?
Oil painting definitely. I believe there is a feeling that I try to evoke in paintings that I just can’t do with any other medium besides oils. The oil paint is very flexible and there are many different ways to use it. The amount of time it takes to dry also be forgiving and I enjoy the paint layering process to create depth in color and atmosphere. I have created landscapes, objects and portraits but I feel the the work that stands out most and people react to is my portraiture of very personal people in my life. I feel these portraits are trying to tell my viewers something. Portraiture can shed light on an individual’s life anguishes and joys in life. When I paint something I am very personally connected to, I sub-consciencly bring a life into the painting.

5. How do you work and approach your subject?
I have worked in a variety of ways. I started my painting practice with a ton of self-portraits and working and observing from life. Over time as I have refined my focus, I started working from my own photographs taken while traveling, mostly to India. I feel the most connected to these because sometimes there are moments when you can capture someone’s expression without it being subconsciously altered or fixed due to the subject knowing they are being watched. I sometimes have urges to paint random subject matter and I do quick small paintings of those, such as favorite movie characters or video games. The more personal and serious work that relates to my own original vision is usually created on a larger scale.

“Project 3”

6. What are your favorite art work(s), artist(s)?
My favorite works are “The Scream” by Edvard Munch, “Starry Night over the Rhone” by Vincent Van Gogh, all of Rembrandt Van Rijn’s self-portraits, and J.M.W Turner’s seascapes. I started painting after seeing Van Gogh’s work I knew I had no skill level but something about seeing the thickness of the paint on his canvases enlightened and motivated me to try to replicate his style. I set on a mission to replicate the process, and my first paintings were very expressionistic like his. Inspired by Rembrandt’s portraits and Turner’s loose seascapes led me to combine the styles and make my own working method.

“Escape”

7. What are the best responses you have had to your work?
“Breathtaking”,“Soulful”,“Deep”

“Juliana”

8. What do you like about your work?
What I enjoy most about the work I create is the struggle that comes with each piece. In each piece, there are problems that I have to overcome and the growth that happens in the process is very fulfilling.

 
9. What advice would you give to other artists?
My advice to other artists would be to keep making work. Keep putting in the endless hard work, the long nights, the difficult hours and never stop mastering your craft. When you leave, leave on E (empty).

“Eagle”

10. Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
In 5-10 years I can see myself traveling and painting the world. There are many cultures and places that I want to photograph, and experience.

Raman Singh

LINKS —

Website: https://www.ramandipsingh.com
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/SinghsCanvas
Instagram: https://instagram.com/art_of_raman
Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea9PrdP3Scs