It is a well known fact that miniature painting is a painstaking job it needs inexhaustible energy along with patience. Generally miniature deals with historical, legendary, fantasy and romantic themes for decades. Thus miniature paintings were the most authentic story-tellers of all times.
Khalid Saeed Butt, a Lahore based artist, has obtained an innovative modern style of miniature painting with traditional themes spreading on variety of subjects with an aroma of romance, poetry and history.
His recent works exhibited at Artscene Gallery revolves around the subject of romance and love - an emotionally close relationship between two people. Khalid's style evolved over three decades of experience from strictly traditional concepts to a new phase where he broke rules of miniature by enlarging the size of his paintings.
He has used gold leaf in a number of ways giving an extra ordinary look to his paintings. His incredible mastery of line and form can be seen in the images of human figures. The use of colour, shape, subject and composition distinguish him from his contemporaries. Inspired by the romance pervading ancient legends and folk stories, he freely fuses traditional and contemporary art through his expressions in his paintings. His choice of medium is gouache on wasli in most of the painting and a few were in watercolour on canvas.
His collection of works depicts human figures in dreamy backgrounds representing a Mughal era atmosphere. His works show an exotic land of fantasy, a dream world with colourful landscapes, lush green trees with perching birds, twinkling stars in the night sky with crossed lovers beneath a tree, lonely female with a peacock or a sad slim female with a pitcher at the lake and a group of females fetching water from a well.
All of the females are draped in translucent cloths beautify by flowery designs with a touch of gold - living their longing moments. The human figures have some what elongated limbs. His landscapes are decorated with trees, lakes, sky, rocks, mountains, birds, stars and of course two lovers engaged in romantic encounter, rendered in incredible depth and feeling.
These all compositions captures the fragile moments of love companionship or loneliness like a sweet dream. He portrays the true feelings of two people which they have towards each other, which connects and make them behave in a peculiar way involving especial manner in which they communicate with each other.
The delicate texture displays the light mood of the artist, the backgrounds of most of the paintings are in soft colours except a few depicting night scenes, and the colour schemes are very harmonious and moderate. This attracts people aesthetically and creates greater interest in the composition.
Khalid is a creative artist the expressions of his feelings leave a deep impression on the viewers. His subjects are highly romantic from the beginning of his work. His paintings give a feeling of lightness and tranquillity.
Khalid studied fine arts at the University of Punjab, among numerous subjects he studied miniature which appealed to his heart and it influenced him so mush so that it became his life's vocation.
Khalid explain his work as: "To me my miniature paintings look as if they are musical compositions soaked in the romance of symphony, soft and subtle without a single high note. And sometimes, the surface of my miniature got blushed with the shyness that I ever possessed."
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