Camilo Carreno

Artwork by Anaam

My name is Anaam. I'm a self-taught/self-learning painter based in Chennai. I don't paint full-time, but it's something I keep coming back to time and again since 2017. I work full-time in a totally different field and paint during the nights and on weekends.

I don't fully understand the language but I am glad we live in the era of the internet because some of my favorite artists and inspirations were found by just exploring contemporary art on Instagram.

Art takes a really fundamental plane in my life. I grew up drawing so my interest in art is something I've carried with me from a very young age. I think it's one of the most freeing spaces to be in - to try to paint, to interact with other painters, to view people's artwork and be moved by the various paintings made by people all over the world. It's so easy for me to slip into that space no matter what I'm feeling or doing. I'm really grateful for all the art that exists in the world.

My artistic challenge is mainly the language. I have no formal training so I'm always looking at courses and ateliers where I can improve. I'm learning with an artist based in South America right now, and we're covering all the basics. I think my biggest challenge is understanding color and temperature. I'd love to be able to understand color relationships a little better. I also think that despite my learning, the struggle to express what I want and how I want is pretty much what keeps me coming back to painting. But I don't know any artist who hasn't struggled with that at some point in their lives.

I think I'd like to go to a proper atelier school here and train in the classical methods of drawing and painting. I'm not rigid about drawing realistically, but I think learning the methods of the masters will eventually give me the much-needed training I need to express more confidently.

I think it's great that there are so many resources for artists and so easily available :)

I want to win the Watercolor Academy course to be able to get more 1-on-1 critique about my art, and also find the resources to support my art where needed. My only request is that you can vote if you like what you see and you feel it speaks to you. Thank you so much for spending your time here :)

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