Meet the gifted winners of Art Karo Na by Children’s Fine Art Gallery in Hyderabad 

Though launching Art Karo Na was a spur of the moment decision by Atika Amjad of Children’s Fine Art Gallery, today, it has turned into a tool that children have used to make the most of the lockdown. Started on March 27, 2020, this 35-day-long online art competition has helped engage over 2,000 kids. And, a standard requirement to keep children engaged, every day was different — every day saw a new theme, new judges and new winners. "Since the topics were engaging, the entire family would help the child complete the task. We heard that, in some instances, even the neighbours were involved," she shares and laughs. All in all, it was a family entertainer while also establishing the importance of art in times of distress. We spoke to winners of a few competitions to gauge how it kept them on their toes and what they took away from it all. 

The perfect muse

Anusha and her art | (Pic: Anushka Tripathy)

Reimagining artist Raja Ravi Varma's paintings in today's era might seem difficult but Anushka Tripathy nailed the task wonderfully by depicting a woman draped in a sari, holding a letter. There is a clear depiction of sorrow in her eyes, the main reason why we feel Anushka won the competition that day. "I would prepare for the theme in advance and that made things easier for me," shares the 12-year-old studying in Pebble Creek Life School, Hyderabad.

Children were asked to look out for the next day's topic on the gallery's social media pages

Epic tales

Jyothi Sree and her art | (Pic: Mosam Jyothi Sree)

The Ramayana has always fascinated Mosam Jyothi Sree, so one day, when the theme was traditional stories, the 15-year-old instantly picked one from the epic. She chose the instance when Sita had to go through agni pariksha (fire test) and artfully portrayed the moment by surrounding Sita in bright, yellow flames. "Though I had started preparing for class X, I used to participate almost every day because the themes were so interesting," says the student of St Theresa High School, Hyderabad. Needless to say, she won that day.

Different themes of varying difficulty were given for different groups of children

       

Perfect drama

Priyanshi Sahu gave entires for various themes | (Pic: Priyansi Sahu)

Timeless Drama — this was the category in which Priyansi Sahu won. She had to draw a beautiful pond with lotuses. She even participated in The Balcony Show, where kids were asked to decorate their balconies, and thoroughly enjoyed it. "Whenever I find free time, I like to draw and paint, so I really enjoyed all the tasks," says the enthusiastic five-year-old who studies in Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's Public School - Vidyashram, Jubilee Hills.