The Open Studio / Shruti
Shruti
shelf portrait
Knees drawn up, eyes closed, a body glowing over purple
A woman folds into herself. Knees up. Eyes shut.
Her arms are orange bark. Her hair is night with a few yellow sparks.
Purple strokes stand behind her like rain on a wall.
A green square hums at her shoulder, full of red flowers drawn fast.
Under it all lie pale printed roses and thin gold vines.
She rests on a pink cloth and does not look up.
The work
Shruti is from the College of Art in New Delhi. Every work begins with a rough idea, a layout and a base sketch. Here the medium is oil pastel on a small PVC panel. The pastel goes on thick so the strokes build texture. Shruti often melts pastel with a lighter to help the colours blend. Each work starts with a purple underpainting. Shruti leaves parts of it showing on purpose because it makes the picture glow. You can see it in the purple strokes behind the folded figure.
In the artist’s words
“I always start with a rough idea, layout and base sketch. I use oil pastels first to create the textures and colours I like. I use a lighter to melt the pastels. They blend beautifully. I always start with a purple underpainting because it gives a nice glowing effect. I intentionally leave it showing so that it glows.”
- Theme
- Rest and turning inward
- Material
- Oil pastel on PVC panel
- Size
- 21 × 29.7 × 0.2 cm
- Year
- 2026
- Edition
- 1 of 1
- Framed
- No
- About the artist
- College of Art
- From
- New Delhi
- Code
- RC-279
