A contemporary piece of art - oil on canvas, rendered in a century and a half old realistic style that the artists of the subcontinent innovated and developed around 1860-70 A.D., the painting represents a theme that urban mind, even in India, shall take as a thing of tale-tell type but at least once a while the rural population in some parts of the country still encounters in real life. The painting portrays a tiger attacking a grass-harvesting couple when it was out in the forest gathering grass. As suggest the suckle and a few bundles of grass lying close by, the tiger attacked the husband when unaware he was engaged in tying the harvested grass into bundles. It seems that the tiger’s mighty attack pushed him away from the stack of the grass bundles and along him were dragged also some bundles.

The tiger’s attack is full of force; however, the grass-harvester does not meekly give in. He holds the tiger’s forelegs against his thighs and prevents the beast’s jaws from penetrating teeth deeper into his abdomen by holding it by neck. Though with all his energies and will-power put to work, against the beast’s forceful push he succeeds in holding himself on his legs and keeps his strife on to save his life. Agony, fear and exertion of his struggle to protect his life reflect in his wide open mouth, staring eyes and tense face, though it does not betray helplessness and there lurks in them a hope. Besides portraying the grass harvester – his lean and thin figure, protruding cheek-bones, socketed eyes, bowing back, rough skin …, realistically the artist has revealed him inside out. He has not only explored his inner being with a psycho-analyst’s accuracy but has also translated it on his canvas as much sensitively.

Towards the tiger’s tail stands the grass harvester’s wife – agonized, furious and agitated, waving the axe in her hands into air targeting it on the beast. The usual routine of the peasantry in field, after day’s work is over and the male partner begins collecting things the female partner moves around and collect firewood. Hence, it seems that the wife with axe was collecting firewood from around when she heard her husband shriek and rushed to the spot and impulsively raised the axe she had in her hands. The shock reflects in her eyes, and the pace with which she had rushed to the spot, in her flying ‘odhani’ – upper wear, and braid of hair. Dauntless she moves close to the beast and raises her weapon on it. Pitiably her husband looks at her but instead of looking back she keeps her eyes are fixed on the animal.

Not merely the tiger, the artist has portrayed both the husband and the wife most realistically, the woman colourfully clad, and the man, in the turban and ‘dhoti’ a four meter large textile but entire length collected around the thighs and waist. Whether the artist illustrated an accident he had personal knowledge of or created it by sheer imagination he has rendered it quite realistically : the real class of people, an event as it really happens though sometimes in life, real agony, real fears, real agitation, real strife and effort to survive. As real is the background that the artist has chosen : a marshy stretch of land around a hilly terrain, patches of water close-by and a forest a little away – an ideal geography for a tiger. Unlike what the common mind perceives, tigers live in thinly laid forests and in marshy grass-covered patches of land often in marshy grasses or in the mist of low height bushes.

Oil painting technique – India centric

Oil painting is the most interesting technique in art. Unlike other paintings or art forms, oil painting is a process in which colored pigments are painted on the canvas with a drying oil medium as a binder. This medium helps colors blend beautifully to create layers and also makes them appear rich and dense. Several varieties of oil are used in this painting such as sunflower oil, linseed oil, etc., and depending on the quality of the oil, a particular consistency of the paint is developed. With the use of an oil medium, the painting gets a natural sheen on the surface which appears extremely attractive. India is famous for its old tradition of making oil paintings. This art form was brought by Europeans in the 18th century and is now practiced by almost all well-known artists. Nirmal, a small tribal town in the state of Telangana is the center of traditional oil paintings in India where the local people practice it with dedication. Most Indian artists still use the traditional technique of oil painting.

Canvas of the required size is prepared

The artists use either a wood panel or canvas made from linen or cotton. Sometimes the canvas is stretched onto the wooden frame to form a solid base, or cardboard may be used. The canvas is coated with a layer of white paint or chalk mixed with animal glue. This mixture is then smoothed and dried to form a uniform, textured surface. The wooden panel is more expensive and heavier but its solidity is an advantage in making detailed paintings with ease.

Sketch is drawn on the canvas

Now the artist starts to draw the subject of the painting on the canvas using the actual charcoal or a charcoal pencil. Sometimes, he may sketch with thinned paint as well.

Oil paint is applied using paint brushes or palette knives

Now that the rough sketch is prepared, the artist is now ready to paint. Oil paint, a special paint that contains particles of pigments suspended in a drying oil (usually linseed oil), is again mixed with oil to make it thinner for applying it on the canvas. Proper consistency of the paint is maintained to avoid its breakage. The most important rule for the application of oil paint is “Fat over lean” in which the first layer of paint is thin and later, thicker layers are applied. This means that each additional layer of paint contains more oil. This results in getting a stable paint film. Traditionally, paint was applied using paint brushes but now the artists also use palette knives to create crisp strokes. To paint using this technique, the edge of the palette knife is used to create textured strokes that appear different from that of a paintbrush. Sometimes, oil paints are blended simply using fingers for getting the desired gradation.

Smaller oil paintings, with very fine detail, are relatively easier to paint than larger ones. The most attractive feature of these paintings is the natural shiny appearance that is obtained on the surface because of the use of oil paint. The blending of colors looks extremely realistic and this is the reason why oil paintings are loved by everyone throughout the world.