I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, ever since I started going to school. But that’s pretty common, right? Most of us first learn to draw at school—basic shapes that we color in. My earliest memory of drawing isn’t much different. I was around 3 or 4 years old, drawing an apple, which I colored red. I’m sure I’d drawn other shapes like circles and squares before that, as we had drawing books in nursery school, but the apple stands out in my mind. I recall sitting there one evening, copying the outline from my drawing book. I might be wrong, but I remember the apple’s size being perfectly proportioned to the paper. The apple was solid red, with a single leaf I colored green.
During nursery and LKG, I did a lot of drawing—more than what the teachers assigned. I think it wasn’t entirely because I enjoyed it, but because I was living with my aunt at the time, and I was really afraid of her which made me sit quietly in a corner, keeping a book open in front of me, copying every drawing from it.
My childhood exposure to art wasn’t anything special, no different from other kids in school. I wasn’t particularly good at drawing, but I loved looking at good artwork. In UKG, I had a friend named Pawan. At our school, every Sunday, students were required to submit something—a drawing, a poem, an article, or general knowledge questions. While the poems, essays, and questions would be shared during assemblies, the drawings were displayed on a board. This was only for grades 1 to 9, but Pawan brought a drawing every Sunday, even though he didn’t have to. I told him once, but he said his older brother, a senior at the school, had encouraged him to submit something. And Pawan was amazing at drawing—far better than anyone in our class, maybe even better than our teacher. One Sunday, he brought a drawing of a tree, and I was blown away. It looked so real. I wasn’t the only one; the entire class was a fan of his work. From then on, Pawan became my art inspiration. I dreamed of making great drawings, submitting them every Sunday in first grade, and having everyone, including teachers and students, appreciate my work.
When I finally reached first grade, I did submit many drawings, though not every Sunday. You see, my interest in drawing wasn’t constant. I didn’t draw all the time, and we didn’t even have an art teacher until sixth grade. Still, every time I saw a good drawing or picture in a book, I’d want to replicate it. By just doing that occasionally, I might have become the second-best artist in class—Pawan always held the top spot.
I don’t have many clear memories from that time, but I do remember improving steadily. By sixth grade, we finally had our first art teacher, Prince Maharjan, who was studying art at the time. On his first day, he asked who the best artist in the class was, and everyone said my name, haha. He asked me to draw something on the whiteboard, and I think I drew a male student standing. He then used my drawing to teach us how to draw the human body. I asked to see more of his work, and I was really impressed. He became my new inspiration, and I wanted to draw like him.
That’s when my interest in realistic drawing began to grow. Prince Sir asked us to buy 2B, 4B, and 8B pencils for the next class. It was the first time I realized different pencils existed! I bought them that same day, along with a sketchbook, which I still have. I sometimes look back at it to reflect on how far I’ve come. He taught us shading techniques, and I practiced them seriously. I’m sure I was his favorite student. While most of my classmates worked on assignments, I’d sit in the front row, learning from him.
Here are some of my drawings when I was learning from him.
As you can see, I’ve always been more drawn to pencils than colors. I just liked the idea of creating something that looked real with nothing more than pencil strokes.
A few months later, Prince Sir left, and we got a new art teacher—his teacher, Shyam Maharjan, a professional artist. He was different from Prince Sir and didn't pay me much attention. To be honest, my drawings weren’t that impressive at the time. Shyam Sir taught us various techniques like patterns, design, and watercolor, but not shading and realism, which were what interested me. Most of my classmates didn’t care much about shading or realism, either.
Later, there was an inter school art competition, and Shyam Sir was selecting participants. I signed up for the selection test. We were asked to copy the outline of a drawing of Gautam Buddha, but I didn’t get selected. Two of my classmates did. I was pretty upset—maybe outlines just weren’t my strong suit.
Time went on, and I continued to draw occasionally. One important thing to note is that I never set out to train myself to get better. I just wanted to draw, and I did. The improvement came naturally with time, experience, and maturity.
For some reason, I’ve always been fascinated by drawing faces. I’ve always enjoyed capturing a person’s likeness on paper. During a winter vacation in eighth grade, I drew a lot of portraits. Here are some of them.
When I returned to school after that vacation with my portraits, I became somewhat of a hero. Teachers and students alike were surprised and impressed. A teacher later mentioned my art to the art teacher, and I showed him my work. He hadn’t really noticed me before, but now he was impressed too. He started taking me to art competitions, though I never won any, mostly because the competitions were usually focused on painting, which I didn’t particularly enjoy. I also helped him paint a mural at our school, which depicted elements representing Nepal.
Then came the period that brought me to where I am today—the lockdown. I didn’t have to go to school, so I spent entire days in my room, with nothing but time and internet access. And guess what I did? I drew for hours—sometimes more than 12 hours a day, with only a few short breaks. Lockdown was the most productive time of my life. I was doing so much that I could write a separate blog about it. But just focusing on art, I kept drawing, discovering my mistakes, and figuring out how to improve them on my own. That time elevated my skills to a new level.
After the lockdown, I was in 10th grade, preparing for SEE, so I didn’t draw much, just here and there. But I never lost interest.
There’s been another noticeable improvement in my work since I entered 11th and 12th grades. I wasn’t drawing as frequently, but when I did, the results were pretty good. I think I became more mature, patient, and focused.
And here is my best work so far, "Portrait of Isha", which I did back in August.
