Art on George Supreeth

How communities learn

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 10:43:03 +0530

I’ve been thinking about how social learning is such a contrast to formal, structured learning systems.

I am a fairly experienced educator. I have worked with a diverse group¹ of students over the last three decades. I am also the co-founder of what is arguably the oldest on-location drawing community in India, which has taught me a lot on how people learn in informal and unstructured ways.

This community does not ask people to register for drawing events. It charges no fees, proposes no frameworks—it simply announces a new venue each week, and people turn up to draw. This social process of drawing together, it turns out, provides a powerful learning method for members of the community.

A mindset for creating art

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 10:44:43 +0530

omeone I know wished to apply for a $50k grant offered to artists by a foundation in the U.S., and the grant rules stated only fine artists may apply. Not illustrators, commercial artists or people who create pictures for a living. Just fine artists.

Now this person is an illustrator but she could be a fine artist. couldn’t she?

Self Assessment for non-professionals

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 00:53:12 +0530

The majority of the artists in the Penciljam community are not professional artists, by which I mean - their profession does not involve creating art.

While there are a decent number of professionals¹ such as concept artists, illustrators, painters, comic book artists and so on, most of our group may be described as deeply passionate hobbyists or at least aspiring professionals.

I think of it as a gradient.

Some Passionate Hobbyists transition to aspiring professionals and some of these eventually become full time professionals.

Practicing to make Stuff

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 18:31:02 +0530

“How do you balance between practice and actually making stuff?”

This question popped up on Penciljam’s Discord server. I almost missed it because it sounds rhetorical, but the more I think about it, I realise, the answer isn’t so simple.

“Practice makes perfect” is too trite an aphorism. It is black and white in it’s assumption that perfection occurs at a specific point in time.

I think perfection is an unachievable goal because every time I believe I have perfected something, the bar I previously set for myself… resets. The goalpost changes because I recognise the potential to do so much better. I look around and see people who are miles ahead, and in examining why, I find ways to improve.

Art Supply Vacillation

Sat, 04 Oct 2025 12:31:32 +0530

I have this weird problem - I can’t decide on how much art material to carry when I go sketching.

I enjoy experimenting when I go on sketch outings. I love trying out different types of art material and playing with drawing styles, so my drawing pouch has all the supplies I need to indulge myself.

I use different types of pouches. Sometimes, I pick a small one and fill it with the basics. A pen, a couple of pencils and a small watercolour box.

Drawing Sculpture at MAP

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 20:48:11 +0530

We jammed at the Museum of Art and Photography today. We come here about once every two months, and on each visit I try drawing with a new medium.

I tried Brushpens, and a monochrome palette.

Drawing the Sanhitha exhibit at NGMA

Sun, 29 Jun 2025 21:03:30 +0530

The National Gallery of Modern Art, one of our favourite locations for group drawing is currently hosting Air India’s extensive collection of artwork.

These artwork apparently used to grace Air India’s lounges, offices and even aircraft. Apparently M.F Husain bartered paintings for being able to travel abroad. There is even a piece by Salvador Dali, an ashtray he designed for Air India.

What caught my attention of course were the cartoons by Mario Miranda. Air India commissioned a lot of work from him it seems.

A Banana Worth Millions

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Why did the sale of this work of Art drive people bananas?

Table of Contents

In the years following India’s Freedom from British rule, a group of Indian Artists—deeply disturbed by the partition—began exploring a new style of Art and in 1954, they organised an exhibition of their work in Delhi. It so happened that Leon Elias Volodarsky, a Norwegian surgeon visiting Delhi under a United Nations Commission, walked into that Art show.

Oh how my creative debt grows

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 12:25:02 +0530

Deep within the labyrinths of my digital notebooks lies a page called Ideas. I open it occasionally, and each time it fills me with equal amounts of shame and hope. The contents of this page are simply a list of personal projects that I’d like to pursue someday, and as I write this, I am becoming aware that the word someday evokes a feeling of anxiety.

This page, you see, holds all my Creative Debt. Each time I write down an idea this debt grows, and as it stands now I think I may very well die a defaulter. I’ve reflected on this before. What is it about undertaking a creative project that so fills me with dread? Why am I conflicted, both excited and afraid?

Must we starve

Sun, 09 Jul 2023 12:25:02 +0530

We jammed at the Aeronautical museum in Bangalore today. The point of our jams is to stimulate ideas and spark discussions, and the one we had today was about the apparently inverse correlation between artists and profitable careers. The Starving Artist meme, basically.

I have some opinions on this. Rather strong ones actually, maybe even controversial. Before I can lay them out, though, I need to offer some background first. Let’s start with some credentials.

A Job and a Curriculum

Sun, 02 Jan 2022 12:25:01 +0530

2021 held many surprises for me, the topper being that after close to 2 decades of being self-employed, I found myself working for a large ed-tech firm.

Having explored ECE ecosystems in-depth over the years and having tried to build a couple of my own, my curiosity on how large, commercial ed-tech firms build for ECE eventually won out. I accepted the offer.

My specific interest here was to try and build an art pedagogy to be delivered at scale, with an emphasis on developing higher-order skills. This is easier said than done, with decades of personal, societal and academic biases layered thick, blunting all attempts at presenting art as a way to build visual-perceptual skills in children, especially in early childhood.

100 heads in 10 days

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 12:25:01 +0530

I took Ahmed Aldoori’s 100 head challenge. Word of advice - finish 10 heads a day otherwise the carryover will kill you.

I took Ahmed Aldoori’s 100 head challenge. I’m not very good at capturing likeness, and this challenge did help me get a tiny bit better at it. Just for fun, I hopped around between a bunch of different art material through the challenge.

Hokusai says it better.

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:25:01 +0530

“From the age of 6 I had a mania for drawing the shapes of things.

When I was 50 I had published a universe of designs. But all I have done before the the age of 70 is not worth bothering with.

At 75 I’ll have learned something of the pattern of nature, of animals, of plants, of trees, birds, fish and insects.

When I am 80 you will see real progress.