Bengaluru: Prof Babu Jattakar, former principal of the College of Fine Arts, Karnataka Chitra Kala Parishat, is holding a three-day drawing exhibition at the Government Fine Arts College in Dharwad. During the three-day event under the aegis of Varna Shilpi DV Halabhavi Art Foundation, he would also be giving a live lecture-cum-demonstration to the students of the Government Fine Arts College.
Hasn't kept count of the exhibitions and awards: Prof Babu Jattakar, unlike a majority of fellow artists in the field, is very humble, kind and helpful out of the way. Perhaps, it would be a wonder if someone who has come in his contact, and yet not benefited in one or the other way. The kind of help or support he keeps extending to known people may turn out to be too big a subject for a book! He offers all possible support to organise exhibitions, workshops and events. But, in the bargain, he himself has no idea of the exact number of exhibitions, group shows, solo ones, workshops, lecture-cum-demonstrations, he has taken part in, nor the awards he has presented so far!
Interest in arts since childhood: Prof Babu Jattakar, reminiscing about his art journey, says that he was too fond of drawing, but it was not the same when it came to studies, right from his childhood days. During his school days, Chigari, the drawing teacher, encouraged him a lot to pursue his passion further. However, it was Chidanand Pattar of Jamkhandi, a graduate of fine arts, who guided him to get admission to the five-year Diploma course in Davangere.
Thanks to Venkappa V Pattar, maternal uncle: Luckily for him, Venkappa V. Pattar, Jamkhandi MLA and Textile Minister in the D Devaraj Urs Cabinet, and his maternal uncle helped the lad get admitted to the College of Fine Arts, Karnataka Chitra Kala Parishat for the degree course, when he had completed two years of Diploma in Davangere.
Alumnus joins the same college for a teaching career: Interestingly, Prof Babu Jattakar, after completing the course in CKP College, joined the institution as a teaching faculty. He joined as a lecturer, later became a professor and Head of the Department in Applied Arts. Prof Babu Jattakar also became the principal of the college and took voluntary retirement a few years back.
Specialisation in miniature paintings: Prof Babu Jattakar is known for encouraging students, enthusiasts, amateur artists, beginners, contemporary and senior artists to the best extent possible. Unlike his contemporaries playing with colours to do watercolour landscapes, acrylic and oil colour paintings on men and matters, Prof Babu Jattakar has evolved his own distinct style of painting with merely a pen and ink! He has mastered the specialisation of small miniature paintings, over a period of time, thereby making him an expert in that particular form.
A visual treat from a combination and perspective angle: Dr Jayaraj M Chikpatil, former principal of the University College of Visual Arts (Fine Arts), Davangere, opines, "Prof Babu Jattakar's artworks are full of slender and simple lines with a miniature size. However, they offer clarity and a visual treat from a combination and perspective angle.
Now, Prof Babu Jattakar's style! Dr Satishkumar P. Vallepure, principal of the University College of Visual Arts (Fine Arts), Davangere, asserts that Prof Babu Jattakar's miniature paintings are beautiful and attractive. The locations around us like the trees, leaves and historic ruins come alive in his works while the shade and light become indelible. By dealing with this over a period of three decades, he has mastered the form without being influenced by any other miniature artist to such an extent that he has evolved a style of his own. From my perspective, Prof Babu Jattakar has developed a distinct style of miniature painting.
Appealing despite being in miniature form: Prof Shivanand K Pattar, an eminent artist in his own right and principal of the Government Fine Arts College in Dharwad, appreciates the miniature artworks of Prof Babu Jattakar-" The variety of landscape drawings with the help of pen and ink is scintillating! His picturization of the surroundings, man-built buildings, archaeological dilapidated structures and the adjoining premises is just stunning. The intrinsic way he deals with the subjects with simple but delicate lines is a visual treat and a speciality of his own...
...Usage of acrylic sepia: Perhaps the choice of a higher-grade quality of handmade paper also goes hand in hand with enriching the effect of the composition artistically. You can find landscapes and acrylic sepia, a shade of brown colour used in acrylic paints which is similar to the traditional sepia colour derived from the ink of cuttlefish; essentially, it's a deep, rich brown acrylic paint with a slightly reddish undertone", feels Prof Shivanand K Pattar.
Cityscapes of the concrete era: He also exclaims-" Along with most of the miniature paintings, Prof Babu Jattakar has also presented many varied-sized big works as well. He has drawn the shells of the sea and different types of articles wonderfully, thus depicting the cityscapes of the concrete era".
No place without friends: Prof Bheemarao K Badiger of the Yogesh Chitrakala Maha Vidyalaya Bidar showers full of praises on the personality of Prof Babu Jattakar-"Prof Babu Jattakar is a native of Jamakhandi in the present day Bagalkot district and had his formal art education from the University College of Visual Arts (Fine Arts) at Davangere and the College of Fine Arts at the Chitra Kala Parishat in Bengaluru. He has artist friends not just in the state but all over the country. Perhaps there is no place where he has no friends!"
No discrimination among the artists: "Another worth mentioning characteristic of Prof Babu Jattakar is his generosity in mingling with people. He never discriminates against the typical practice of others like big artists and small artists and jells with everyone to get their things done. He is the first person to come to the rescue of others", reminds Prof Bheemarao K Badiger.
Beautiful paintings: He also described Prof Babu Jattakar's exhibits as beautiful paintings. "One should learn from him how to showcase the artworks; that's the perfection and discipline he adheres to.", appreciated Prof Bheemarao K Badiger.
A pleasure and privilege to be near and dear ones: "Although of a small size, he has excelled in aesthetically doing the same. During a lecture-cum-demonstration at the University College of Visual Arts (Fine Arts), Davangere, sometime back, he just did not keep on working but explained in detail the work in stages and at the end also placed it in a frame at his own cost. This shows his commitment to discipline and professionalism. I consider it my pleasure and privilege to be one of his near and dear ones", signed off Prof Bheemarao K Badiger.
From Ken School of Art days: "I happen to know Prof Babu Jattakar from 1989 when I was studying for a Diploma in Drawing and Painting at the Ken School of Art in Bengaluru. He has a big network of Art Schools and Artists which has helped him rope in artists from across the country for the annual Chitra Santhe shows of the Karnataka Chitra Kala Parishat, feels Prof Shahidhar M Lohar, retired professor of the JSS-Halabhavi School of Art, Dharwad.
Specialisation in pen and ink drawing: He also describes, "I have been observing his artworks from my student days and feel that pen and ink drawing is his area of specialisation. Historical monuments in the forefront accompanied by nature in the background are generally his concept through which he mesmerises the onlookers".
Blended in the thin air of atmosphere: Rameshchandra, veteran art critic says-"Babu Jattakar makes an effort to revisit the 'landscapes' almost forgotten and erased by the mechanisms of urbanised life-force. The artist here consciously avoids his landscapes being 'romanticized'. Rather, he makes them look simple and natural; they evoke a light sense of liberation from bearing the burden of mundane and routine. They remind us of the solitariness of natural life. They bring the smell and the sound almost blending into the thin air of the atmosphere. They make one micro-sensitive to the experience of viewing a landscape on paper in miniature size, through delicate fragments of lines shaping into a tree or mound, or grass or ground. They look poetic of ignored reality".
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