Deepti Mohile has been on an exciting journey from learning to draw as an adult beginner, she has gone on to become a multi-award winning artist. Deepti now enjoys a beautiful new career as a pre-school teacher. Her artwork has a special vibrancy and energy to it, that has us wanting to see more. In her gorgeous coloured pencil drawings you can clearly see that Deepti puts alot of work careful reasearch into every subject she approaches. Deepti chooses a variety of subject matter and textures to constantly challenge herself. Each time she rises to that challenge it gives her confidence to continue on and try new things. This sense of pioneering has held her strong throughout her journey of learning to draw and now she is enjoying the benefits and freedom of being able to draw almost anything she pleases. With research and deep discovery through asking questions about the subject Deepti is still continuing to learn with each and every new texture or subject she explores. Her work is beautiful and filled with love and patience. It gives me great pleasure to share this interview with Deepti.

Interview with Deepti Mohile by Cindy Wider

Q: Deepti where were you born and where do you live now? A: Hi, my name is Deepti Mohile and I am originally from India. I currently live in California, USA with my husband and our wonderful daughter. I hold a Chartered Accountants degree and worked as an accountant in India, but then I realised that along with drawing, I love working with children much more than working with numbers and now am a preschool teacher.

Q: How did you get started with art and drawing? A: I loved art and drawing right from childhood. I used to try drawing from photos, pictures on cards, magazines etc. I even did short courses in nib painting, fabric painting etc but never pursued it anymore. When I had some time on hand after marriage, I decided to look up some online art courses to make use of that time. I landed on another website and did some of the tutorials there. I realised that I was not that bad at drawing, but I needed to get serious if I really wanted to improve. When I saw the shoe well-travelled project from your course online, I just wanted to know if I could draw anything close to that. I saw some of your other student work and decided that I had to give it a try. Q: What’s happening with your drawing journey right now?  A: Currently, I am mostly working with coloured pencils. I enjoy experimenting with a variety of subjects and textures and have created drawings of birds, animals, portraits, landscapes, still life. I take each new project as a learning experience and like to push myself with variety of different textures.

Q: When students start to study with me I ask them to create a pre-instruction drawing as a record of their ability before they start the course. What do you think when you look at the pre-instruction drawing you created way back then? A: When I look back at the pre-instruction drawing, I feel like I have finally accomplished my childhood dream of being able to draw realistic drawings.

Q: What was it like studying with mentored support? A: After I finished the online course, I knew I could already draw pretty good. Every time I finished a major section; to make sure I was capable of applying whatever I learnt to drawings outside the curriculum I also kept trying out-of-curriculum drawings. With your mentored support, I got a chance to understand that it is not just about drawing what you see, but also to fully understand the picture better before you draw. Like anatomy for example, the structure, the folds in the cloth etc and various finer aspects not clearly visible in a photograph. It makes the picture much more realistic. I understood that I had to look beyond the photograph to make it look real. I was able to expand my learning horizon and fine tune my skills.

Q: What kind of drawings are you doing right now? A: I initially started with graphite and was very happy with what I could do with those humble pencils. But when you introduced coloured pencils to your curriculum, I could not stop. I had to learn how to use them so that I could bring some colour in my drawings. Now I am kind of addicted to coloured pencils. As mentioned before, I like trying out different subjects so I can push myself out of my comfort zone but I also keep going back to graphite now and then. I still love it.

Q: Do you have any favourite drawings that you’ve created since studying at DrawPj? A: Frankly, I like all the drawings that I create because all of them are a labour of love. But I do have some favourites.  Since I like trying different subjects, most of them are created by me for the first time. I love “Ready for some pasta”, and “The short layover”. I created these drawings immediately after I finished my course, before I started mentored support. I also love the recent drawing that I made “I see you”,  created after I finished my mentored support.

Q: Have you won any awards, or held exhibitions, sold your art since you studied at DrawPj? A: A lot of my drawings have won Honourable Mention and Special Recognition awards in International Juried competitions. Two of my drawings, ‘A short layover” and “A Colourful Macaw” were exhibited at a curated exhibition in a local Art Gallery in California.

Q: What are your favourite art materials and why? A: I experiment with various subjects and textures, as well as different art materials. My favourite papers are the Saunders Waterford Hot Pressed paper and Strathmore Bristol Plate surface. My favourite graphite pencils are Staedtler Mars Lumograph and Caran D’ache Graphwood. In colored pencils, I love working with Polychromos and Caran D’Ache Luminance.

Q: Do you have any words of helpful advice for beginner artists? A: Like you say, Just show up at the table and the rest will take care of itself. I agree with this advice 100%. All you need to do is push yourself a little and not give up. Another thing I feel is important is that at the beginner stage, don’t watch too many youtube videos etc to learn more because it gets all confusing with so many different styles out there. Once you get your foundation strong, then you can go to them to learn more. Q: What are your plans for the future? A: I would like to create more, learn more, explore more, try to enter more competitions and also exhibit my art. Eventually I would also like to sell my artwork.

For more images and information about Deepti Mohile:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Deeptispencilart Website: https://fineartamerica.com/art/deepti+mohile