The Holi Festival of Colors in India is a celebration of the victory of good over evil, with the destruction of the demon Holika. It is celebrated every year on the day after the full moon of the Hindu month of Phalguna, which corresponds to the beginning of March. People celebrate the beginning of spring and other events of the Hindu religion; they parade through the streets sprinkling colored powders on everyone, dancing and singing.
I saw this photo awarded by Corriere della Sera in the spring of 2022. It was too bright to pass by without looking at it. I immediately filed it in my “photos to draw” folder and, one day, after finishing the tulips and still having many colors left on the palette, I decided to experiment using the spatula.
At Atelier Crespi I had watched Maestro Fontanini teach this technique to a colleague, Vittorio Ragazzini, and, discreetly, I had understood that the color was mixed a lot on the palette and little on the canvas.
Thus, and unexpectedly, this painting was born, an expression of the joy and happiness of the subject, who lets himself be shaped and seems to enjoy being modeled by the hands of his friends.
The shot is by photojournalist Channi Anand (AP)
TITLE:
The Indian’s Holi Festival
SUPPORT:
Cotton canvas on frame
SIZE:
50 x 70 cm
TECHNIQUE:
Oil on canvas
DATE:
March 2022
SERIAL N.:
20220302
NOTES:
Made entirely with a spatula
