The magic brush and master strokes

“Look at the shade of pink! Isn’t it lovely?”

“I think the grey with the orange tint is prettier.”

No, we were not discussing sarees. We were admiring the different shades of sunset in Bengaluru. The rich profusion of colours that the sunset throws up is truly amazing. Tints of orange, shades of grey, subtle pinks, and whites all make for a rich canvas. It’s almost as if the sun is determined to showcase its artistry before it bids us goodnight. And the canvas changes every second. You are just admiring one combination of colours when, lo and behold, another combination is thrown up that is even more beautiful than the earlier one! The grey clouds with pink borders and orange woven in or the white clouds interlaced with grey and orange leave you wondering whether there is a master artist hidden in the sky using the sky as his canvas.

This made me wonder about the wonder brush. We may talk of “sky blue” on a palette, but can the blue of the sky on a cloudless day ever be actually replicated? Or the white of the clouds, or even the grey clouds on a monsoon day.

There may be resemblances, but the actual effect can never be achieved. Or, the golden shades of the sunrise and to be able to get the same shade of blue or white day after day. I doubt if any artist could achieve that effect every time he or she painted.

The different colours of God’s creatures are even more fantastic. The reds and blues of the Paradise Fly Catchers are, of course, breath taking.

Have you ever tried painting the different colours of the peacock’s tail or neck? That peculiar shade of blue, which is neither blue nor green, is absolutely unattainable.

But these are the more exotic of God’s creatures. Have you thought of the homely grey colour of the pigeon? But if you look closely, you can see the shimmering colours in its neck, which so admirably set off the sombre grey of its body. And, the crow – the black is the real, true black. Each has its own grace and beauty, from the grey rosettes of the snow leopard to the tiger’s stripes.

And the wonder is that God’s brush never makes a mistake. The tints and shades, the stripes, and the rosettes are always the same in every creature of that species. Would you find a tiger with grey rosettes or a zebra with an orange body? Or a peacock with a grey body, or a pigeon in peacock blue? So, move over Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, Raja Ravi Varma, and M F Hussain. The master artist with the magic brush and palate of colours is creating master strokes of artistic wonders every day.