A farmer’s son, from Kolhapur, decided to pursue his passion of being an artist 15 years ago. Yuvraj Patil is now a renowned artist with patrons worldwide.
Yuvraj Patil, who was born in 1981 on a small farm in Kolhapur’s Panchagaon, was always interested in painting. After finishing his studies with numerous art courses and degrees, he moved on to teach pupils, but the salary was very low and he wasn’t content.
Yuvraj, now 40, wanted to go, but he didn’t take the jump until 2007, when one of his undergraduate artworks was chosen by the Art Society of India and sold for Rs.25,000.
According to Yuvraj, the artist, “When my art sold for such a high price, it bolstered my confidence; everyone told me I should go to Mumbai if I wanted to make it as an artist.”
So I moved there in 2008 with no idea what I was doing, but my determination helped me succeed.”
Yuvraj initially lived in a one-room kitchen with 4-5 other people, teaching art in schools near Maximum Metropolis’s Dombivli district, earning Rs 5000 per month, but this wasn’t enough to survive in an expensive city like Mumbai.
So Yuvraj began painting signboards in his spare time to supplement his income and to expand his artistic abilities.
Friends of the artist were concerned about him and advised Yuvraj to get a well-paying, secure career so that he could support his family and farming father.
While Yuvraj has always wanted to be an artist, it took him a while to figure out what he works best with. After experimenting with watercolour and acrylic paints, he quickly recognised that charcoal art was where his originality shone the brightest.
As Yuvraj worked to improve his artwork, he approached galleries in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and other cities, and by 2013, his works were selling at various galleries in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and other cities.
He has created over 200 paintings, and his art has been shown in Dubai and sold all around the world.
Yuvraj has garnered numerous awards from various Indian art institutes, including the Bharati Kala Mahavidyalaya Annual Show, the Camlin Art Foundation, the Gulbarga Academy Awards, and the ICAC Art Gallery.
My paintings earn me roughly Rs 10 lakh per year. When asked how far he has come since 2007, Yuvraj says that his current income is solely the consequence of his hard work.
“I’m not bragging; all of this has happened because I never gave up on my dream,” he says.
We now have a two-story house in my hamlet as well as a Mumbai flat where he works.
The artist spends at least five hours a day perfecting his abilities, and the rest of his time attempting to find new galleries to show his work, making contacts, and gaining recognition.
Yuvraj spends a week to a month creating his gorgeous artworks, which are influenced by numerous topics such as travel, daily life, and routines.
He explains, “I’m attempting to depict Indian culture through my charcoal paintings.”
Yuvraj Patil is currently confined to his village home because to the coronavirus outbreak, but he continues to work on his art every day.
