Ms. Khan

Mrs. Leela Khan
Approx.12×12 inches
Acrylics on board papered with brown paper.
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I stumbled upon an image on Instagram and saved it. Lovely face and lovely light. The green frames of the spectacle were the deal clincher. I did not really pay attention to who it was as it was meant to be a practice session in light, shade and expression for me.

But I liked the way it turned out. So I went looking to see who this lovely lady was. Turns out she is television personality (@minimathur) Mini Mathur’s mother-in-law and director (@kabirkhankk) Kabir Khan’s mother!
That got my knickers in a twist I can tell you!!
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The next step was to reach out to them and ask permission to share the image. And of course to give the painting to them if it met with approval. I am happy to say it did. We all know about the ‘six degrees of separation’. Turns out in today’s world it is 1 or at best 2 degrees. I reached out to Mini and she was so very gracious in talking to me. She sent me some additional images so I could colour-correct what was not visible in the main reference image.

Mini was kind enough to surprise Mrs Khan on her birthday with the portrait. AND she shot and edited a video and sent it to me so I could see aunty’s reaction. I love it and I love her for doing this for me.  (You can see that video here).

 

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A post shared by Aarohi Singh (@artbyaarohi)

This makes painting and the hours of riyaz, the many portraits I do just because I can do them – all worthwhile.
And did I mention?- I love aunty’s smile :-).