Sanjeewee Seneviratne’s water colour paintings:

Surreal and real

According to the artist Sanjeewee Seneviratne

The visceral and the visual… Transforming notion to vision… For Sanjeewee Seneviratne, the process is the medium. A poet transforms impressions of the mind using language as a medium, a dramatist makes it into play with ‘sathara abhinaya’, he says, explaining that the same is done by an artist using visual arts elements such as colours, lines, forms and shapes, transforming the idea into a painting.

“The subject of painting has been created through a combination of both the artistic and technical sides,” says Sanjeewee, who believes what makes a person a great painter is the ability to fuse the creative side with the technical side. Sadly however, he feels the youth in Sri Lanka have bisected the two, with one lot focusing purely on techniques and the other, just the artistic value. “The very balanced combination of these two segments is rare and can be seen only in a limited persona,” he says.

Given Sanjeewee’s ability to transform the everyday reality into something surreal and beautiful, using colours and creativity with undertones of technique, one could safely slot him with the rare few who walk the balance, using technique to fine tune style and colour, and creativity to transform ideas into shape and shape into substance.

Fascinated with water colour paintings since he came across the paintings done by his art teacher, Obeysena Ranasingha, during his school days, Sanjeewee decided early that water colour was the medium of his choice. This was cemented when he met professional water colour painter M.D.S. Gunathilake, and he began to build a style of his own by studying their paintings.

Sanjeewee says his style was also influenced by Alvaro Castagnet (Uruguay), Joseph Zbukvic (Australia) and Chien Ching Wei (Taiwan), artists recognised as master water colour artists of the world.

An established artist with numerous exhibitions, locally and internationally, to his credit, Sanjeewee prefers to paint landscapes, though occasionally he likes to paint figures as well.

Currently involved in transferring the colonial era into canvas, he says the fundamental objective of his paintings is to depict the lighting conditions and diverse atmosphere of the colonial era. He does this using water colours, his favourite medium, which he describes as a medium in which the artist could have the final result immediately.

Not very popular in Sri Lanka, water colour as a medium he says is more challenging than others, because it is a live medium. “To be a successful water colour artist, practicing often is very important and every brush stroke has to be hundred percent accurate from the very beginning till the very end. Simplifying any complicated subject matter instantly is an essential skill of a water colour painter,” he explains, adding that it is a usual habit of his to create sketches of the selected objects as a preliminary study. This he says affects the success of the end result robustly.

Detailing the numerous globally popular techniques such as wet-on- wet, flat wash, pen and wash, he says the wet-on-wet technique is considered the most demanding and lively technique. Of course it is the technique Sanjeewee uses. He says the quality of materials used is also crucial for the success of a water colour painting.

Sanjeewee uses professional water colour papers such as Langton and Arches 300 gsm rough paper, which are his favourites, and handmade brushes. The latter he says he provides speedy, soft and wet brush strokes that contribute grandly on the quality of his paintings. It is also the kind of brushes favoured by the master water colour artists in the world.

Sanjeewee is disappointed that the opportunities for newcomers to learn water colour as a medium here in Sri Lanka is very rare. “Newcomers don’t have any kind of support at university level. It is one of the main reasons why water colour paintings are not popular in Sri Lanka,” he says.

A former director of the Triwarna Fine Arts Academy in Gampaha, Sanjeewee taught art at the Bopalagama Kanitu Viduhala, Bopagama and at St. Thomas’ Preparatory school, Kollupitiya. He is currently the country head of the International Water colour Society (IWS) of Sri Lanka and was given the merit award for Landscape at the State Art and Sculpture Festival in 2005.

Pictures provided by the artist