Jitto paints touch screen stories

KOCHI: The virtual world is his canvas and the smudge tool becomes his brush as he concocts artworks in the limited screen space of his phone. For techie Jitto Thomas, art is what fuels him. In his search for meaning in life, his thoughts, joy and trepidations get etched onto the digital canvas, which makes up for luxurious works of art. The art may be executed on a digital platform, but Jitto tries to bring in an analogue touch to it. For Jitto, art is all about passion. And each painting has some story ingrained in it. Although he creates art on varied themes, everything has a small story attached to it.

Each comes with a title, with the theme or story having a direct link to it.“There is always some plot that runs through each painting. I started giving small titles as well, which can help connect well with the readers. The inspiration mostly photographs. And I try to ensure the painting looks more like a photograph, with a realistic element to it, and not like a painting per se,” he says. His thoughts, experiences, childhood memories, dreams, everything pans out as paintings when he starts painting on the touch screen.

Jitto never had any formal training in art. Even whilst painting during his childhood days, he would try to bring in a three-dimensional twist to the art. “I would spend a lot of time just looking at paintings to see how the artist worked with the colours. And that is how I learnt,” says Jitto. “Art was always something I was passionate about. Now I am taking it forward in a digital form.”  

Jitto creates art on Microsoft Fresh Paint application. For someone who used to draw ever since he was young, the transition to the digital world happened by chance. And it was all self-taught. “It was after I got a job that I even bought a smartphone. And then I happened to see this application and started experimenting with the medium. Over time, I was able to create art with much perfection,” he says.
It has been four years since he started experimenting with the digital medium, uploading his paintings in the social media platform and Instagram handle @painting.stories.

It is mostly the afternoons when Jitto sits down to work. “The advantage is that I can take breaks if I want and then start off right from where I stopped when I get time. Moreover, you can work on the painting anywhere and even do the final touches wherever you are stationed at,” he says.

“I am very much into photography. And photographs inspire me. I try to bring in the real colour and texture, rather than putting out a digital image.”