A Masterpiece in the making – Watercolourist Devina

Super talented and very humble, Devina is an artist whose success has taken off with her growing social media presence and beautiful artworks. With over 900 posts of stunning paintings on her Instagram feed, Devina’s journey is a testament to how hard work and consistency always pays off.Hailing from Jaipur, young Devina was always attracted to arts and crafts. Her school days were spent observing teachers and students paint, and from there stems her passion for painting and all things colourful. While her talent matched this passion, she recalls how she never managed to pursue art throughout her education. Her family always advised her to study business instead. So, she ended up pursuing a degree in B-Com while keeping the arts and crafts on pause. She laughs as she recounts the next stage of her life – getting married at the young age of 21. 

Devina started wanting to paint again and began to feel frustrated as she didn’t know what to do. Her husband finally encouraged her to start painting. Initially, she was hesitant as her in-laws weren’t too keen on the idea. However, she was able to persuade them and promised to manage her duties while working on her art simultaneously. Eventually, she started painting again. Her 7-year-old son also was a big inspiration to her, and he kept encouraging her to paint more. Soon the Instagram page, Artfolio by Devina, was born. This was her platform to showcase all her paintings.Devina’s primary medium of art is watercolour, but she can also handle acrylics, calligraphy, and crafts from household items too! She learned new techniques from YouTube and loved to add her own twists to the paintings. Her biggest inspiration is the sky. Devina draws inspiration from the colours and shapes of the sky, as well as the energy from happy and positive people around her. She tells us how her initial year on Instagram was slow, and she didn’t have many followers. But she didn’t mind it because her main goal was just to paint and improve her skills. However, slowly she began to feel the pressure of growing her social media presence.“In the back of my mind, I started to think what’s the point?” says Devina. However, things changed with one post of a simple blue flower. “I still don’t know why this simple painting got attention,” laughs Devina. 

From there on, she slowly started to gain followers and also get requests to purchase her paintings. Her first order was from a customer who wanted to gift a friend 20 paintings of scenic pictures of their childhood. “She asked me if I sell paintings. I said if you want to purchase, then I will.” Devina never really thought of selling her work until that first request. Now she designs logos, book covers, and much more. She even started conducting workshops that were initially challenging, but she claims that they were a great experience. She discovered how satisfying it was to share knowledge and teach people. When asked about her future, Devina’s answer was quite inspiring. She says that her priority is to keep improving her skills. She doesn’t feel like attempting bigger things until she grows as an artist. Her three steps to improve and grow consistently are working hard, buying the right supplies and, most importantly, practicing. “Art as a hobby is expensive, so you need the courage to start,” she says. With over 25k followers, we can safely say that Devina’s courage has paid off. Her beautiful art continues to inspire, and she hopes to participate and win many contests in the future.