Thirty-two-year old speed painter Vilas Nayak brought thousands of spectators to a standstill as he used his bare hands to pay tribute to the soldiers killed in the avalanche on Siachen Glacier, at Nammoora Habba here recently.
Mr. Nayak, who can do portraits in a jiffy, has, over the years, floored many a celebrity on TV shows with his acrylic-on-canvas paintings. For instance, in AXN International’s Asia’s Got Talent , Mr. Nayak’s portrait of Heath Ledger — who immortalised the character of Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight — in two-and-a-half minutes had anchor David Foster buy it instantly for $1,200.
When football legend Pele was in New Delhi to take part in an event of the Indian Navy, Mr. Nayak drew a speed painting that prompted the retired Brazilian footballer to give him a hug. “I was moved when Pele hugged me and presented me a football,” he said. “I have also framed Abdul Kalam’s (former President) words to me after he saw one of his portrait that I had done. He wrote to me saying I have great imagination and a beautiful hand.”
A globetrotterMr. Nayak, who completed his Master’s in Social Work from the University of Mysore, calls American speed artist Denny Dent his inspiration. He has travelled to 23 countries to showcase his skills, and has drawn nearly 5,000 portraits, including those of Kannada film stars as well as Bollywood celebrities such as the Khans and Aishwarya Rai, who once congratulated him in Tulu. Then there are the portraits of cricket legends such as Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, who have expressed amazement at Mr. Nayak’s speed and clarity.
But for the young artist, what is truly gratifying is that he has often been able to use his skills for charitable causes. Once, he raised one lakh Singapore dollars at a charity show organised by the President of Singapore. The money went for the treatment of a child with cerebral palsy.
According to Mr. Nayak, he got into speed painting “just by chance”. His love for the brush made him quit a plum HR job at IBM five years ago. He would go on to showcase his skills to the world by participating in 370 reality shows in the years that followed. Interestingly, he is not trained in arts and his parents were not keen on him becoming a professional artist. But he says they are now proud that their son, as one of the few speed painters in the world, has carved a niche for himself.
Mr. Nayak doesn’t believe speed is everything when it comes to his art. “Your confidence and near-perfectionist talent come to the fore in such moments, and they give you the marks. I cannot go wrong and correct my mistakes during the shows that last only for a few minutes,” he says.
