This Instagram Artist Uses Watercolor Paintings to Highlight Social Issues

As Pablo Picasso once said, ‘every child is an artist.’

Fatimah Nadeem, is a self-taught painter from Karachi. Her paintings, which include her depictions of social and religious issues, have gone viral over Instagram.

Fatimah’s watercolor paintings have earned her a sizable following, especially with the choice of materials she uses to convey emotions in her creations.

” Zainab, a name that resonates through the universe, a flower that wilted too soon, an innocent life paid for a heinous crime, a life summed up in one headline. I dedicated this piece to Zainab, a Daughter of Pakistan. I represented her as a delicate flower, out of reach, wilting”.

Flashing back all the way to her childhood, Fatimah tells a tale about how her journey as an artist took shape. She remembers that her journey started with just dried out paints and scrap calendar paper. She relied on them to practice her craft, and to become what she is today.

” I developed my interest in flowers which led me to creating this piece”.

‘My Sunday morning routine for years, as a child, was to set up my paints and brushes and paint out sceneries and abstract art behind calendars.’ – Fatimah

As for how she goes about her work, she usually has a good idea about what colors to use beforehand, as most painters do. She says that for her, deleting out colors from her pieces is unacceptable.

” With this piece of work I just played along with my muse of colors and shapes”.

‘My greatest inspiration comes from colors. A luster or shade or even a new color sets my creativity working. I love bright colors, and I’m particular drawn to blue shades.’ – Fatimah

“Inspired by a dark and mystic theme, one of my earliest masterpiece where I incorporated the sea into my art style”

 

“This was inspired by a nature shoot.”

She says that the biggest challenge for her was figuring out the right mediums to work with comfortably. There are so many mediums in the world – from watercolors to oil paints to color pencils, even coffee stains, and fruits, like strawberries – that it gives artists more opportunities and ways to express themselves.

‘There is so much variety to choose from, all you have to do is use your imagination.’ – Fatimah

“This is a Color Journal I created where I can play with colors. The shades, vibrancy and luster of colors greatly influences what I draw or paint.”

 

Silent Blue. ” One of my favorite abstract illustrations that I did using various tints and shades of blue”.

 

“My very first acrylic masterpiece. I fell in love with the vibrancy and texture of acrylics while exploring mediums. I like to call it Breaking Free“.

A perfect blend of paints and picking out the exact tints and shades to work with, this young artist knows how to command her paint brushes and have them dance along to her muse.

“This work was inspired by my love for books and tea. The quotes in the background are from one of my favorite books ‘A Place Called Here’ by Cecelia Ahern.”

She says her favorite medium is watercolors due to its simple techniques. She started painting watercolor galaxies since she is very much intrigued by stars and what lies beyond them.

“This was inspired by a story I wrote on Wattpad that revolves around the idea of a parallel universe behind mirrors”.

Later on, she branched out to florals and abstracts. She also started experimenting with acrylics and fell in love with the vibrancy and texture of the medium.

“Visiting the Badshahi Mosque once, I fell in love with its architecture. That visit inspired me to paint it.”

Her work also incorporates words and quotes where, according to her belief, lies the emotion of an author or a poet.

‘Words inspire me to paint using certain colors, objects, and shapes that go well with them.’ – Fatimah

To Him and Him only. “Art is a way of reconnecting. I used one of my journals to dedicate each spread to one Quranic Ayah to not only remind of Allah SWT but also reconnect with Deen”.
“This one is called Heartless inspired by a book by Marissa Meyer”.

 

‘Art is like a safe haven for me, it has been that one thing that I turn to when I have had a bad day’. – Fatimah

To Fatimah, art isn’t just therapeutic. It has also changed who she is as a person.

“Being a niqabi myself, this was for an online campaign called #Handsoffherniqab, to fight the niqab ban around the world. It also got featured in a online Magazine alongside other artists. Basically, it represents the power of modesty”.

She claims that it was her art that taught her to love herself and be confident.

‘During my early teens, there was a point in my life where I had no self-identity. Thus, the day I picked up my brush again, I knew that this is the real me.’ – Fatimah.

Prayer, the most powerful weapon of every Muslim”.

Although she’s self-taught, Fatimah’s love for colors and paints has helped her find her identity in this world.

You can check out the rest of her work here.


Get Alerts

Follow ProPakistani to get latest news and updates.


ProPakistani Community

Join the groups below to get latest news and updates.



>