Today we’d like to introduce you to Lakshmikant Gupta.
Hi Lakshmikant, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m a late-blooming artist. I was born in India to middle class parents. Ever since I was a child, I would pick up magazines and, using my school pencils and paper, draw the faces of people I found interesting. I continued doing this well into my teens. Then it all faded away when I went to college, eventually did an MBA, and started working corporate jobs thereafter. Now, for the last six years, I have come back to my first love – art – to make it my main vocation. I work with various mediums like color pencils, graphite pencils and charcoal, pastels as well as oil paints.
While still working, 13 years ago, I taught myself to draw color pencil portraits by watching youtube videos. Since as a kid I was good at drawing faces with graphite pencils, using color pencils for portraits was a smooth transition for me. To expand my horizons, after retiring from corporate work, I went to an art school to do a diploma in fine art; that is where I learnt to do oil paintings. Now I do art fulltime, experimenting with various mediums to express myself.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Art is not an easy career to build. But I am at an early stage of this, my second career. It’s difficult to get the attention of connoisseurs of art as a newcomer, even though I have attained a good level of proficiency at my work. Art galleries do not take you so seriously if you don’t have a trained background in fine arts. One goes to exhibitions, competes in juried shows and tries to market oneself on social media , but it’s not easy to sell. That said, I’m also fortunate that some of my art has been able to find their homes in a number of countries.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Art seems like such a natural extension of me, I cannot imagine what I would do if not draw and paint. Humans – their grace, their foibles, their vulnerability, their beauty – they all appeal to me in a way that I feel an inward urge to draw them. I love getting into details – things that many people may not even notice. And pencils allow me the freedom to go as deep as I want to into big and small details. It is the details that pull people in towards my artwork to see more, watch more closely.
Over time I have gone from literal study of the human face to more of interpreting the psychology of the human. While I still do portraits as commissioned work, my thematic work has evolved to drawing unsaid expressions of how people carry themselves – their gestures, their placement of hands, what they wear – all these things tell a story. And that is what my art is trying to study and express. Hence, in several of my pictures you may not see faces, yet the drawing would be expressive.
I love the way people respond to some of my work when I am at exhibitions. Because I do realistic artwork, they are unexpected for many people. As they slowly walk by, they stop, stare and go closer, and then they turn to ask me, “You’ve made this?” I love this interaction with everyone who appreciates my work.
I arrived to live in the USA only a couple of years ago, but it feels wonderful how the artist fraternity has embraced my work. I’m proud to have received a few accolades – 2nd prize at Hill Centre Galleries 2026 Regional Juried Show in Washington DC, got selected by Made in VA 2026 Biennial exhibition at Virginia MOCA, and among the few artists selected by Fairfax Spotlight on the Arts exhibition in 2026. Grateful for all this!
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I preferred to do things in solitude even as a child. Some of my best memories are of me lying stomach down on the floor of our house and working for hours on a pencil artwork. And when that piece would be finished I would nail it to a wall for everyone to admire. When I was 12 years old, I went for an inter-school art competition, and unexpectedly won 2nd prize amongst hundreds of children. That’s a memory to be cherished.
Pricing:
- My artwork prices range from a very affordable $150 going up to more than $3000. There’s something for everyone..
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.Lkguptaart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lk_gupta?igsi=b3YzZGcxNHYxdWZ3
