Forests Beyond Trees: A Simple Narrative for Artists on Forest Behaviour (Magunta Dayakar Art Class Series Book 17)

I am not a botanist.I am not a biologist.I am not an ecologist.I am not a conservationist.I am not an environmentalist.But for two decades, I have been painting imaginative forests — without ever walking inside one.I watched videos and movies and studied forests through different sources. Over time, I felt that I understood their essence and their behavior. I am sharing that understanding with artists who love to paint forests.Before closing this dialogue, I would like to share one incident.Usually, I am reluctant to visit tourist places — in fact, even to travel outside my own place. But twenty years ago, I went to a hill area at a friend’s invitation, a place popular with tourists. I stayed in my hotel room reading a book. My friend asked me to come sightseeing with him, but I said I was not interested.He said,“You are an artist. Isn’t it surprising that you are reluctant to see these beautiful locations?”He was right — but I told him why I was not interested.“I see them as more beautiful in my mind than in reality.”That was my answer. That is the way I look inward. That is why I never visited forests, even though I have painted them for two decades.At this moment, I would like to say one thing:Imagination is more beautiful than reality. Read more