A Ceiling Full Of Stars And More: Five Mumbai Artists Who Can Transform Your Home

‘I fail at serious things miserably,’ says Pranita with a loud laugh as she talks about her art.

Using bright and happy colours, Pranita loves adding life to still things, especially wall. As a self-taught illustrator and graphic design student, she finds that she is often just in front of the sceen, and going out there and painting the largest canvas there is – a wall – helps her break the monotony and just destress.

The first wall mural she made was to warn {and ward off} visitors in her building by alerting them with a cute terrace sign. Now, she’ll do anything from typography on your wall with a saying or word of your choice, or illustrations you would otherwise find inside a a gorgeous book.

All you have to do is contact Pranita, talk about what you want and what you don’t want. For an average-sized wall, depending on the amount of work, the cost could be between INR 35,000-80,000.

Email her at pranita.kocharekar@gmail.com and take a look at her other works here.

Material used: simple wall paints for indoor spaces and oil-based paints for terrace areas.

A Vespa that had driven off most of its colour, doors that were crumbling over and wardrobes just creaking in need of a makeover – Giresh Jaiswal has painted over them all. So what’s a wall to him? Or for that matter – even a ceiling?

An illustrator and an artist who graduated from JJ College of Arts, Jaiswal has been painting professionally for over eight years now, having gotten into making murals and painting walls quite early on in the game.

He tells LBB that he likes working on different surfaces, and working on a different style each time, be it beautiful Mughal paintings with the intricacies, or a light watercolour work you’ve only seen on paper, a galaxy night time ceiling or a caricature-filled wall. These projects have been for heady restaurant owners with specific needs, adorable mothers hoping to surprise their children or well, you.

Have something very specific in mind for your wall? Speak to him. Have nothing at all in mind? Even better.

The price depends case to case with each project and each style and scale of work. The cost per square feet can be INR 400–1,200.

Give him a call on +91 8976297566 and check more of his artwork here.

Materials used: depends on each style of art, although for indoor projects it is mostly a good base and then acrylic water-based colours.

When asked about what she likes painting most, Preetal Dongre talks of her connection with nature. ‘Humans are happiest around trees’, and she loves using these in fluid concepts in her wall murals.

A digital art, illustrations and graphics student and compulsive headphone-while-working wearer, Preetal Dongre works on walls for her daily dose of inspiration. In the past, she has worked on yoga studios, hair salons, outdoor walls and indoor residences.

Her most interesting project till now was when she was asked to paint a wall in one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Pune called Kasba Peth, and the walls looked like they would crumble down any moment.

The fee charge really depends on the work, but can range anything between INR 15,000–1 lakh.

Get in touch with her through her Facebook page here.

Materials used: acrylic paints on interior surfaces and spray paints on outside walls.

Wallcano was set up in 2009 by Arshad Sayyed with one idea: every wall has a story. This design agency has since then splashed the walls of major brands in the country: Flipkart, Myntra, and more with their ideas and brands. They don’t exclusively work with brands, however, you can have their colourful and vibrant artwork on your wall as an expression of yourself, if you so wish.

Recalling a funny incident, Arshad laughs when he remembers one project in which he had to paint a caricature room owner’s face on top on the body of a superhero. Never again, he says.

Their fees is absolutely dependent on what the work is and the scale of it. The minimum fees is INR 50,000 and there is separate design and execution fee.

Check out Wallcano on their website here or call Arshad on 9172123108.

Materials used: acrylics and oil paints

Taarika, an illustrator from Cochin who now hustles in bustling Mumbai, made her first wall mural on two accounts, a. on a request by her dad and b. to fill up her time on a holiday back home.

This large mural covered the garage walls and is very floral and leafy, including illustrations of Indian women. Her art largely hangs on her observations of people around her, and a lot of faces. Her art style tends to be more line-artsy, using flat colours and drawing in 2D. For her murals, she likes to involve the physical space in her art, like the windows as rests for her illustrations, for example.

If you want her to liven up your space, email her at taarika.john@gmail.com and check out more of her other work on her page here and her website here.

For a rough estimate of the cost, an indoor mural of a similar style as the secret garden mural on a 10 x 12 sq. ft wall would cost you around INR 20,000–25,000, not including the material cost.

Materials used: for indoor surfaces, emulsion paint.