Starting from when she was very young, art has always been a part of Jagruthi Radhakrishna’s life. Her formal art journey began with drawing classes in high school.
Now that I look back at all my sketches and paintings from before, I’ve always loved painting nature, animals, and figurines.
When Jagruthi came back to art in December 2021, she knew very little about how the art world worked, and decided to create an Instagram account for artistic inspiration. After a while, Jagruthi started posting a few of her own paintings.
The rest is history – and, additionally, mathematics. Less than four years from the day Jagruthi decided to reconnect with art, the Instagram page that was initially meant just as a means to follow other artists has exploded in popularity. With more than 107,000 followers on Instagram (as of November 2025) and 10+ posts exceeding 100K views each (and one sitting pretty at 1.7M views), fans of her work share how positively they are impacted by the dreamy, magical, otherworldly, nature-centric quality of her work that is rooted in femininity, with both Indian and Romantic influences.
(below) “Vana Sundari”
But it wasn’t always linear, or easy, or conventional.
For almost a decade after high school, Jagruthi stopped creating art. She might never have rediscovered this core part of her life if not for the motivation of one of her close friends, who pointed out that she had unlimited artistic potential.
Spurred on by his encouragement, she started creating art again in late 2021, and began sharing her paintings with the world. Her oil paintings feel like portals to other worlds; she invites you to spend as long as you want in those magical parallel dimensions and ground yourself within the calm of nature.
Shakuntala’s Grove
“Shakuntala’s Grove” brings together all the themes for which Jagruthi’s work is renowned: her celebration of and depiction of femininity, the mystical natural setting seen in its most captivating form, the fusion of visual themes from across cultures and continents: rooted in Indian culture and rendered with elements from both Romantic and Indian art, particularly that of Raja Ravi Varma.
The story of Shakuntala is ancient; it was first detailed in the Indian epic poem Mahabharata and later had its own epic poem (Abhijnanashakuntalam) dedicated to one of the most determined and enduring heroines of Indian epic tradition.
Shakuntala was the daughter of the great sage Vishwamitra and Menaka the celestial nymph. After she was abandoned as a baby, the hermit-sage Kanva found her surrounded by Shakunta birds and gave her her name (Shakuntala means: the one protected by Shakunta birds).
She grew up in the deep forests near the foothills of the Himalayas under sage Kanva’s care, the early part of her life was spent in the unspoiled natural beauty of the jungle. Various poets and artists have described and rendered the peacocks, flowers, and deer that attended her as she frolicked in nature.
She wore simple clothing, jewellery made out of flowers and loved wandering around the forest with her pet deer and her friends. She had a deep respect for nature and she only collected flowers that had fallen to the ground instead of plucking fresh flowers. She waited for the plants to offer flowers naturally, treated plants and trees as her own sisters. How selfless is her love!
Raja Ravi Varma was the most famous Indian artist of the 19th century; his depictions of Indian traditional stories and his innovation in providing prints of his work ensured that millions of families across the country had at least one artwork of his hanging on their walls. Jagruthi has always loved Raja Ravi Varma’s work; she resonates with the celebration of femininity in his art, and feels a kinship with the deep harmony and calm that his paintings evoke in her.
Raja Ravi Varma, too, created multiple works featuring Shakuntala and depicting various moments from her life. Jagruthi has always been inspired by this series of his, as well as more general themes related to Raja Ravi Varma’s work, such as his depiction of his paintings’ subjects, elevated to the status of heroines. He also painted people he knew well and loved, including his own daughters and close relatives (another parallel with Jagruthi’s work; see our mini-feature on her painting “Night Dreaming” later on in this article.
I wanted to portray this phase of her life (which I love the most), where she enjoyed her time in the forest with her forest friends, collecting flowers and frolicking around.
As one of Jagruthi’s most elaborate and detailed pieces, and as one whose topic she had always held very dear to her heart, “Shakuntala’s Grove” took almost three months of on-and-off work, a total of 190 hours, from September to December 2024.
Before she started, Jagruthi had a basic idea of the painting. She knew she wanted to paint deer and birds, some trees, fallen flowers and hills in the background. She sketched out a few compositions before deciding on one that she loved. After sketching it out on the panel, she started with the underpainting – an especially important step for this particular piece, because of how detailed it was.
One of the things that everyone notices about “Shakuntala’s Grove” is how lovingly the world is crafted; it looks real, like somewhere you wish you could teleport to. Jagruthi took inspiration from various Pinterest-sourced scenic photos to create a harmonious backdrop. For Shakuntala, she took reference photos herself to select the best posture for the painting. She added a few small details here and there while introducing colour to the underpainting by the method of glazing layer by layer.
There are so many things about “Shakuntala’s Grove” that are exceptional; but here are just a few:
Nature and Harmony: Every aspect of nature depicted in the painting is in harmony with every other aspect. The deer are unafraid; one approaches Shakuntala, back arched, asking to be petted, and the others drink from a stream, unafraid of predators or hunters. The peacock pecks at the earth, and leaves and earth and stone provide a calm backdrop against which all the other living beings in the painting can be their most relaxed selves.
Shakuntala Herself: If we could all choose the best place to grow up, it would surely be in an unspoiled forest overlooked by the most majestic mountains on Planet Earth, with animal friends to play with at any time, a life unburdened by care, filled with calm and fragrance and laughter. Shakuntala seems like the spirit of the forest incarnate.
Detailing and the Infinite Zoom: Fractals are special because you can keep zooming into them and discovering more and more layers of intricate, beautiful detail at every scale. Of course, “Shakuntala’s Grove” is not a fractal painting, but it is one that repays closer inspection. Every second of the 190 hours spent on the painting went into making the magical world real; just as you can marvel at the beauty of nature when seen up close, you can see that same detailed wondrous symmetry in the magic mirror of Jagruthi’s painting.
Infinite Grace: Every plant, every animal in “Shakuntala’s Grove” is graceful. Even the trees arrange their boughs as if they had posed carefully for an important photograph. The painting reminds us how wonderful Mother Nature can be spontaneously, without even needing to try.
“Shakuntala’s Grove” is a magnum opus; we can’t wait to see if Jagruthi one day creates her own series of paintings depicting Shakuntala, just like Raja Ravi Varma did.
Jagruthi’s Story
Jagruthi works a full time job in the fashion industry. She is able to balance her career as a visual artist with that job because of her passion for art; she has always loved to create. As an introvert, she is never happier than when she is at home dreaming up the next magical painting. Jagruthi recognizes the importance of her support system; her family and friends have made it possible for her to not only consider her career path as an artist, but to make it a reality.
I love creating an emotional stillness with my subjects, as if they’re part of nature. Motivation flows through me when I see paintings and artists putting their work out there. The works of Raja Ravi Varma, Annie Stegg, and from the 19th Century Pre-Raphaelite Romanticism school are my biggest inspirations.
As with any other artist, Jagruthi’s journey to her current success hasn’t been without setbacks. In 2023, she experienced the longest period of art block in her career, triggered by a phase where a few videos of her work went viral on social media. This temporarily shifted her focus to racking up high view counts and likes, and that had an adverse affect on her will and interest and motivation to create. The pressure to post every step of her work to Instagram, and to post regularly, is something that she has since overcome, and she saw her art block vanish as soon as she focused on the painting process again.
And there have also been dazzling triumphs. Jagruthi will never forget the moment when she sold her first painting. Before she started, she had never expected to sell even one. She still remembers the feeling of euphoria, and how she was over the moon for days!
Night Dreaming
“Night Dreaming” is a magical portrait of Jagruthi’s sister. She was Jagruthi’s first muse: the subject of her first portrait in oil. Just like Raja Ravi Varma, Jagruthi often takes inspiration for portraits from those who are closest to her.
We share a deep connection with each other, we’re basically like twins and I love painting her! One day I sat her down to take some pictures and I loved one of the photos. It looked like she was day dreaming about something/someone close to her.
Jagruthi usually plans every major element of her paintings in advance, and there are only small edits made in real time during the painting phase. But “Night Dreaming” was special; one artistic decision made it feel even more mystical and oneiric.
When I was sketching for the composition I wanted to bring a magical atmosphere to the painting. I decided on a night time scene but then chose a greenish hue for the sky. It looks otherworldly, like she’s in the dream that she’s dreaming.
Any work of art that features an item of jewelry usually draws your eyes to the sparkling jewel before anything else. “Night Dreaming” has three focus points: the subject of the painting, the moon, and the blue jewel; it is a testament to how well Jagruthi brings her portraits to life and how realistically she portrays natural elements that the jewel is not the most visually captivating thing in the painting.
The most enduring works of art are those that have an enigmatic quality to them; for example, hundreds of millions of artists, scholars, poets, and laypeople have wondered what thoughts lie behind Mona Lisa’s smile. “Night Dreaming” is similar, but it fills you with a sense of peace, as you, too, think contented thoughts, like those that go through your mind late at night as you drift into sleep, knowing that the next day is a holiday, and that you can sleep in.
Looking at someone who is thinking happy thoughts has therapeutic value. Gazing at “Night Dreaming” transports you, funnily enough, to every pleasant daydream that you have ever had, and conveys a little of how much fun it is to lose yourself in thoughts, to empty your mind of its stresses and worries and to just fill it with happy memories, half-formed hopes for the future, and tendrils of love for the person you’re thinking about.
“Night Dreaming” will make you wish you could live in the world of the painting. After all, which of us would not want to be alone in a forest glade at midnight, bathed in the green light of a mystical moon, caressed by the gentle breezes that stir every leaf on every branch ever so slightly?
Treasure Hunt
This whimsical oil painting on a circular piece of wood depicts a little mouse using a lamp to look for food.
Illustrations with animals and ideas for portraits all come from the same approach. I look at art and imagine myself or an animal doing things.
Jagruthi’s studio is open to the elements. That makes it airy and well-ventilated, but it also means that birds and mice get in and take shelter. She usually traps them and releases them far away, but one day she started thinking about the mouse’s quest – from the mouse’s point of view. The thought grew and grew till it took on the magical qualities that Jagruthi’s imagination is so good at lending to the conventional. From the starting point of thinking about mice coming into her studio to search for food, she wondered what it would look like if they had little lights to guide them as they searched for their most precious resource, their version of treasure: food.
Perhaps the most notable feature about “Treasure Hunt” is its wealth of detail. It is relatively small: the circular piece of wood used for the painting is just 8 inches in diameter. But even with that, the tiny paws of the mouse have been painted with loving care, and every ray of light that emanates from the lamp, every glowing blade of grass, every one of the hundreds of leaves that reflect the light into a thousand points of brilliance are unique and intricately detailed. There is a parallel to be drawn between how a small painting can be extremely detailed and how tiny systems in nature are full of an infinity of worlds to discover.
The titles of Jagruthi’s pieces always fit well, and they’re usually short and sweet. But that’s not by coincidence, but by design: the names usually come to her half way through the process, or sometimes at the very end. She writes down all the name options for a given painting, and ends up choosing the one that she feels resonates most deeply. In this case, it fits the whimsical mood perfectly, and also recalls a little of the magic we all felt the first time we searched for hidden treasure (of whatever kind).
Light plays an important role in this painting. First, there are the reflected gleams in the little mouse’s eyes. They convey its excitement at finding the food that will fill its tiny belly: at least, until it’s famished again in a couple of hours. The lamp lends its golden glow to every aspect of nature seen, and turns the green of the leaves and grass into burnished gold, a handy visual reminder of the color of treasure.
The painting is as rich in cuteness as it is in potential treasure for the mouse. The subject of the painting, of course, is a magnet for the “aww” sound made by anyone who sees it, chubby, tiny, doing human things, holding a perfectly-sized lamp, dapper (with carefully brushed fur), purposeful. Even those who might scream in real life at the sight of a mouse cannot fear this one. And then there’s the setting: the enchanted miniature forest. And the craft of the lamp itself: the hoop from which it hangs makes it instantly 50% cuter.
When we were children, we were really good at imagining surreally wonderful scenarios like a mouse taking the initiative to find a light source so as to find delicious food more efficiently. “Treasure Hunt” helps us rediscover that childish sense of wonder, that youthful whimsy.
Process
Jagruthi follows these steps while creating most of her pieces:
1. Concept: Jagruthi finds inspiration everywhere, and her brain transmutes seemingly banal everyday things into actions of magic in a fantasy realm that she creates anew with every painting.
For example, there’s this new painting that I’m starting that inspired me when I saw a woman drying her hair. I imagined myself sitting inside an enchanted forest drying my hair after an early morning bath. I can’t wait to bring this idea to life!
2. Composition: Jagruthi always makes multiple rough sketches based on her initial concept. Over time, she sees them align with her vision as she perfects the composition.
3. Colour Choices: Once the sketch is finalized, Jagruthi lays down the sketch on the board, before painting a thin wash of raw umber to neutralize the white panel. This helps her understand the colours and their interplay better.
4. Underpainting: Especially if a painting has a large number of details (based on her initial sketches and plans), Jagruthi creates an underpainting, ensuring that her entire vision for the piece is transferred to the final canvas.
5. Painting: Finally, Jagruthi executes her vision, and makes small adjustments in real time, particularly ones related to complementary colours.
Nature and its Uniqueness
The natural settings that elevate Jagruthi’s art to the sublime are never relegated to the status of backgrounds or backdrops. Nature is always a main character in her paintings, and her work reflects not only the visual beauty of nature, but also its infinite uniqueness. We have heard that every snowflake is different from every other snowflake, but the same is also true for leaves. And the leaves that Jagruthi creates on canvas are marvels of geometry; even when they have relatively simple shapes, they are a pleasure to behold.
And this main character energy isn’t just limited to marvelous leaves with multiple leaflets symmetrically arranged; even grass is lovingly rendered. The blades of grass in Jagruthi’s paintings form a natural carpet fit for a queen, a forest nymph, a deity. And they reflect back the light that falls on them into a thousand tiny points, creating a million jewels resting on the forest floor whenever the sun or the moon (or a tiny mouse’s lamp) sends a ray of light their way.
We are constantly reminded, while looking at Jagruthi’s art, that the simplicity of nature lends itself to the most elegant adornment. The flowers in the hair of her paintings’ subjects are just as beautiful as the necklaces they wear. The soft richness of the fabric of their saris are not more silky than the velvety textures of the leaves pictured. Magic is in nature, and in closeness to nature, and in simple things like rest and dreams and deep thoughts and love and laughter and play.
The Role of Social Media
Even though Jagruthi’s Instagram page is now a social media phenomenon, with more than 107K followers, she started where everyone else does: at zero. Her first reel that went viral wasn’t of any of her oil paintings, but of a textured art piece, a format that she doesn’t do any more. But it felt special, and her social media reach increased exponentially as more and more people discovered her work.
But her social media success was a huge silver lining that brought a cloud with it. Looking back on that time, Jagruthi definitely feels that the numbers got to her head, and she spent more time filming her process and posting her work than she would like. As she spent less time creating, Jagruthi realized that she didn’t want to obsess over her social media presence.
I post whenever I feel like, taking my time and putting out good quality work. I do work hard to put out my paintings on social media but my life doesn’t revolve around it anymore.
Jagruthi now has a very healthy relationship with her art’s social media presence; she’s always grateful for the support she gets on there, and for all the love her pieces receive. A quick survey of her page and of the comments shows that they reflect the best of social media: people coming together to share how they are positively impacted by the otherworldly mystical nature of Jagruthi’s work, and about how they are inspired to reconnect with nature and with their inner selves after discovering her paintings.
The Bright Side: Gratitude and Moving People through Art
Jagruthi is eternally grateful to her family, her partner, and her friends. All of these people have played a crucial role in her art journey. She couldn’t possibly ask for a better support system.
In less than four years since she returned to art, Jagruthi has become a social media phenomenon. But she is happiest that she has been able to get better at her craft, constantly learning and growing as an artist.
In the near future, she would love to realize her dream of a solo exhibition, one where she can showcase her work and carry on her ongoing representation of Indian culture.
As someone who creates art that touches people deeply, and that transports them to a realm of magic and harmony with nature, Jagruthi is always humbled and positively impacted whenever anyone leaves a kind comment or shares with her anything related to their experience with her art.
For example, a school teacher from the United States recently reached out to her via social media, and explained how they had used her work as a case study in Art class, focusing on her profession as an artist to teach important lessons (not only in art, but in life) about persistence and consistency.
Realising that something that I created has the ability to inspire people half way across the world was an extremely overwhelming feeling, it will always be something that I’m grateful for.
Links
Jagruthi Radhakrishna: Website: https://www.jagruthiradhakrishna.com/.
Jagruthi Radhakrishna: Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/jagruthi_radhakrishna_art.