Senior Visual Designer and watercolor artist. Two decades of design leadership. Eight years of devoted painting. Over 650 works and counting.
Learn to paint landscapes in watercolour with Mohanraj Kolathapilly, Kokuyo Camlin Art Ambassador. This beginner-friendly online workshop will guide you through the process one step at a time. Enquire for dates and enrolment details.
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Mohanraj K · Bangalore
I began with mechanical engineering — trained to understand systems, tolerances, and the elegant logic of how things work. That instinct for structure never left. It simply found a new language.
Over two decades I've led creative teams at global organisations, shaped brand identities, and designed experiences that balance beauty with function. Today, as Senior Manager of Creative Services at Eli Lilly, that work continues at scale.
But paint is where I go when the screen is off. On May 27, 2018, I picked up a brush and began painting landscapes in watercolor — the most spontaneous and alive of mediums. Kerala's misty highlands. Jodhpur's blue alleyways. Snow and silence. More than 650 works later, it is as essential as breathing.
The two lives are not separate. The same eye that reads hierarchy in a layout reads light in a landscape. Design and painting inform each other constantly.
Live feed from @mohan.paints on Instagram. Every new painting appears here automatically as it's posted.
Follow on Instagram ↗A few works shown in exhibitions and selected for international display.
Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore · 2021
Sold
Durbar Hall, Kochi · 2025
Available for sale
Selected for the International Watercolor Society exhibition, Turkey · 2022
Sold
David Hall, Kochi · 2022
Private collection
Durbar Hall, Kochi · 2025
Sold
A group exhibition and sale presented by Raksha Society and Aquarelle Kerala. Mohanraj joined fellow watercolourists in a show celebrating art and care.
A curated exhibition bringing together 14 artists across generations and professions. Open daily from 10 am to 8 pm. Mohanraj exhibited alongside the Niracharth artist group.
All India Inter KV Painting Competition, 1997.
Community Expert in the Camlin Art Community.
Shortlisted for the Camel Art Expert Program, April 2026.
Long before watercolor, there was the camera. Between 2007 and 2008, Mohanraj worked as designer and photographer for India Se, a Singapore-based magazine covering Indian culture and community life.
In that role, he covered events including the Soorya Festival, the Sindhi Sammelan, and a Zee TV event, and was official photographer when the Indian High Commission in Singapore hosted India's Independence Day — presided over by S. Jaishankar, then High Commissioner, now India's Minister of External Affairs.
His lens captured interviews with Madhur Jaffrey, Kishore Mahbubani, Kunal Basu, Rajeev Samant (Sula Vineyards), and Priyanka Chopra, among others.
On the sporting side, he was official photographer at the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup Final, Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi — the night India defeated Tajikistan 4-1 with Sunil Chhetri's hat-trick. He also photographed Ferroviária FC (Araraquara, São Paulo) during their India tour for the E.K. Nayanar Gold Cup in Kerala.
His photography earned 3rd place in a competition judged by the South Coast Camera Club, Victor Harbor, South Australia. Today that same observational eye finds its way into every watercolor landscape he paints.
View full archive on Flickr ↗
Paper is not just a surface — it is an active partner in every watercolor. Understanding cotton content, sizing, weight, and texture transforms how pigment behaves, how washes flow, and how long your work lasts. A deep dive into the material foundation of the medium.
Read on Hive Blog ↗
Water has no color and no shape — we can only paint its behavior. This essay explores the logic of reflections across still lakes, rippling rivers, and choppy seas, and how observing water's physics informs every brushstroke that attempts to capture it.
Read on Hive Blog ↗Recognised as a Community Expert within the Kokuyo Camlin art community — sharing knowledge, techniques, and the practice of watercolor with artists across India. Named a Camel Art Ambassador.
View Artist Profile ↗
Two decades leading creative teams, building brand systems, and designing digital experiences for global organisations. The day job and the studio practice are in constant conversation.
Original watercolors, limited prints, and greeting cards. Each piece a direct window into a landscape, a season, or a silent morning. Shipped worldwide from Bangalore.
MohanWatercolor on Etsy ↗Whether you're interested in a watercolor commission, featuring my work, inviting me to exhibit, or design collaboration — I'd love to hear from you.
