April

This portrait of 'Guru Gobind Singh Ji' is the most important drawing I have done, as prior to this I had not done any religious artwork. I did this portrait of 'Guru Gobind Singh Ji' in February 2014 as a gift for my local gurdwara in Leyton (London) from myself and my mother Shkinder Kaur, as thanks and good luck for the years ahead in a new career as a freelance artist.

After finishing this portrait of 'Guru Gobind Singh Ji', I had an overwhelming urge to do more artwork. It was almost like a dam had burst and my imagination was running wild with ideas. Over the following year, with the advice of my mother, I completed another twenty Sikhi art pieces. A year later in February 2015, I decided to do another portrait of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, but this time with him holding his baby son. This depiction of Guru Gobind Singh Ji is when he was about 22, when he had his first son Baba Ajit Singh, who is shown about 3-4 months old.

As Sikhs know, Guru Gobind Singh Ji had four sons, who were all martyred at a young age. This drawing was quite emotional for me, as it is a more informal and intimate portrayal of a father and son bonding. I was trying to capture the love between a parent and a child.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji's eldest two sons, Baba Ajit Singh Ji and Jujhar Singh Ji, were martyred while fighting in the battle of Chamkaur in 1704. They were just 18 and 14 years old, respectively. A few months later in 1705, Guru Gobind Singh's youngest two sons, Sahibzade Zarowar Singh, aged 9, and Fateh Singh, aged 7, were executed by being bricked up alive by the Moghul rulers. Guru Gobind Singh Ji himself died a few years later in 1708 at the age of 41.

Although this drawing is of Guru Gobind Singh Ji and his eldest son Baba Ajit Singh Ji as a baby, it also symbolises his relationship with all his sons.