It’s truly a labour of blood and sweat for Sangamesh Bagli. The 52-year-old drawing teacher from Jamkhandi has painted a stupendous 325 paintings and portraits, using his own blood as dye for the sketches. Sangamesh Bagli, employed with a state-run high school at Hosur village, and a resident of Jamkhandi town, stands apart from other professional painters for his choice of medium. Though he’s also done thousands of paintings in regular colours, he says his sketches in blood have left many people, including elected representatives and bureaucrats, speechless.
Sangamesh has used his blood to paint portraits of social reformers from the 12th century to the 21st century, freedom fighters who lived between 1857 and 1947, Bharat Ratna awardees, scientists, sports personalities and politicians, besides theme-based paintings on social issues. Sangamesh says he needs at least 15ml of blood for each portrait, and over 20ml for theme-based paintings. He and his family members claim that the loss of blood has never made him ill. After drawing blood for a painting, he takes a day to complete a portrait.
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