Mysuru:  Both the brushes move magically on the 5ftX5ft black cardboard as he picks up the glue and starts painting using both hands, with music in the background, even as one watches mesmerised. In just three minutes, the portrait of the bust of the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel appears, as he throws the glitter on the black board and walks into the World Record India Books.

This is no mean feat and it is achieved by none other than the Mysuru artist Abhilash V. Kori, 24, who is now making waves at the national and international level with his glue-and-glitter painting art.

Abhilash had first painted the portrait of Sardar Patel on Jan.26 and uploaded it on his Facebook page. Taking note of it, the World Records India Chief Editor Pavan Solanki and his four-member team visited Abhilash at his Kuvempunagar residence on Jan.28.

He displayed his skills once again before the team and painted the portrait of Sardar Patel within three minutes using glue and glitter on the 5ftx5ft black card board thus creating a World Record.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Abhilash said that he had taken to this art about one-and-half years ago and tried his best to create a World Record which he achieved by painting the portrait of Sardar Patel in less than three minutes.

He also uses pencil, charcoal, ball pen to sketch figures and he does most of this on stage in the presence of the celebrities.

He has also drawn a 5ft.x4ft. portrait of Prime Minister Narendra Modi using charcoal and pencil (which he did during the PM’s visit to Mysuru but could not present it to him due to security reasons and he still has the portrait).

Other works include portraits of  Atal Bihari Vajpayee, MP Pratap Simha, Rashtrakavi Kuvempu, littérateur Champa, actors Srinath, Dr. Vishnuvardhan, Dali Dhananjay and Niveditha Gowda, comedian Pranesh, musicians Vasu Dixit and Chandan Shetty, and Police Officer Ravi D. Channannavar.

And all these he has done in colleges and corporate events besides he has exhibited his talents at Winter Festival at Mysore Palace in 2017 and Open Street Festival in 2018 on  Devaraj Urs Road.

Asked how long it takes for him to do these paintings, he said that it takes him an average of four minutes but the sketches he does takes about 30 minutes to one hour.

On what inspired him to do the portrait of Patel for the record, he said that he thought of it because of the installation of Statue of Unity, the world’s tallest statue of the iconic leader of the country and as it was Republic Day he thought of doing his (Patel’s) portrait. However, after he posted it on the Facebook, the team from World Records India asked him to cut down the time to within three minutes so that he could create a World Record. He practised and was able to achieve the feat, said Abhilash.

He uses glitter which is Chamki, a fine powder material that glitters on the canvas once it is sprinkled on the portraits bringing to life what he has conceived. It costs just Rs.5 for 10 grams. Glue is another material he uses to paint the portraits, he said.

He is also an amateur theatre artiste who has participated in more than 100 plays. He has also been a part of more than 20 Kamsale, Veeragase and Pujakunita folk dances and also been selected in the State Wrestling team.

“I have plans to enter the Guinness World Records also in the future,” he said.

Abhilash, who works as Associate Supervisor in Purchase Department in Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Mysuru, is the son of V.V. Kori and Usha Kori from Haveri district. He has a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering.

Head of L&T Metering Division Amit Kumar, his associates in the company and his parents have always been a source of inspiration for him, said Abhilash speaking about his achievements.