What began as intricate patterns in the back pages of college notebooks eventually took Disha Daga to major brands, the RBI and thousands of students through her mandala art.

Disha Daga did not begin with a plan to become a professional artist. In 2016, while studying in college, she started filling the back pages of her notebooks with intricate patterns after discovering mehendi designs on Pinterest. She had no formal training in art and, at the time, did not even know that the patterns she was drawing were called mandalas. She simply enjoyed making them and kept returning to the practice.

Over time, those drawings became more than something she did between classes.

From Notebook Pages to Her First Commission

The turning point came during the 2020 pandemic, when Disha moved beyond paper and painted a mandala on a wall in her home. She shared the work online, and the response introduced her to something she had not initially expected: people began approaching her for commissioned artwork.

Her first commercial project came in August 2021.

That marked the beginning of a professional journey under the name Disha Draws. What had started as an informal creative habit was gradually becoming a business built around her artwork.

Since then, Disha has worked on commissioned projects for clients across different industries. Her portfolio has included work for a consumer electronics company, a global automobile manufacturer, an investment firm and the Reserve Bank of India’s Pune office. Her artwork has also reached clients and audiences in countries including Malaysia, Thailand and the United States.

The scale of those opportunities changed, but the foundation remained the same practice that began in her college notebooks.

When Art Became a Profession

The more interesting part of Disha’s journey is not simply the list of organisations that have commissioned her work. It is what happened when a personal creative practice became a profession.

Working independently means that an artist is also responsible for many things that have little to do with drawing. Finding clients, communicating with them, negotiating fees, managing projects, meeting expectations and dealing with inconsistent income all become part of the job.

Disha has spoken about the importance of understanding this side of creative work. For independent artists, talent can open the first door, but building a sustainable career also requires an understanding of how creative work functions as a business.

That shift in mindset is often difficult for artists who begin with a passion for making things. The work is personal, but once clients become involved, it also has timelines, budgets, negotiations and responsibilities.

Disha’s experience reflects that transition from simply being an artist to learning how to work as one professionally.

Building Beyond Her Own Artwork

Her work has also expanded into education.

Through workshops, Disha has introduced mandala art to students and learners, with her workshops reaching more than 25,000 students according to her account. This has given her creative practice another dimension, allowing her to teach the process that she once discovered independently.

It also reflects the way her relationship with art has changed over the years. What began as something she learned through experimentation eventually became something she could teach to others.

For someone who had no formal art education when she started, that progression is significant.

Knowing When to Step Away

There is another part of Disha’s career that is less visible than finished artwork and client lists: knowing when not to create.

Creative professions can create pressure to constantly produce. Every commission comes with expectations, and every finished project can create pressure to begin the next one.

Disha has chosen to protect the quality of her work by sometimes turning down commissions when she feels she cannot produce something at the standard she expects from herself. She also takes time away from the work when necessary.

That decision is part of the discipline of an independent creative career. Saying yes to every opportunity may bring more work in the short term, but protecting the creative process can be just as important for building a sustainable practice.

A Career Built One Pattern at a Time

Disha Daga’s journey does not suggest that every hobby can automatically become a profession. Her experience shows something more practical.

A creative career can develop gradually through consistent practice, sharing the work, responding to opportunities and learning the parts of the profession that have little to do with making the artwork itself.

The drawings that once occupied the back pages of her college notebooks eventually became commissioned projects, international work, educational workshops and collaborations with established organisations.

There was no formal plan behind the first mandala. There was simply the decision to keep drawing.

Years later, that consistency has become the foundation of Disha Daga’s creative career.

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