About

Hello, I'm Malavika.

I'm a painter and designer who works in two very different ways. By day, I design digital products where every pixel has a purpose. The rest of the time, I'm outside with a sketchbook and a travel palette, painting whatever the light is doing.

Painting on location at Lake Tahoe — the finished piece, in front of the thing itself.

Where it started

I grew up between Mumbai and Pune, two cities layered with centuries of history, color and noise. I was surrounded by generous art teachers, weekend painting groups and gallery walls, and I started painting seriously alongside my graphic design degree. I've never stopped doing both.

Painting on location

Today I live in Pleasanton, California, and it has given me a whole new set of subjects: golden hills that turn green each winter, vineyard rows, and the old storefronts of historic Main Street.

I paint en plein air whenever I can. Sitting in one spot for an hour, watching shadows shift and people pass, fixes a place in my memory in a way a photograph never does.

Every painting from life is a small record of being there.

What I make

I work in watercolor, gouache, oils and digital media, and I carve and hand-print linocuts. My subjects include California landscapes, coastal scenes, European streets and architecture, still life, portraits and hand lettering.

Design taught me structure. Painting is where I let go of it. I try to worry less about the outcome and follow where the medium and the subject take me. The result is work that feels loose and alive while still holding together as a composition.

Selected work

From the collections

Architecture, still life, lettering and landscape — the same subjects I paint from life, carried into the licensing collections.

Illustrated print of Solvang: a Danish windmill above half-timbered shopfronts. — Solvang · Destination California

Illustrated print of Santa Barbara: white stucco buildings with red tile roofs and palms. — Santa Barbara · Destination California

Illustrated print of Big Sur: the Bixby Creek bridge spanning a green headland. — Big Sur · Destination California

Illustrated print of Point Bonita: a lighthouse and footbridge on a dark sea cliff. — Point Bonita · Destination California

Still life of an olive oil jug, pasta shapes, olives, basil and a tomato. — Still life · Pasta Love

Hand-lettered print reading 'All you knead is pasta' in marigold yellow. — Hand lettering · Pasta Love

Hand-lettered print reading 'Chasing little wonders' in hot pink among violet flowers. — Hand lettering · Bloom & Believe

Symmetrical print of a magenta lotus flower crowned by two teal butterflies. — Botanical · Bloom & Believe

Seamless repeat of a hillside town of white houses with terracotta roofs. — Hillside town · Destination California

Seamless repeat of tomatoes, olives, basil and an oil jug on white. — Full-colour toss · Pasta Love

Seamless repeat of pink moths and violet butterflies among blue and purple flowers. — Butterfly garden · Bloom & Believe

Dense seamless repeat of coastal foliage in olive and moss on deep navy. — Coastal foliage · Destination California

See the full collections

Exhibitions & community

My work has been shown in group exhibitions in India and in galleries across the East Bay. I'm glad to be part of the Tri-Valley arts community, painting alongside local artists and sharing what I've learned.

Short bio — for press, listings and pitches

Malavika Oak is a painter, printmaker and designer based in Pleasanton, California. Raised in Mumbai and Pune, India, she paints California landscapes, coastal scenes and European architecture in watercolor, gouache, oil and linocut, much of it en plein air. She pairs a designer's eye for composition with a loose, observational hand, and her work has been exhibited in India and the San Francisco East Bay. Her art is available for licensing.

Get in touch

Let's work together

My artwork is available for licensing on products such as stationery, home décor, puzzles and kitchen goods. I also welcome commissions and workshop collaborations.

Email me Instagram Originals and prints on Etsy

Start a licensing enquiry