Badri Narayan was born on 22nd July 1929, Secunderabad. He was an eminent artist, illustrator, author and story-teller. Narayan began painting with no formal training, and his first public show was organized in 1949, followed by a solo show in 1954. He had over 50 solo shows and his works are part of several collections, including the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi Mumbai and the National Museum , New Delhi as well as the Philadelphia Museum of Art's South Asian Collection.

Initially, he worked on tile and ceramic, and this informed some of his subsequent water-colours. His paintings are intimate and appealing, often with an element of fantasy, with simple outlines and accessible subject matter in two-dimensional stylized representations. He worked primarily in ink or pastel and water colour. He also illustrated children's books and wrote short stories and verse.

He has been the subject of a documentary by Mumbai All India Radio, and received numerous awards, including the Padma Shri in 1987 and the Maharashtra Gourav Puruskar in 1990. Badri Narayan died on 23 September 2013 in Bangalore.

Self-reflection and autobiographical perspective are the most constant themes in Narayan's work. Symbolism is a recurring feature of his works, though sometimes, he also uses popular icons of Indian culture like Ganesha.

The artist believes in the two-dimensionality of painting and works in a smaller format; one that he finds practical and well suited for the water colours that is part in this work titled Untitled Boat.

Self-reflection and autobiographical perspective are the most constant themes in Narayan's work. Symbolism is a recurring feature of his works, though sometimes, he also uses popular icons of Indian culture like Ganesha. The artist believes in the two-dimensionality of painting and works in a smaller format; one that he finds practical and well suited for the water colours that is part in this work titled Untitled Boat.