Around 150 students from 15 English-medium schools in the steel city spent Wednesday filling up blank canvases with the colours of their imagination.

The Society for Promotion of Professional Excellence (SPPE), in association with the Tinplate Company of India Limited (TCIL), organised the 18th edition of the annual painting competition — Color Splash — at Centre for Excellence on Wednesday.

The students, who were provided the art supplies, were divided into two groups – senior ( from classes VI to IX) and junior (classes III to V).

The junior group had to take a pick from two topics, building a green planet or save water, save earth.

The topic for the senior group was — plastic, the monster.

The participants were given two hours to complete their paintings.

Managing director of TCIL R.N. Murthy, chief guest of the event, inaugurated the competition by putting the first stroke on the blank canvas along with the judges and officials of TCIL and Tata Steel.

The panel of judges included Public Biswas and Krishna Sharan Mahato, senior art teachers from Jamshedpur School of Art.

“The way we use plastic is against the environment. So, we should check and be responsible when it comes to disposal of plastic. Also, topics like planting more trees and saving water are most relevant,” Murthy said.

Shubham Kumar Rai from AIWC Academy of Excellence won the first prize in the senior category while Sonal Das from Kerala Samajam Model School emerged the winner in the junior category.