The achievements of the schools may best be evaluated by the viewer himself. In the meanwhile what is certain is that the so-called realistic and the ideal are termini of the two opposing tendencies. In the body of Shukla's work we witness the play of both tendencies, now one now the other in the ascendent. The large number of his head studies, as the study of his models representing the objectivity of science. Here eye and touch play an equally vital part. This sort of study is as correct and true to facts as the one in any anatomical class. You cannot fault it. Only a little of what is termed as 'subjectivity' enters in here.

A very different order of reality obtains in some of the artist's later works, namely his collages viz. 'Meditation'(1984), 'Enchantment'(1984), 'Bride'(1984), and so on. It is really in these works that Shukla at long last found the reconciliation between the two warring sensibilities. In these collages the academic is seen making a retreat before empathic creation. The sensous faculty is once more in operation-a given design being made of only the personally selected elements from the optically presented reality. But still, these collages do not imitate or echo the outward forms or contents of the earlier Indian or Chinese art, as in works done in bygone years, say, for instance, 'Horses'-Chinese ink on board (1954), 'Fishes'-Chinese ink colour (1948), 'Dancing Figure'-sanguine chalk (1962), 'Khajuraho'-pen-ink (1967).

However in a considerable part of his work, the impress of the European Renaissance methods is inescapable. His constant striving here seems to be to study nature, so as to see her directly, and not through the glass darkly or obliquely-that is, to apprehend things as they are outwardly. This concrete tendency would seem to determine, first, his choice of subjects, secondly, his handling of the characters of his sitters , and lastly, his style.