 He was guided and taught by the so-called 'father of modern painting in Pakistan', Shakir Ali, the principal of NCA at that time and another miniaturist and well-known artist of Pakistan, Haji Mohammad Sharif.Adil Salahuddin used to collect and study postage stamps as a hobby, when he was a child.In 1965, he was invited 
by a fellow artist Bashir Mirza to move to Karachi where that artist had already opened up a new art gallery.