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Good vibes only – Meet Swarnima Telang who spreads positivity through art

Good vibes only – Meet Swarnima Telang who spreads positivity through art

Interview with Swarnima Telang

Good vibes only – Meet Swarnima, who spreads positivity through art

Swarnima Telang, Illustrator

20th May,2019

Swarnima Telang, a software engineer and an illustrator is spreading good vibes through delightful posts on her Instagram page“itsahappyworld”. She believes that “less is more”, and aims to put a smile on the faces of viewers.

Inspired by Ruskin Bond, her posts ask us to recognize that the real happiness isn’t something large and looming on the horizon, but something small, like having a cup of coffee with someone you love; baking the perfect cake; a warm sunset or a walk through nature.

Caught up with the busyness of our life, we often forget to appreciate the beauty in simplicity. Read on more to find Swarnima’s take on art, simplicity, life and more

 

Art can be perceived differently by everyone. What is Artto you?

For someone like me who’s not very good with words, my artwork reflects my thoughts. It is a way to transit myself to a different world, my place of imagination. Art helps me calm myself and gives me happiness.

How did Ruskin Bond inspire your art style?

I have always loved reading books and read my first Ruskin Bond’s story as a kid in my textbook. But at that time, it was just another English lesson. A few years back I picked up one of his books and started reading and I couldn’t stop.

The simplicity of his words and expressions; the flow and the way he describes the little things instantly made me feel good. His take on simple pleasures of life made me realize how we unnecessarily complicate things. I want to convey the same message to my audience through art.  

I believe that ‘Less is more’

You believe in finding beauty in simplicity. Could you tell us more about this?

I believe that ‘Less is more’, and the pleasure that lies in simple things and little gestures cannot be found in the fanciest of things. We live in a very competitive world where we are constantly comparing our lives on social media, which at times make us feel less about ourselves.

No matter where we go or what we do, there’s always someone better. So we must learn to be content and focus on what truly makes us happy. 

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How important do you think traveling is, for artists?

I am a wanderlust and believe that travelling is like a therapy. The vibes of a new place; talking to strangers; sitting in a roadside cafe help to look at things from a different perspective. It gives fresh ideas, and can certainly break the artists’ block.

Any current projects that you’d like to talk about? Do you have an ultimate dream project?

Currently, I am focusing on my website and my Instagram page ‘itsahappyworld’, to create happy content for my viewers.

My dream project is to design a cover or illustrate a Ruskin Bond’s book.

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If you could learn another art form, what would it be?

Dance! I love dancing as much as I love drawing. Being a hard-core fan of Madhuri, I’ve always wanted to learn Kathak. Trust me, in my head I’ve choreographed few amazing pieces.

Have you ever hit rock bottom? If yes, how did you get back on your feet?

Fortunately, I’ve never experienced it.

If you could go back in time and change one decision that you made, what would it be?

Absolutely Nothing. I am here today because of all the decisions that I’ve made, right or wrong. I firmly believe that whatever happens, happens for the good. So, I wouldn’t change a thing as I’m absolutely grateful for what I have.

Many people look up to your work. Do you plan on conducting workshops?

Yes, I do wish to have workshops in future. Whenever I get a chance I will.

Who has been your greatest support throughout your journey?

From the start, my family and friends have been my biggest support. They’ve encourages and appreciated every artwork of mine. My mom is the first one to comment and share my posts, even today.

This would’ve been impossible without my husband’s cooperation. When I’m busy completing orders, he’s the one who manages everything at home, and when I launched my merchandise, he solely managed the logistics and other requirements.

What advice would you give for budding artists?

Keep practising. Don’t rush into anything. Use multiple references and create the artwork in your own style. Most importantly, draw for yourself and you will always find people who will relate to them.

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Doodling his way through life – Meet Arosh Thevadatil a.k.a ‘Doodle Muni’

Doodling his way through life – Meet Arosh Thevadatil a.k.a ‘Doodle Muni’

Interview with Arosh Thevadatil

Doodling his way through life – Meet Arosh Thevadatil a.k.a 

‘Doodle Muni’

Arosh Thevadtail, Illustrator and Doodler.

16th May, 2019

What started off as rough scribbling done on the last sheets of notebooks, has evolved into an art form by itself and a medium of self expression – Doodles. Researchers have even deciphered the reasons behind different types of doodles we do. With gaining popularity for doodles, imagination is the only limit.

Arosh Thevadathil, popularly known as Doodlemuni is an illustrator from God’s own country, Kerala.  His creative doodles on everyday life, couples, famous personalities and social issues have brought attention from across the country. He believes that an artist can instil emotions among people through his artwork, and continues to do the same.

Arosh came up with the name ‘Doodlemuni’, as he wanted to depict himself as a serious guy who scribbles humorous snippets. He wanted to add a ‘Desi touch’ to the name, to make it attractive.

Having been good at art right from childhood, he has won several awards in national level competitions. He learnt the basics for different types of art from Mr Vishnu Namboodiri and went ahead to get a degree in Fine Arts from RLV College.

His work is characterized by its wit; it’s packed with strange symbols, cute little characters and humorous scenes. He works on traditional and digital mediums, as the situation demands. He uses Photoshop, Illustrator and Coral Painter, to make adorable doodles.

Touching people’s Heart through Art

Even though he was born and brought up in Kerala, he understood the real beauty and culture of the place only when he moved out. Many of his artworks are based on the culture and places of  Kerala. “I approach my artwork from a detached standpoint”, says Arosh.

When Kerala was deluged by the heavy rains, Arosh was in Bangalore, and spent several sleepless nights horrified by the visuals he saw on TV. He arranged for materials to be sent to the disaster relief camps, and did a special tribute to the unsung heroes who risked their lives to save others.

Among those works, the one that received maximum attention was the rescue of the pregnant woman on a helicopter. “Seeing that work, Commander Vijay Varma, the man who undertook the mission, called me and wished me personally. I consider that the highest recognition that my work has ever received”, he says.

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All about the Funcher shop

Having worked in Ogilvy, he got a lot of recognition from big corporates. Tired of having to follow guidelines, he longed to do something creative on his own without any limitations.

Suresh Ramakrishnan and him, having shared the common vision, vibe and passion for creating art, started their own venture “The Funcher Shop”. Just like how Puncture shop fills air, The Funcher shop fills happiness. They have numerous products like T-shirts, mugs, bags, clocks, based on various themes surrounding riders, Malayalis, Bengalis, Bangalore, movie themes.., 

“I don’t need anything else when I immerse myself in art”.

He believes that criticisms shape up a person’s career and make them strong. He works on his ideas and style based on the feedback he receives.

According to him, every project is a dream project. Nonetheless, he wishes to learn about Bangalore and make artworks on it.

On being asked if he has hit the rock bottom, he says. “There was a number of instances where I felt like my hands were tied and I would never get back on my feet. But, if you are diligent and are determined, you can always come back stronger and better from any hopeless situation”.

He views art as his life. His art is a result of his emotions, whether sadness or happiness.

“I don’t need anything else when I immerse myself in art”, he says.

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When asked if he wants to travel back in time to the future or past, he says, “As there were a number of things I could not do in my past due to certain circumstances. I’ll certainly return and correct my mistakes if given the chance”.

Biggest pet peeve? “For each artwork, artists do a lot of research, refer to different works and make multiple scribbles. We ponder over and analyse it before composing the piece on canvas. Just when the work is about to get completed, a person who knows nothing about the effort put in and one who has no artistic eye comes along asking for changes on behalf of the client. It is a menace when they interfere in the artistic process”.

“An artist can conquer the whole world through his art”.

His advice to the budding artists is to never give up.He also feels that social media validation does not define anyone as an artist.

“An artist can conquer the whole world through his art. An artist can make people happy, sad, thoughtful etc. Above all, the artist himself can find joy in his art and share it with society. So even if no one notices you at first, there will come a time when they will accept, love and celebrate you”, he says.

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Meet Shesh Kiran – An artist who communicates through art.

Meet Shesh Kiran – An artist who communicates through art.

Interview with Shesh Kiran

Meet Shesh Kiran, who communicates through art

Shesh Kiran, Animator and illustrator

20th May,2019

Shesh kiran is a professional animator and a self-taught caricature artist, from Bangalore, who lost his hearing ability in his early childhood. Over the years, he developed an interest in art. He never saw his disability as a shortcoming, instead focused on what he does the best – Art.

Here is an inspiring snippet about his journey as an artist.

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it”.

~Helen Keller

When Shesh Kiran was born, he did not cry. This made the doctors put him in a special care unit. The heavy dose of antibiotics given affected the micro strands of hair in his ears, due to which he lost his hearing ability. This was undetected until they observed that he was not getting terrified by loud noises.

When he turned 2, his family’s attempt to get him to use hearing aids failed as he was reluctant to wear them. But this did not stop him from learning new things. He started comprehending things in his own way.  

He started sketching at a very young age.  Eventually, he also learnt writing from his elder sister. “It was easy to teach him about tangible things, but we didn’t know how to make him understand what intangible things were. For example, he would ask what a ‘week’ is. But, he somehow figured it out”, says his family.

Being a huge fan of comic books such as Tin-Tin; Jughead; Asterix and Archies, he used to imitate the comics in his own drawing style. In his schooldays, the other kids used to ask him to draw for them. Tired of the requests, he started charging five rupees for each. He even conducted drawing classes for few neighbourhood kids.

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Drawings done by Shesh in UKG

His family recognized his talent and encouraged him to pursue art seriously after his 12th grade. He joined animation classes and learnt Flash; 2D & 3D animation and specialized in character design. “His animation always stood out from the rest”, says his father. He recalls how his first digital art was executed in MS Paint.

He has worked for various design and animation companies such as Parampadham; Media Genie; Stump Vision; Foresee and ZVKY Design studio until now, on various projects such as children Magazines, animations for live scoreboards, making characters for games such as Farmville, advertisements and so on.

He’s also a freelance caricature artist, on the weekends.

“People get offended when I exaggerate their features, which defeats the whole purpose of caricatures”, he says. He makes caricatures of couples, pets and famous personalities.

His work has been featured in many magazines. He says that he was on cloud nine when his caricature of Bal Thackeray got published in the official magazine of RSS.

“However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at”.

Shesh Kiran believes that our brain is wired in such a way that if one of our five senses is weak, the others become stronger. His advice for aspiring artists is to keep sketching; practice drawing imaginary characters and keep it simple.

 

Click on the links below to see more of his artworks

http://sheshkiran.blogspot.com/

https://sheshkiran.tumblr.com/

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Life in a metro – Meet Samar Khan, the guy behind quirky doodles of The Delhi Metro

Life in a metro – Meet Samar Khan, the guy behind quirky doodles of The Delhi Metro

Interview with Samar Khan

Life in a metro – Meet Samar Khan, the guy behind quirky doodles of the Delhi Metro

Samar Khan, Freelance Illustrator

27th May,2019

Commuting through metro has become an indispensable part of our lives. While most of us spend time listening to music, reading books, looking into others’ phones or just fussing about the crowd, Samar Khan, a software developer and a freelance illustrator, is creating insane doodles on his way back from work. He brings life on the tired faces of unsuspecting metro commuters, through his doodles.

Here’s what Samar has to say to Stoned Santa about his journey. (Quite literally)

Tired of spending countless hours on metro trains, everyday for about 6 years, Samar decided to productively utilise the time by capturing pictures and making interesting doodles on them. He says that artists like Subwaydoodles, Lucas Leviton and Donna Adi inspired him to introduce this concept in India.

Started off as  a hobby, today he has 33k followers who adore his doodles. “I’ve always loved drawing since I was a kid. It all started on the last pages of my notebooks. I would scribble to kill my time in classes, but I never knew that this would lead to something this big”, he says.

He views drawing as an escape from the weariness of work life. Never being able to draw well traditionally, he’s ever grateful to his phone, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and his iPad for introducing him to limitless possibilities. Most of his characters are imaginary, while he draws inspiration for few from TV shows and movies.

Why only metro?  “I spend most of my time commuting in it, and I think people can relate to it better because of the familiarity. Nonetheless, I would love to experiment on different places”, says Samar who has posted over 150 doodles on his page.

He has worked for many major clients, which includes Adidas, and hopes to work for some super cool clients.

Metro Doodles by Samar Khan

When asked if he would like to travel to the future or past, “Future, for sure. I am always curious about the mankind’s future”, he says. He jokes that delay in payments is his biggest pet peeve.

The famous saying, “Journey is often more beautiful than the destination”, is indeed true for Samar Khan.

Next time, when you’re on a metro aimlessly staring into the oblivion, grab your phone and check out Samar Khan’s mind-blowing doodles on his Instagram page @metrodoodle.

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Whatever it takes – Yadvender Singh on Digital Illustrations and Superheroes

Whatever it takes – Yadvender Singh on Digital Illustrations and Superheroes

Interview with Yadvender Singh Rana

Whatever it takes! – Yadvender Singh on Digital illustrations and Superheroes

Yadvender Singh Rana, Illustrator

24th May,2019

Don’t you often marvel as to what is the one thing that makes people successful? There may be some stark changes that you might want to bring about in your life. Read on to find out how the very talented Yadvender Singh Rana, an illustrator from Punjab achieved success through his brilliant renditions of DC and Marvel characters. He has done it all, and whatever it takes.

What made you to start drawing superheroes?

When I was about five years old, Shaktimaan was aired on Doordarshan. My mother used to draw Shaktimaan in her own style and show them to me. I was fascinated by this and started tracing comics using carbon sheets.

DC and Marvel comics were not being sold in Punjab as they thought it had inappropriate content for kids. So, I used to save up money in order to google these images, in an internet café and draw them at home. This was the start and I haven’t stopped drawing ever since.

When did you get your first big break? How was the journey Until then?

In 2018, three days after ‘The Infinity War’ was released, the Spidey-Iron man scene was so heart touching that I posted an art work on it. This post broke the internet. That was my first big break!

“I was so overwhelmed by it that I could hardly feel my body”.

JOSH BROLIN (Thanos) shared your art work. What was your reaction to that?

On the night of May 26th, I was sleeplessly working to complete an art work.  I posted it at 2 am and went to sleep. I woke up, disturbed by the incessant buzzing of my phone. I had over a hundred messages and notifications on Instagram, congratulating me.Coincidentally, it was my birthday and I thought that my inbox was being flooded with wishes.

I opened Instagram and saw that Josh had shared my post. I was so overwhelmed by it that I could hardly feel my body. Anyway, I didn’t let success get into my head because the show must go on. After all, with great power comes great responsibility.

 

Coincidence or spoilers?

I hadn’t watched the Endgame until a week after it released. I started to gain a lot of followers suddenly, and many started accused me of posting the spoilers. I had no idea what they were talking about.

After I watched the movie, I realized that three of the drawings that I had done over a year ago came to life in the movie. 

I had made paintings of hypothetical situations, like – Thor holding pieces of Thanos’ head; Cap holding Thor’s Hammer, and Iron man wearing the Infinity Gauntlet. It’s so astonishing that these actually came true.

Marvel or DC?

I’m a fan of both. I started off by drawing DC characters. I was so excited for “Justice League”, but when the movie came out, it broke my heart. As an artist, I should be unbiased and work on whatever is trending. Marvel has been in the trend lately, that’s why I post about them.

 DC movies are for a much more mature audience, but the current generation is young, they want optimism, punch lines and sarcasm. Marvel has all of these and they have executed their universe so well. I could say that when it comes to comics, DC is better and when it comes to movies, Marvel is better.

If you could be a superhero for one day, who would you be?

Superman, anyday! That guy has got it all- speed, flight and he’s not vulnerable to anything.

 Do you wish to diversify your artwork?

I want to work on whatever is trending in the pop culture. I plan on getting into games, TV shows and music bands.

Is there any dream project that you’d like to talk about?

I want to officially work for Marvel. Currently, the same pattern is being used for all Marvel posters. I wish to break that rhythm and make interesting posters.

Do you have any advice for budding artists?

I have one advice – PLEASE SKETCH EVERYDAY.  I think it is extremely important for an artist to sketch everyday. It need not be perfect, it can be a rough outline. One must practise sketching the complete human anatomy, I cannot stress enough on this point. You should give your brain a rough idea before starting any drawing.

Famous artists like M F Hussain, Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci made abstract paintings. Many of them take that as an inspiration and forget that they need to master shapes and patterns before getting to the stage where you’ve moved past them.

Nobody is born with talent. No one is born with anything except flesh and blood. We are what we choose to do, and do repeatedly. Or, as Bruce Wayne says, “It’s not who we are underneath, but what we do that defines us”.

 

 

 

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