A REAL LIFE STORY ABOUT A WHIMSICAL (MEAT LOVING) COW
Written by Mahaswetadevi | Published by Tulika Books 2015
The book was about Nyadosh a cow that was adopted by Mahasweta Devi's family from rural Bengal. Given the Bengalis’ reputation as cultured, well-informed, liberal minded people, Nyadosh was expected to be a docile, domestic creature. But she was far from all that - she broke the rules, bent beliefs, questioned things and took particular satisfaction in trying different cuisines including meat, seafood and all items blue.
This was a starting point for me - I began to question as to what really qualifies as a medium to illustrate? Inspired by the assemblages of Arcimboldo and the philosophy that ‘we are what we eat’, I decided to illustrate Nyadosh with everything she ate in the story. I adopted a different technique for each page owing to the changing materials - fabric was folded, onions were cut, banana leaves were arranged and books were balanced to achieve the correct anatomy and perspective of Nyadosh.
This was an 8 year long project that started in 2007. Right from identifying the story, contacting the original publishers, meeting & interviewing the author in Calcutta, exploring & choosing illustration styles, procuring found materials & objects, shooting the images, composing the book, making prototypes, and finally getting the book published in 2015.
CHILDREN AS CREATORS OF CONTEXTUAL INDIAN STORIES
Art Workshops for LETS Project, IDC, IIT Bombay funded by TCTD. Dahanu, Maharashtra, 2014
While user testing an english reading app for LETS, we realized that there was a huge dearth in Indian content. This was a starting point for me - where I began to question as to who decides what we read, and who designs this content? I also wanted to break the stereotype by democratizing the process of designing content allowing the audience to create what they wanted to read.
Through a series of art workshops I created a small contextual library of patterns, objects, trees, animals, houses etc. for each region - which helped in enriching the visuals with familiar content. The format of a simple storybook turned into an intimate medium for sharing local stories, in vernacular languages, and an excuse to explore more art techniques. We selected stories that were passed on verbally across these tribal families through generations.
What made this particular story unique was that it was written by a young tribal boy Rohit Medha from the Grammangal school in Dahanu, Maharashtra. And it was entirely illustrated by his friends at school. I had to sift through hundreds of drawings, selecting the ones that could help in building the final visuals. I had to compose these drawings without modifying them to work together like a unit and unfold with the story.
ILLUSTRATING STORIES FROM REAL LIFE
Funded by The Damroo Project | IDC IIT Bombay 2013
In 2013 India was rocked by a sudden spate of farmer suicides, particularly in the regions of Vidarbha, Maharashtra. A few months later a project was initiated by Prof. Shilpa Ranade who with her creative team visited the region to document the farmers’ stories, their lives and the role BT cotton played in the suicides. This was done through conversations with the surviving family members.
Prof. Ranade invited different illustrators to respond to these texts and scripts. We had to turn them into stories that would become part of a collective graphic novel. As a struggling artist I was able to identify with some conflicts faced by Indian farmers. My own frustrations were projected into intricate and disturbing images of burden, grief, innocence, responsibility and loneliness. Since the setting of the stories was rural, I wrote and illustrated two stories in local languages (Marathi and Hindi) and then translated them into English - ‘The Setting Sun’ and ‘My type of God’.
To know more about this issue, and the urgent need for using indigenous seeds, you can read a research article here.
WHEN TRAVEL MEETS ART
Written by Aditi Rao | Published by Harper Collins 2020
Who decides the path we choose? And how do we take more such journeys off the beaten path and draw on them to unfold newer worlds for the readers?
Candid Tales is a travelogue capturing biker Candida Louis’s travels across India. I shaped her free-spirited expeditions to various corners of the country (Himachal, Kashmir, Varanasi, Rajasthan, Kerala, Pondicherry) into layered pages with photos of the kindred souls she met on those trips, local food she ate, route maps she planned etc. Sundries and souvenirs of the trip were also added into these collaged pages to give us a glimpse of her nomadic life.
What drew me to her journey was the fact that as a traveling artist, I have seen and experienced many of these places, which made me more conscious of how her chronicles could be shaped visually. It was a wonderful combination of a woman biker, woman writer and woman artist collaborating.
CHILDREN AS CONTENT CREATORS
Art Workshops for The Walking School Bus | Book published by Pratham Books 2019
A storybook turned into a tangible medium for sharing stories of local innovation or ‘jugaad’ from the hills of Uttarakhand. This project was about collaboration and resistance. I democratized the process of how and who designs content. The audience was allowed to create visuals for what they were reading. I also wanted art to be taken more seriously as a form of expression - part of this was achieved by training the teachers as well. Through a series of facilitated art workshops I created a small contextual library of patterns, objects, trees, animals, houses etc. for each region - which helped in enriching the visuals with familiar content.
Two things that made this book unique were; it was entirely drawn by local children from the Himalyan Public School, especially about the imaginative rural solutions that they came up with. Secondly the story was written in Uttarakhand, during the trip by the writer Mala Kumar who also interacted with them. It takes young readers step-by-step, through how any problem could be solved.
IMAGES OR WORDS, OR NUMBERS?
Client: One Plus 2018
One Plus was launching their latest phone - the One Plus 7. I was invited to work collaboratively with them for an influencer campaign. The brief was to create Number ‘7’ as a visual.
Expanding the idea that today the phone is an extension of our body, I created a synthesis between things natural and manmade. My idea was to illustrate the seamlessness of the device through leaves, which are both rooted in the plant and separate from them. It resulted in a new and suggestive pictorial language for young, visually oriented followers.
A STORYBOOK, ABOUT WHAT A BOOK MEANS TO EACH OF US
Written by Lavanya Karthik | Published: Tulika Books 2017
An ocean of sounds, a view from the top, a different journey or a new place to explore, a forest of visuals - each book unfolds a new world before us. It creates a passage from reality into a parallel world where readers migrate from written words to visuals through layered narratives.
This poem by Lora Daunt sums it up very well . What is a Book?
A book is pages, pictures and words, A book is animals, people and birds.
A book is stories of queens and kings, Poems and songs-so many things!
Curled in a corner where I can hide, With a book I can journey far and wide.
Though it’s only paper from end to end, A book is a very special friend.
I wanted to capture the wonder filled eyes of children when they read words and dive into the visuals through them. I collaged pencil drawn sketches with pressed leaves, photographs of seeds and inky washes to depict water. I also layered the images with undercurrents of the narrative itself. Since it was written in India I ensured that my visuals were contextually accurate through patterns and styles woven into the clothes, hair and background elements.
IMMIGRANTS AND THE CITY
Conceptualised and printed for the Usurp Zine Fair | Usurp Art 2012
In 2012 I spent a lot of time walking through London and its suburbs. I get a kick out of cataloging people, patterns, places and objects while connecting them. Fake bags, baggy pants, pink lipstick, hoodies, dreadlocks, stilettos, totes, white sneakers, bulbous lips, bellies and chicken jerks all get meticulously recorded in my head as combinations which are linked, where one can’t exist without the other. The experimental - but limited, format of a zine allowed my creativity to run riot, while disseminating information with a distinct personal voice. Combining low-cost kraft paper with screen printing I created a three-fold limited edition zine which documents the immigrant faces and habits observed across the BAME population from Zone 1-7. The zine is available at Usurp Art Gallery which is the only artist-led space in Harrow, a London borough with a dynamic demographic of the most diverse languages spoken in the UK.
WHEN ART MEETS POLITICS
Client: Kannada Prabha (Regional Newspaper, Bengaluru), 2015
I was offered a monthly half page spread to share an artistic response to the ongoing issues within India. I was creating them for Kannada Prabha which has a huge readership across Karnataka. The idea was two fold: to connect with the urban Kannadiga population within Bangalore, as well as initiate a creative-political dialogue in two-tier and three tier cities like Gulbarga, Shivamogga, Hubbali, Kalaburagi etc.
The visuals were nuanced and layered with meaning. I used interwoven lines to sketch out the ‘Farmer Suicides’ patterned images of saffron coloured vultures and wolves to illustrate the ‘Murders of Indian journalists’ and the ‘Beef Ban’ was portrayed through a textured drawing of a human being depicted as livestock.
The news headlines or trending local stories were used to identify a new topic to work with each month.
CHILDREN AS CREATORS OF CONTEXTUAL INDIAN STORIES
Art Workshops for LETS Project, IDC, IIT Bombay funded by TCTD. Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, 2014
While user testing an english reading app for LETS, we realized that there was a huge dearth in Indian content. This was a starting point for me - where I began to question as to who decides what we read, and who designs this content? I also wanted to break the stereotype by democratizing the process of designing content allowing the audience to create what they wanted to read.
Through a series of art workshops I created a small contextual library of patterns, objects, trees, animals, houses etc. for each region - which helped in enriching the visuals with familiar content. The format of a simple storybook turned into an intimate medium for sharing local stories, in vernacular languages, and an excuse to explore more art techniques. We selected stories that were passed on verbally across these tribal families through generations.
What made this story unique was that it was written by a young ‘pahadi’ girl Nikita Thakur and illustrated entirely by 15 students of Government Secondary School, in Khun Village located in Himachal Pradesh. I had to sift through hundreds of drawings, selecting the ones that could help in building the final visuals. I had to compose these drawings without modifying them to work together like a unit and unfold with the story.
WHEN PAPER BECOMES THE PEN
Client: Puffin Books - designed as a part of a pitch, London, 2012
As an illustrator I don’t restrict myself to conventional media. We draw and write on paper, but what happens when we draw ‘with’ paper? Torn, cut, folded, bent, twisted, creased and rolled; its physical qualities make possible a different style of illustration where leafless trees, spires of smoke, windows and towers are reduced to the bare essentials of their real selves. Paper - a designer’s everyday ‘staple’, has evolved from a blank canvas to a three dimensional object taking on new avatars.
The Grimms Fairy Tales book cover was a pitch for Puffin Books. Not wanting to focus on one particular story or character, I chose instead to capture the darkness of the stories through mysterious blue smoke, barren trees, grim castle windows and ominous birds. This experiment culminated in a detailed artwork that bordered on being a photograph, a paper sculpture, and an illustration. All at once.
STORIES AS SURROGATES OF ART
Published by Pratham Books 2011 - 2013.
Over the years I have explored different illustration styles for different scripts - I’ve begun to question as to what really qualifies as a medium to illustrate. Could the visuals subtly reflect the wordings? For me the choice of the medium is simply the answer to the questions which the text raises. I have always wanted books to be two-fold, not only as a medium for storytelling but also as a resource for learning and teaching art.
Paper Play (2011) and When Amma went to school (2013) were both published multilingually and were created not only for urban children but more-so for remote schools and libraries with limited access to learning materials. My attempt with these books was to work with the awareness that illustration involves art, craft, photography and sculpture. When stories are pitted against images, this contrast and exchange of disciplines creates new visual languages for children.
CHILDREN AS STORYTELLERS
Art Workshops for LETS Project, IDC, IIT Bombay funded by TCTD. Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, 2015
While user testing an english reading app for LETS, we realized that there was a huge dearth in Indian content. This was a starting point for me - where I began to question as to who decides what we read, and who designs this content? I also wanted to break the stereotype by democratizing the process of designing content allowing the audience to create what they wanted to read.
Through a series of art workshops I created a small contextual library of patterns, objects, trees, animals, houses etc. for each region - which helped in enriching the visuals with familiar content. The format of a simple storybook turned into an intimate medium for sharing local stories, in vernacular languages, and an excuse to explore more art techniques. We selected stories that were passed on verbally across these tribal families through generations.
What made this story unique was that it was an animal fable which was re-narrated (with a twist) by Sangeetha, Sandhya and Pavithra, students of KGBV School, Godupalli, Andhra Pradesh. This story was created through everyday materials like dried leaves, flowers, pebbles and string. I had to sift through hundreds of such assemblages, selecting the ones that could help in building the final visuals. I had to compose these images without modifying them to work together like a unit and unfold with the story.
A STORYBOOK ABOUT A HUNT FOR THE POGEYAN, A MYTHICAL CAT
Written by Ambika Rao | Published by Pratham Books 2014
A simple storybook turned into an intimate medium for sharing National Geographic Explorer Sandesh Kadur’s story. We shaped his hunt for a mythical cat, the ‘Pogeyan’ in the Western Ghats of India, into a playful, rhyming, story which documents every flora and fauna he chanced upon. I illustrated whimsical characters peppered with splotchy patches of ink, a subtle gesture pointing towards the heavy rainfalls in India's western coast. Although he never really meets this cat, the book makes his hunt come alive.
You can buy it here
WHERE MY THOUGHTS TAKE A TANGIBLE FORM
I prefer doing neat finished doodles, they give a more final form to thoughts and ideas that are unclear in my head. They become a base from where I expand my ideas into bigger illustrations or physically constructed, assembled images using materials and everyday objects.
CREATING IMAGES WITH HIDDEN MESSAGES
Written by: Natasha Sharma | Client: Pratham Books 2014
A common plight faced by every parent was taken up as the theme for the story. Little Anaya loves sucking her thumb, but finally realizes it’s not fun! This got me thinking whether the crux of the story could be captured through visuals that worked as a cue. How do I tell a little child that thumbs and fingers can be used for so many playful activities? While working on the visuals I began to use my thumbs to make textures, backgrounds, animals and figures. The story had a happy, but nuanced style with a motley of thumb prints across the pages.
You can read and download the book on Storyweaver.
EXPERIMENTS USING PAPER AS A MEDIUM
Client: SERCO - Pitch for Poster Design, London 2012
As an illustrator I don’t restrict myself to conventional media. We draw and write on paper, but what happens when we draw ‘with’ paper? Torn, shredded, cut, folded, bent, twisted, creased and rolled; its physical qualities make possible a different style of illustration where buildings, trains, trees and windows are reduced to bare essentials of their real selves. Paper - a designer’s everyday ‘staple’, has evolved from a blank canvas to a three dimensional object taking on new avatars.
The paper crafted phone receiver was an experimental cover for a telephone directory. This led to more explorations during my academic year at Camberwell College of Art. The poster design was for SERCO’s Secret London Poster in collaboration with the London Transport Museum. This was my take on the DLR route from Shadwell to Canary Wharf and the windows that I glanced on the way. Both these experiments culminated in detailed artworks that border on being a photograph, a paper sculpture, an illustration or all of the three.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A WOMAN?
This was a response and reply for Nirbhaya which left the world shocked and angry in 2012. It made me contemplate the role of women in society.
As a woman artist who had just returned to India I wanted to reflect on the struggle that a woman faces in a changing Indian society. She may be homebound and outgoing. She is a creator and also has the capacity to destroy, like Durga. Calm rivers and angry seas all have a space within her. She can be peaceful & loving and can also strike you if provoked. I wanted contrary qualities to have a space next to each other within this visual. I used the medium of pen to meditate on paper as a way to calm down and let things settle in my mind.
ILLUSTRATING A WORLD SUPPORTING GREEN PRACTICES
Client: Imagezoo | You can buy the images here.
ImageZoo is a stock illustration agency based in Vancouver - with a collection of inspiring images created by illustrating talents from across the world. They commissioned a series of illustrations detailing green practices for a contemporary world. With a healthy increase in home grown food produce, eating habits, pop - up farmers’ markets and organic food cafes, this expanding niche called for relevant visual imagery. Moving away from the typical ‘greens and browns’ which preach the urgency of the ecological imbalance, I created delicate drawings treated with earthy graphites balanced with subtle patterns. The objective was to illustrate a healthy DIY community where home gardening, upcycling, waste segregation and electric transport have become the new normal.
DISCOVERING A CITY THROUGH ‘MATERIAL’ISTIC STORIES
In collaboration with Majlis, Cinema City and Goethe Institut, 2010
A place is made by its people. But buried below are the silent layers of tarred roads, bricked walls, paper mills, textile prints and so on. Materials maketh a city. Some streets, markets and roads are named after the materials manufactured there or the settlements of labour classes named after their professions. Kapad Bazaar (Cloth market), Paper Mill Lane, Bangdi Bazaar (Bangle Market) are mutually shared markets across many Indian cities, while Tamba Kanta and Bori Bunder are more specific to Mumbai. Each one named after a different material. The archived histories of cities have been reinterpreted by Indian filmmakers who weave fictional stories around these real places or resuscitate forgotten biographies. The postcards were crafted from materials while the text reciprocated them with stories related to each place. The stamps were treated as miniature posters of Indian films connected with these places and materials.
EXPLORING BIODIVERSITY THROUGH ILLUSTRATIONS
Client: World Bank, Washington DC, 2020
These were commissioned illustrations created specially for The International Day for Biological Diversity. The World Bank - Environment Group had an idea where they have imaginary conversations with a kindergarten class of biodiverse species, asking them what they wanted to be when they grew up. Not surprisingly, their answers aren’t that different from the role they will play as adults.
Bees for instance want to become farmers as 90% of the world’s food is pollinated by them. Toucans want to become foresters, as they disperse seeds. Beavers are really nature’s very own ecosystem engineers. Elephants play the role of landscapers for the habitats and forests. Sea Turtles as architects help build coral farms underwater.
The idea was to allow parents, teachers and children to enjoy, read-up and know more about these animals during the Covid-19 lockdown period. The illustrations were shared as Instagram and Twitter posts, and as an infographic shared on the World Bank website. Each one was hand drawn, filled with textures and bright colours with large wonder-filled eyes that the audience could instantly connect with.
CREATIVITY WITHIN CONSTRAINTS
Written by - Radha HS | Published by Pratham Books 2010
What happens when illustrators choose to create constraints and work with them cleverly? This series of stories was illustrated in two colours - facilitating a more cost effective design while unfolding unseen visual styles. Black, the primary colour of the design, was manifested through distinctly fresh styles - Thin wiry lines, thick brush strokes, paper cutouts and doodles. Compositions were minimal and the essence of the story was captured through simple quick sketches. The stories from this set are Do and Don’t, Can and Can’t, This and That, Curly and Straight.
REPOSITIONING SCREENPRINTING
Self-Initiated Project as a part of research in IDC, IIT Bombay. 2007
I come from a printing family. I have grown up amidst drying screens, whiffs of inks and watching my parents print in the press. In the 80’s screen printing was still the preferred printing technology in the local market. But over time, its status has been affected due to the advent of digital printing techniques. I have seen the numbers dwindle from a few thousand to a handful of 30-40 printers operating today in the local printing market at Khadikar Road in Mumbai.
Screen printing is a tremendously immersive technique that requires skilled labour right from separating colours, to exposing screens and precision while printing. Since it involved hand work it could be restricting in numbers but it still brought a certain human element to the process. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring different techniques of screen printing in the press but after doing some ground work I realised that not all designers are aware of the possibilities.
Layering, Multicoloured printing, Flocking, Raised printing, Self printing were explored on materials varying from wispy rice papers to textured Russian craft papers, transparent acrylic sheets, hand moulded clay tables and fabrics. Drawbacks have been leveraged into designs that have been explored in the pages of this handbook; where designer practitioners can enjoy this technique in a new light.
SPONTANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS FOR A SHORT STORY
Illustrated for The Finding by Arundhati Ghosh - Director at India Foundation for the Arts, Bengaluru, 2020
This illustration is for a short story about a discovery that stunned the world which was reeling under a pandemic. Set in Bengal, it highlights the huge gap between different sets of people; be it economic, casteism, hierarchy, bureaucracy or mentalities.
As the story focuses on vicious cycles that repeat frequently I’ve created the illustration in a circular format, where visuals enclose each other. Interwoven lines, dull gray hues, and muted colors add to the complexity of modern day society. I’ve further layered the visual with symbols of capitalism like piggy banks, bread, currencies, chimneys etc.
Written by Jugal Hansraj | Published by Harper Collins
‘Courage is found in unlikely places.’ - J.R.R. Tolkien
Prince Kadis from the fictitious, fantastical Kingdom of Kofu is unlike any other prince you’ve read about.
While princes are supposed to be brave, fearless, strong and, well, princely, Prince Kadis is afraid of even leaving the palace, afraid of making friends, afraid of the darkness, afraid of meeting strangers and afraid of war. This story takes a path through the royal tent, into a deep, dark forest with friends, through a secret passage & dungeons, and finally into another kingdom ... with Kadis embracing fear at each point, making his own choices and turning each instance into a moment of courage.
In addition to charting a fictitious ancient map, I also crafted small, delicate images for each page using light pencil textures mixed with a soft palette of colours echoing vulnerability. Some images were deliberately created keeping ambiguity in mind so that young readers could interpret them in their own way.
VISUALISING THE BLUES
Client: PaintYourBlues in collaboration with Suicide Prevention India Foundation, Bangalore, 2020
I created this artwork for the Poster Campaign hosted by PaintYour Blues. The artwork borders upon self-care, self compassion and self support. It was created during the lockdown period of the Covid-19 crisis, when mental health issues due to increased isolation had shot up considerably. While creating the artwork, I spent time introspecting and writing down all the questions that we usually don’t ask (out aloud), especially ones dealing with guilt, self worth and insecurity. Both the visuals and the text in the posters were hand drawn to create a feeling of intimacy and oneness with the viewer.
THAN THE COLOUR OF MY SKIN
Written by Divya Thomas | Published: Harper Collins, 2022
Aspirations, ambitions, inner callings and pursuits of happiness - this book encourages children to define their future by their dreams, not by the colour of their skin. Each page is a knock on the door which firmly holds our prejudices, biases and notions of love. It brings alive stories of little children with big colourful dreams.
I have captured the wonder filled eyes of children when they see daylight in darkness. Crayon textures, penciled figures and brushed-ink lines have been composed onto pages. Taking on the task of making all colours look beautiful, I have turned small assemblages of everyday objects into shade cards for the skin.
CREATING DIGITAL CONTENT FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES
Client: Simbi Foundation, 2020
This series of 26 quirky stories about Chacha is about making everyday tasks fun and taking children through different daily dilemmas. Little Chacha adores her cat-friend, loves cycling, is scared of water, makes her room messy and enjoys drawing. These simple stories trail, traipse and meander through days and months, forests and hills, thoughts and feelings. I used a specific color palette for Chacha woven with bits of fabric patches, papers and hand drawn elements.
Written in French and English, they are available for reading, recording and narrating on the Simbi App. They were created keeping in mind the need for more digital content for children during the pandemic.
ISOLATION OR QUARANTINE?
Author: Richa Jha | Client: Pickle Yolk Book, 2020
Conceived 6 years ago, the most endearing thing about this book was that it was written and illustrated during the pandemic in 2020. While the protagonist Akela Lekhan Coot a small time writer tries to get away from the city’s giggle-gaggle, chitter-chatter, hoot-toot, loot-scoot and buzz-huzz-fuzz, I was in quarantine for 14 days conjuring busy-busy visuals for this book. It was my way of reconnecting with everything I loved about cities. We made this journey together - Akela’s quest for peace took him higher and higher, while my need for togetherness brought me closer and closer to the story and the city. We both ultimately found peace and creativity amidst the chaos, the pitter-patter and the zitter-zatter.
