Hasta La Creative!

Priya Sebastian completed a Masters in Illustration from Queensland College of Art, Australia and lives in Bangalore. She is a much sought after illustrator and her work adorns the covers and pages of many books, magazines and newspapers.
When she is not drawing, Priya writes, teaches, explores places and blogs about her experiences at her well known blog which is filled with vivid stories, sketches and photographs all of which tie in beautifully with her world view and her drawings.

Why are you an Illustrator?
That’s akin to asking a spider why it is a spider. Or a rhinoceros why it is what it is.
I cannot imagine being anything else. It is an inherent quality. Interpreting an idea or sa story visually gives me a high.

Did you attend school for fine art or design?
Yup. The first one I attended was in Bengaluru. I’m not sure what I did there. Then I went off to Australia to do a Master’s in Illustration from Queensland College of Art. It was a revelation.

You have a distinct style of illustration. How long did it take you to develop your style?
Thank you. I have been illustrating for about 15 years now. My style is still developing and I hope the development never stops.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
Most definitely Chandranath Acharya who used to illustrate stories in the Sunday editions of Deccan Herald. I wanted to do that too.

Who was the most influential personality on your career in Illustrations?
A teacher in Australia, Armin Greder

Have you worked for any advertising project? Would you like to?
Not as yet but I am open to it if the work interests me.

Are many advertising agencies getting illustrations made these days? Do you work more with agencies or publishers?
I wouldn’t know about advertising agencies. I mostly work with publishers.

What made you decide to become a freelance illustrator? When did you start freelancing?
I think there was no option but to freelance as an illustrator 15 years ago.

Was there any time when you wanted to quit Illustrating?
No

Have you considered turning your illustrations into toys?
Why would I want to go there given the kind of style I have?

Any other Indian Illustrators who you admire?
Prabha Mallya and Ajanta Guhathakurta

Do you have any favorite fellow illustrators or resources relating to your fields?
I was brought up on a diet of American Illustrators during the pre-internet era (yes, there was such an era). Now, much to my relief and thanks to blogs I get to see the style of Latin American Illustrators, Scandinavian Illustrators, Spanish and Portugese Illustrators…it is wonderful to see such a marvellous richness and diversity of styles and talent.

You have such a wide experience as a top working professional. What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals? Would you advise them to take on Illustration as a career option? Is it paying well enough?
Regarding payment for illustrating, I think one has to ‘make’ it pay. To be a good illustrator, you have to hone your drawing skills and style to a very high standard through dedicated hard work and then you have to value your work enough to ask your client for a dignified fee. I find newspapers still pay some illustrators Rs.1000 per illustration and there young illustrators new to the field who actually accept that. I’d like to tell them that they are not doing anyone a favour by accepting work at such terms.

Who would you like to take out for dinner?
David Hughes

What’s on your iPod?
Bach’s preludes, Beethoven’s piano sonatas

Mac or PC?
PC.

Bite into the mouthwatering, mesmerizing flavors of tex-mex cuisine. Bringing you the best from the cowboy times & towns. We are now open, from 11am – 3.30pm, 7pm – 11pm
Chicken Wings | Steaks | Burritos | Quesadillas & More

Advertising Agency: One Mg, Chennai, India
Creative Directors: Amrish Shyam, Nishant Rastogi
Art Director: R Thirumaran
Copywriter: Amrish Shyam
Illustrators: R Thirumaran, Suresh Baba

Dan Stafford est agé de 24 ans, et travaille actuellement comme illustrateur à Londres. Focus sur son portfolio, avec des visuels impressionnants mélangeant culture occidentale et orientale. Une sélection de ses illustrations au rendu époustouflant sont à découvrir dans la suite de l’article.

Previously on Fubiz

• Jan Feliks
• Vicente Garcia Morillo
• Patrick Monkel

Présentation d’une série de travaux de l’illustratrice madrilène Blanca Gómez présentés sur son portfolio Cosas Minimas. Un trait épuré et volontairement enfantin, jouant avec talent sur les couleurs pour un rendu plein de fraicheur. Plus de visuels dans la suite de l’article.

Previously on Fubiz

• Florent Auguy
• Brent Couchman
• Pencil vs Camera

Découverte de l’américain Brent Couchman, un illustrateur et designer très talentueux basé à Dallas. Une série de visuels mettant en avant sa capacité à donner une identité forte grâce à quelques traits et couleurs. Plus d’illustrations dans la suite de l’article.

Previously on Fubiz

• Alexander Korzer-Robinson
• Erika Iris Simmons
• Vicente Garcia Morillo

Coup de coeur pour les travaux de l’américaine Erika Iris Simmons, aussi connue sous le pseudonyme d’iri5. Des illustrations uniques réalisées à partir de bandes magnétiques de cassettes audio ou vidéo pour représenter avec talent des visages de personnalités.

Previously on Fubiz

• Vicente Garcia Morillo
• Nanami Cowdroy
• Paul Tebbott

Une série d’illustrations de l’artiste Vicente Garcia Morillo. Cet illustrateur madrilène exprime tout son talent dans ces créations pour un rendu de grande qualité, jouant brillamment avec les typographies. Plus de visuels dans la suite de l’article.

Previously on Fubiz

• Steven Bonner Illustrations
• Nanami Cowdroy
• Six Word Story Every Day

a little about yourself:
am a rain lover.
and i love all smallcaps.

why are you an illustrator?
as a kid, my ma never stopped me from drawing on our house walls – they were covered with my scribbles till my height ?, then paper – diaries, notebooks and even chemistry assignments were littered with my art, then art school (where my professor actually failed me in illustration subject because i just wouldn’t do the done thing), followed by advertising – where i met many similar bump-heads who enjoyed and recognized my talent. basically, i’ve continued spilling my head out on all kinds of surfaces, steel cupboards included!

i find healing, expression, madness and myself in my illustrations.

did you attend school for fine art or design?
yes: college of art, delhi.

how would you define your style of illustration?
easy, quirky, honest

you have a distinct style of illustration. how long did it take you to develop your style?
my art just happens to me, its a reflection of ‘all of me’ at that moment… so i guess ‘my style’ will keep developing and changing and expanding till i am.

and thank you for the ‘you have a distinct style…’.

who was the most influential personality on your career in illustrations?
what a serious question!
here are a few influences that have helped me flow freely:
my mother (santosh jain, an artist herself), enid blyton, willie wonka and the chocolate factory (the original movie), mad comics, salvodar dali, henry matisse’, van gogh, apple products, my guru (prasad karmarkar) and the ever ready black pen. and of course, a sea of talented and crazy people out there!

am inspired and charmed by atleast one of the above at any given point of time

do you do commercial illustrations or are they just for yourself?
both

anything else that you do so well?
thanks, hmmm, i think i’m the best cat mom and a great bath butler.

any other contemporary indian illustrators who you admire? do you have any favorite fellow illustrators or resources relating to your fields?
www.thingsofrandomcoolness.com is one place to meet some mad, original people creating havoc.

you have worked for many years as a professional advertising person. what advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals? would you advise them to take on illustration as a career option?
take on whatever you want as a career option (or for personal expression or for that matter kitchen napkin decoration option)  – just keep creating. with truth and love.

mac or pc?
macintosh all the way!

who would you like to take out for dinner?
steve jobs.

what’s on your ipod?
loads! currently the band playing is clem snide.

what is your url? where can we see your work?

here also, find me here

Hello.
I’m Radha Ramachandran, a twenty-something illustrator and print designer based in Bangalore.
Being kind of an introvert, I’m generally not a person of many words (Well, except when I’ve got my talking hat on, in which case, I’ll talk your ear off).
When I’m not illustrating (either for a client or for myself) or trying to figure stuff out, I can be found surfing the internet, watching movies, listening to music, reading books, re-reading my favourite books, generally day-dreaming and bullying my four year old Labrador, Leo.

Oh, and I’m also known as ‘Ratlion’, which is the name I blog under over at ‘Ratlion’s Den’.

Why are you an Illustrator?
‘Cos most days, illustrating doesn’t really feel like ‘work’. Even if I weren’t illustrating professionally, I’d still be illustrating for myself.

Did you attend school for fine art or design?
I have a Bachelors in Business Management, and a one year P.G.Diploma in Visual Communication.
When I decided to switch fields after graduation, I didn’t really have any definitive goals of becoming an illustrator. All I knew was that I wanted to pursue a career in art or design. I knew next to nothing about the industry and wasn’t sure if I even had the necessary skills to back my interest, so I opted to go in for some kind of formal training. But I would say that my illustration skills have more or less been self-taught. Most of what I know, I’ve learnt by simply ‘doing’.

You studied finance for some time. And now you do freelance illustrations. Would you tell us more about it?
I think one of my earliest answers to the ‘What are you going to be when you grow-up?’ question was ‘a Fashion Designer’. Mostly ‘cos it was the only ‘arty’ career known to my then younger self!

But coming from a background where art was encouraged as a hobby rather than a career, I got into commerce in Jr. College and ended up in an institute that stressed on academics above all else. My professors figured I had potential (I got pretty good grades. What can I say? I was a geek.) and were determined not to let me waste it. By the end of 2 years, I had an amazing mark sheet, a lesson in the benefits of hard work and a career goal of ‘Uh, maybe an MBA’.

The following three years of graduation, I studied Management, got good grades (except in finance), doodled in the finance lectures (that’s probably why), and fielded questions like ‘Why aren’t you studying  Art?’.

After graduation I figured my friends had a point, and realizing that what I’d wanted all along was a career in arts, enrolled myself for a one year post graduate diploma in Visual Communication.

The rest as they say, is history!

You have a distinct style of illustration. How long did it take you to develop your style?
As far as style is concerned, mine is a bit eclectic. Which is why I’ve got more than one.

In the 3 years or so since I’ve been in this field, I think my style has been continuously changing or evolving and I think it will continue to change and evolve in the future too. A change in style for me is never planned or calculated, it’s just something that happens when I discover a new way of doing something or want to incorporate something I’m inspired by into my work. I don’t think I’ve found my illustrative ‘voice’ yet and in the meantime I enjoy experimenting with styles, techniques, textures & colours.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
Not really. I think I pretty much lived in my own world growing up. I almost always had my nose buried in a book.

Who was the most influential personality on your career in Illustrations?
Would the internet count as an influential personality? I think my discovery of sites like Illustration Friday and Inspire Me Thursday could definitely count as being one of my first introductions to illustration as a possible career. I started my first blog with the sole intention of participating in Illustration Friday, and all that exposure to other illustrators and their work (and realizing how much fun I was having illustrating a new concept every week) is what made me really want to give the arts field a try. I can honestly say it’s changed my life.

When did you start freelancing?
After the Vis. Comm course, I headed to Mumbai to work for a contract publisher for about 6 months. I started freelancing shortly after I returned to Bangalore. Again, it wasn’t planned or calculated. I started freelancing for my ex-employer and have been at it ever since.

Was there any time when you wanted to quit Illustrations?
I don’t think I could ever quit illustrating. Like I said, if I weren’t doing it professionally I’d still be doing it for myself (it’s fun!). But sometimes when I’m most frustrated by a job or client, I have been known to fantasize about moving to the country (with lot’s of dogs for company) and growing organic vegetables for a living. Something like that anyway.

Do you work more with agencies or publishers?
The bulk of my work so far has been in the form of editorial illustration and childrens illustration, both of which I really enjoy. I’d love to illustrate a book for children some day.

Any other Indian Illustrators who you admire?
All these years on the internet, and I can count the number of Indian illustrators I’ve come across in one hand. This is definitely changing though. I like the work of Sameer Kulavoor and Gulzar Junaid, both of whom you’ve featured here. (At one point, I actually wrote to Gulzar (we have a friend in common) with a dozen questions about the field and industry in India and he was sweet enough to write back a detailed email with sound advice!)

Do you have any favorite fellow illustrators or resources relating to your fields?
Too many to count! I’m an internet junkie, which means I’m forever surfing the net for information, knowledge, inspiration etc. and over the years I’ve accumulated quite a few bookmarks.

What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals? Would you advise them to take on Illustration as a career option?
I’m a great believer in doing what you love. If you really enjoy something, you’ll figure out how to make a living out of it. So yes, if you love illustrating and have the passion to sustain you through the ups and downs, I’d say go for it.
As for advice, I’m still in a place where I’m trying to figure stuff out for myself. My career plan so far has been to take things as they come and I still have a long way to go as far as my illustration is concerned. I’d actually be happy to take advice from the more experienced illustrators out there!
Mac or PC?
PC. It’s all I’ve ever worked on (I wouldn’t know what I’m missing when it comes to a Mac!)

Who would you like to take out for dinner?
Being a quasi-hermit I’d really be no good at taking anyone out for dinner!

Having said that, it might be nice to take friends and family who’re skeptical about ‘vegan-ism’ out for a nice all-vegan meal! (no, it’s not rabbit food and yes, it can taste great!)

(In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m currently a full-time vegetarian and part-time vegan but am definitely looking to get back to being vegan full-time!)

What’s on your iPod?
I’m one of those people who’ll fall in love with a particular song or set of songs and happily listen to it over and over in a loop till they fall in love with the next song (or set of songs). Right now one of those songs would be ‘Tu Jaane Na’ feat. Kailash Kher (love his voice).