I was born in India. As a kid I was encouraged to focus on studies only, so I didn’t draw much as a kid unlike other illustrators. I first started drawing when I was told that I was “too young†to carry around a camera. So because I could not take pictures, I started drawing the places and things that I wanted to remember. This is how I first got introduced to art. Eventually I got very interested in drawing but never thought it could be considered a career choice. In India, art as a profession is not encouraged. So fast forward few years, I finished my undergraduate degree in Computer Science Engineering and got an IT job at a major company in India.
However, after working there for around three years I got very frustrated and realized that I needed to make a change. So I looked up online different creative fields and found Illustration. I spent a year in making a portfolio and applied to three art schools and got selected in the MFA program of School of Visual Arts. Being a student in the Illustration as Visual Essay program and having the most illustrious illustrators and designers in the field mentor me along with very talented and supportive peers was the best I could have asked to prepare myself for the illustration field.
When I first started drawing, I didn’t like my work much. Then I realized that I need to understand why I like certain artwork and perhaps incorporate those elements in my work. A few things that I like are pencil textures, limited color palette, patterns and lines. For some odd reason I love drawing lines and love to look at patterns of lines too. So I experimented with those elements and developed my current way of drawing.
