Completing the Circle

 

Sometime in January 2020, after I completed my first picture-book, I wrote a post on this blog, titled A Full Circle. How little we know what life holds for us, and what lessons it brings, but 4 years later, in January 2024, when I was taking a break from life in the city on a farm, I got an email and a video clip of my second picture-book from my publisher (and writer of this book), Richa, that our book had been published. All the efforts of 2 years had arrived packaged into one superb picture-book and if I thought matters would end there, just before the Bologna Book Fair in April 2024,  I was sent an email that this picture-book had made it to the dPictus 100 Outstanding Picture books, the first Indian picture-book to have climbed up onto this platform. 

Competing with the best picture-books on an international level is a game which has to be played in a different league. So much attention had to be paid to detail and the the standard of my illustrations had to be at their best. I recall I redid all the illustrations enough times to fill up 3 books or more. What at first seemed like straightforward book to make turned out to be as challenging as any. Needless to say, Richa's text too, though seemingly simple, was was fine-tuned over and over as much as the illustrations were to create a thoughtful and insightful story. 

This was my first attempt at designing a book using InDesign, which I learnt to use during the pandemic.  This was also my first cover design. I recall in the final moments, when everything was assembled and double-checked and I had to hit the "publish" button, I got an attack of nervousness and messaged a colleague - So we have to hit "publish" and its done right? Yes, hit publish and it's done. (The colleague, a veteran of 100 picture-books, who was right in the middle of getting a prestigious award when I asked this question pointed out later: What use is getting an award if I cannot answer questions like this?).

After I completed this second book, I was asked for a conversation about my entire career as an illustrator by a designer called Purvi Rajapuria, an extremely professional and intelligent young woman, who visited me in my home and then created an excellent interview of the morning we spent talking together. The interview was made for the design studio called Studio Bahubashi.

Here is the interview - INTERVIEW

So this is it then, I have completed the circle.
On to other things.

Redoing Rome. A Postscript.

 

I did visit Rome again as I promised myself I would, and this time, the second time around, I got it right. I celebrated as I should have four years ago and I did everything I wanted to do the first time around. Rome in autumn is magical and unforgettable.

The walk to the art supply shop Ditta Poggi. This early morning walk took me through all the magnificent sights of Rome, without the crowds and in pleasant weather. I could stop, pause and stare all I wanted to and every time I turned my head there was always something more magnificent to see.

And then, a proper walk exploring Trastevere, where I ogled at magnificent churches, explored the red alleys, visited bookshops and ate the best gelato ever (Otaleg).

I went to Janiculum Terrace again. I replaced the older memories there with happier ones. I gave thanks for the completion of my second book and validated my first book as it should have been done the first time around. For these moments, that I could come here again and acknowledge how far I've come, I have only gratitude. These are the memories that will remain with me.

The power of Caravaggio in real and the breathtaking work of MC Escher

The dazzling Palazzo Colonna with its exquisite works of art will require several posts. 

I'll stop here instead at just two pictures. Can you believe I saw Caravaggio, Escher and the art inside Palazzo Colonna all in one day? But that's Italy for you, crammed to the brim with centuries of art, in palaces, spilling out casually into the streets, scattered on the walls of bars and restaurants, art is everywhere.

I have not done justice to Palazzo Colonna with two pictures, but I wouldn't even know where to begin, and to blog the experience here would take an entire month or two of documenting solely this. So I will simply leave it here and end with a picture of me with my smile after my walk at Trastevere. I am glad my friend insisted on taking a picture of me. I am beaming. And this happiness is pretty much what my experience in Rome gave me this time around. I have many, many happy memories and much gratitude. 

A Fitting Conclusion - The interview

So this is the most in-depth and extensive interview I have done in my career as an illustrator. I talk about process, pictures, payment, profession, publishers and other related matters. The difference with this interview is that the questions were asked by another illustrator, making them pertinent, relevant and allowing me to open up as I have never done before. This is also a wonderful closure to this blog and to an entire part of my career as an illustrator at the end of this year. Now I can move on to other things with much gratitude for all I’ve been given.

Many thanks Niharika Shenoy, not only for giving me this chance to articulate my thoughts but also for interviewing and showcasing Indian illustrators so nicely on Medium.

Click here to read The Interview

It has been a great 10 years on this blog and a full 13 years of blogging. It is time to close the circle here too as with an entire volume of my life.

Here are the places you can find me and my work -

https://priyasebastianillustrations.tumblr.com/

https://www.behance.net/priyasebastian

The writing, travels, sketchbook stuff, opinions, photographs will all be at

https://priyasebastian.tumblr.com/

Thank you and goodbye.

The Forest

One day when you wake up,

you wil find that you've become a forest.

You've grown roots and found strength in them

that no one thought you had.

You have become stronger and more beautiful,

full of life giving qualities.

You have learned to take all the negativity around you and turn it into oxygen for easy breathing.

A host of wild creatures live inside you and you call them stories.

A variety of beautiful birds nest inside your mind and you call them memories.

You have become an incredible self-sustaining thing of epic proportions.

And you should be so proud of yourself of how far you have come from the seeds of who you used to be.

-------------------------------------------------------- Nikita Gill

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Up in the Hills

 Sometime in December, I went off to spend time with friends in Mussoorie and Landour. I got my very first glimpse of the Himalayas from the plane and I was enthralled. I got acquainted with words phenomenons like "Winterline" and tried to draw new shapes (mountains) in my sketchbook. I also ate loads and loads of pork and had to beg for simple vegetables with my meals. I used a walking stick to walk even a few kilometers because that is a necessity when you live in the mountains.

The spectacular Winterline where hot air gets trapped beneath cold air 
causing this beautiful phenomenon.

Landour Bakehouse (below) with the classics - 

Delicious Chicken Tikka croissants and Rose Cake. 

So good. 

Sketching the Himalayas in Chakkar in Landour

Apart from the desperation to get out and about, this holiday made me remove my Montreal woolens from the recesses of my wardrobe and wear them. I was still very cold however, until my friend simply threw her mother's sheepskin shawl over me and I was instantly warmed. As Henrik Drescher told me, "It is not how much you wear but what you wear!". When it comes to weather, Bangaloreans don't know very much.

Beautiful pageants around fires are something completely new to a Bangalorean's eyes!

Below, gorgeous treasures picked up during treks around the mountains.

When people like Thoreau spoke about walking amidst nature to rewire the mind, I don't think he meant a walk at the local neighbourhood park, not even Lalbagh, although it can be a good substitute if there is nothing else, but what a healing, soul-cleansing experience it is to walk in a proper forest. How blessed and beautiful is Jabarkhet Nature Reserve.

Many thanks Sam and Bussu for this memorable holiday.

The Trek

 

This picture has not been taken from a plane. I actually trekked up this height at Makalidurga Betta.
You will have to click on the picture to fully appreciate the magnificent view.

The rest of the pictures are somewhere on my Tumblr.

#Makalidurga

Together / Apart

 

Sometime ago I was asked not only to illustrate but also to write about the effects of the pandemic on the theme Together/Apart for The Indian Quarterly. This is the result. It also got me my name on the cover of my favourite magazine, which is nice :)

Blogger does weird things when I cut paste from Word, in fact I find it is no longer a pleasure to use Blogger. Much like Wordpress, it is a chore to upload, align, write in the right place etc. If you want bigger, more sumptuous images, you can find them in my Behance account, where you can also read what I've written.

I think I am going to be done with Blogger and blogging very soon.

The Ancient City

 

Matera, every step of the way, every turn of the head, so much beauty.

Charcoal drawing of Matera, above. Below, lithograph.

 

Evil

Hathras

The evil that persists and persists and persists.

What do we call the horror that stretches across our present age like a canopy, a kind of shadow violence, the sort we are all guilty of: violence of the ignored, utterly avoidable variety. The casual violence of cruelty. The violence of poverty, denial, lack of care, of turning our attention away from slow burning fires that we ought to be duty bound to watch and hold in our eyes. We are not innocents here, but shadow men, looking the other way while havoc is wrought in our silence.

                                                                                       ~ Fathima Bhutto

Fearless Matters

SMELLS

 Click on the pictures for bigger images -