October gets inked: Artists paint away Covid blues, on prompt
If you have been noticing more ink works being uploaded online of late, then be assured that you too have been witness to the 31-day art challenge, Inktober. Kick-started by American illustrator and animator Jake Parker in 2009, it continues to inspire artists across the world. From full time illustrators to amateur artists, doodlers to water colour lovers, there is space for everyone in this challenge wherein a new topic/word/prompt is given to them every day, and they bring on their interpretations of it. And, this year as well, creative souls have taken up this month-long challenge with much gusto, to usher an artistic refraction for the stressed mind, amid the pandemic.
Ayush Dash, a Delhi-based student, shares that drawing allows him to take a break while studying, and indulge in his passion for sketching. He says he took up the prompt Outpost, and chose to honour the armed forces in ink, because, “I believe soldiers are valiant people who always stay awake, on guard, and are ever ready to risk their lives for us. It’s due to them that we sleep peacefully in our beds at night.”
Delhi-based software engineer Shikha Gupta — who took the prompt Hope — has brought a lot of personal emotion into her illustration. “When I initially thought about this idea, it was about hoping for this pandemic situation to calm down and the girl in the image is thinking about when everything will be fine. You cannot make out if she is outside, looking in, or inside. The clouds can be interpreted both as happiness, or your mind’s chaos. These prompts allow us to represent multiple ideas in one drawing,” explains Shikha.
Describing her artwork that highlights the importance of masks and sanitisers, artist Arathi Rajeev, says, “When I got the prompt Armour on day 14 of the challenge, I pondered on the importance of the challenge. It was used by ancient people in war to save themselves from the attack. So I connected the current situation with our struggle with Covid.” The Kannur-based artist feels Inktober challenge has allowed her to express her creativity everyday, and adds, “Facemasks and hand sanitisers are our armour against this pandemic, and we must use them to protect ourselves.”
Ranchi-based textile designer Lovely Bagaria is also dipping her fingers in ink for this challenge. She says, “There are zillion interpretations of one single prompt, and it’s amazing to see everyone’s drawings or illustrations in different styles.”
For the prompt Radio, Bagaria chose to trace the myriad evolutions of one of the most significant inventions. “Being a 90s kid, I’ve seen the radio being used as news channels and then FM came. Radio made our lives easy like no other and evolved from huge bulky electric devices to light handy cell phones. It (illustration) depicts the evolution of the device in terms of utility and aesthetics, over the years,” she adds.
Author tweets @bhagat_mallika
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