Uncharted Careers: The Story Of An Engineer Turned Artist

(For the next two weeks, The Free Press Journal will bring you an innovative series on Unconventional Careers, one unique story everyday. Continue reading to learn more about young people who took chances, braced all odds and used their tenacity to make it big. Swarnavo Dutta is the subject of today's tale.)

Swarnavo Datta is a children’s book illustrator from Bangalore. In this article, he talks about his interesting journey from joining an engineering degree to sketching a children’s book for Penguin India and shares valuable advice for young artists. 

Excerpt from our exclusive interview with Swarnavo .

What is the story behind you becoming an artist?

I grew up in a classic Indian society where it was a trend for kids to attend an art class. An art teacher used to come and teach me the basics of drawing at the age of three which continued till my board exams. However, art was not an option when choosing a career path after class 10. There was a dearth of awareness around the career prospects of art. I studied science and went on to pursue engineering. But I did not stop sketching.

In 2017, I posted my artwork on Instagram and received a good response. I also participated in Inktober randomly. It changed the game for me as I sketched for every single day. Once Inktober was over, on 1 November, I felt there was a void to fill and continued to sketch. This is where I picked up on posting regularly on Instagram.

What inspires you to put your energy into art?

In 2018, I got my first monetary project to make a logo and then another custom illustration for a couple and gradually started receiving more. Soon, I realised I wanted to tell stories through graphic media. In 2019, I decided to move towards book illustration and started to work on character design. I started networking with self-published authors and publishers and did a few book illustrations. One thing led to another and last year I did three books with Penguin India and five books this year along with other projects. 

How would you describe your journey so far?

Currently, I have a stable day job that pays all my bills. I spend my evenings and weekends sketching. After facing heavy losses from Comicon and merchandise, I realised I was not ready to run a business, and manage the packing and shipping all while working full time. I have also seen many illustrators who do only merchandise work without a backup income source doing well economically. When it comes to children’s book illustration, it is very difficult to sustain a life on that. Having a financial safety net that pays my bills gives me the option to say no to a lot of projects and brings freedom to choose my work.

What are the challenges that you face as an artist?

There are other challenges that need to be overcome such as finding a publisher in the case of book illustration. It is difficult to get a publisher initially but once you have established your network and worked with some big brands, it becomes easier. The second challenge is that of knowing the rate in the industry. As there is no regulation or standard pricing, one can demand any amount. Again, networking helps to know the market prices of book illustrations and it therefore becomes easier to give a quotation. 

What it takes to thrive as an emerging artist?

My advice for aspiring illustrators would be to not directly go into digital illustration without having a good hold on basic drawing skills. When drawing a portrait digitally, we tend to trace the image by lowering the opacity- which I initially did as well. It is not sustainable. I have sketched all my life and was pretty confident about my skills. When I started digital illustrations, I could trace the portraits and churn out artwork like a machine but lost my confidence. It took me a long while to gain the confidence back once I stopped tracing. It is okay to not draw hyper realistic pictures. 

(If you have an interesting tale of someone who has dared to go against the grain, please email us at fpjournaledu@gmail.com)