‘Illustration is never a simple job’
Kripa Bhatia illustrated which made it to the Parag Honour List for 2021
Tell us about your illustration process.
My process of illustration is immersive. Once I receive the script, I start looking for alternative perspectives on the script, consult other books written on the subject and painted on the theme (if any) and meet and gather stories and anecdotes from associated people. If the book is about a cultural aspect or life in a city, my process involves physical and frequent visits to the site; mapping, gathering sights and smells, understanding the local language and traditions and practices of the community. I also live sketch sometimes. It is a very people-centric process.
Do you think of illustration as only imagery or are you writing a parallel text with images? Do you also feel that the term ‘illustration’ is often an inaccurate description of your work?
In Jungle Nama, Amitav Ghosh refers to Salman Toor’s paintings as “illuminations”. Ghosh says the images are not merely illustrations but constitute a parallel narrative. I think words can conjure unfathomable depths of meaning and metaphor. Through my illustrations, I am diving into these pockets to bring out the treasures hidden within words. That makes me a deep-sea diver! And I don’t mind being called an illustrator!
How do you choose images of Mumbai, your home city, for your work?
An illustration transcends the merely photographic by adding new layers of meaning and observational detail. Let me explain this with an example. Be Careful Bappa (People Place Project) is a book about the cotton mill history of Mumbai as much as the story of the protagonist who is a young chawl dweller navigating the narrow lanes of the city and jostling with crowds for the visarjan of the city’s favourite deity, Ganpati Bappa. The collage-style illustration accommodates many visual narratives within a single page. There is the foreground of the procession, the background of the cityscape and a textured layer of newspaper clippings, scribbled paper, bus tickets and old photographs taking the reader on a historical ride. The book is thus a negotiation between multiple texts and images.
Tell us about the two picture-book biographies you are working on.
There cannot be a more appropriate time to talk to children about Somnath Hore than now. We have experienced migration during the lockdown and the farmers’ crisis. Hore’s 100th birth anniversary was in April. It is a picture-book biography of an artist who was deeply moved by the pain of his people. My other book, about the artist Mehlli Gobhai, is written by Jerry Pinto. The process of creating both books involved meaningful interactions with art historians, visits to galleries and immersing myself in their art because, contrary to popular belief, illustration is never a simple job.