Artists are courageous people, who strive through all the struggles of the journey, to just follow their hearts. Here is another story of such an artist, Anjali Laxminarayan Sahu.

Born and raised in Nagpur, Anjali completed her Masters degree in Fine arts from Lalit Kala Akademi. Her passion for drawing started at a very young age. Gradually with time she learned new skills and perfected her craft to become the artist she is today. Writing finely on a rice grain is one of her unique talents. She has created beautiful rice grain artworks, ranging from the Preamble of the Indian constitution to national anthem to the social message of save girl child.

Despite her willingness to become a doctor and the circumstances which lead to choosing this unconventional career choice, her journey was not an easy one. In the tough times of life, the unconditional support of family and friends kept her going. Her achievements are a testimony to the fact that with persistence and hard work, we can achieve success in any field of our choice. Some of the many laurels she has achieved are two times India Book of Records holder, Garv Nagpur award and Lalit Kala department award.

Her art is inspired by the legendary artists like Raja Ravi Varma, Gemini Roy, Samir Mandal, S.M. Pandit and Aditya Chari. She experiments with different styles of painting, like doodling, pen illustration and digital illustration. We bring you some of her most amazing artwork.

Strokes of the paintbrush through the white canvas creates a colourful world of imagination and reveals the deep thoughts of our minds in the light of creativity. Unnati, a young upcoming artist from Delhi, paints her thoughts in beautiful bright colors or monochromatic style and creates fine artworks. 

Born and raised in Delhi, Unnati completed her graduation in Psychology from Lady Shri Ram College in 2018. Currently, working in the HR department in a global consulting firm, she exemplifies the spirit of a true artist as she continues to follow her passion.

She describes her relationship with the art as the “love-hate” kind, from being appreciated for her art skills in 6th grade to organizing multiple art exhibitions in school and college to not painting altogether for nearly 2 years, the struggles have remained consistent throughout her journey lately. However, her mother remained her biggest cheerleader, giving her the strength to continue all along. 

Unnati creates art basing her thoughts, feelings, or the words which appeal her. She’s inspired by a mental health community – Artidote and a multi-disciplinary artist Raghava KK, whose modest and self-actualizing attitude helps Unnati to be consistent. 

She highlights the fact that “the excellence is borne not just out of any particular innate ability, but of practice and persistence.” While giving hope to young upcoming artists, she states that “each one of us has our shares of struggles, vulnerabilities and setbacks.  What keeps us going is the fire, the passion we have. So, just chase that fire and let things follow.”

Artists are courageous people, who strive through all the struggles of the journey, to just follow their hearts. Here is another story of such an artist, Urvashi.

A self-taught artist, Urvashi belongs from Gwalior. A graduate in tourism management, she followed her heart to chose an unconventional career path. Her “interest in Indian mythology and history” has a huge influence on her art.

She is an adventurer by heart, a quality that is also reflected in her love for art. Despite struggles, she went the extra mile to achieve her dreams.

Inspired by Indian culture, architecture and mythology, she is still evolving her style, nature and technique of painting. Encouraging others to focus on passion while practicing rigorously to perfect your craft, she states that it is the only way to improve your chances of success.

“Creativity takes courage.” It takes real strength to endure all the hurdles in the path to just follow your heart. Shriti Mohanto exemplifies this spirit gracefully.

An engineer by qualification, Shriti was born and raised in a small town of Mahasamund in Chhattisgarh. After completing her education, when she was all set to take up a technical job, destiny planned other things for her. Due to some important family issue, she had to sacrifice her plans, to stay back with her family.

In those days of figuring out life yet again, she started doodling to get a respite from the societal pressures and stress. Initially, she created art pieces for people on twitter for free. Gradually, with time her followers encouraged her to turn this passion into a profession and that’s when she realised her true calling in life.

Shriti is a self-taught artist. Inspired from legends like Kerby Rosanes, Lei Melendres, Justin Estcourt and Fathima Hakim, she perfected her art through consistent practice and perseverance. Her art is a reflection of regular people, experiences and situations, inspired by the world around her. She developed her skill by practicing every day. In 2017 she resolved to draw each day for a year under her “#365days365doodles” challenge, which has successfully continued till date. What seemed impossible at first, gradually enriched her craft along with helping her find her niche.

Despite resistance from her family for her highly unconventional career choice, she endured through all the hurdles and succeeded in creating a name for herself. Famously called as the “Doodle Queen” by the locals of Raipur, she aspires to take her art to the global platform.

Through the moments of convincing her parents to days of zero motivation, zero energy, she describes her journey as bumpy, yet incredible. Her belief, practice and persistence, along with the support and encouragement of her friends and audiences have made this journey rewarding.

Conclusively, her advice to every dreamer out there is that “Carry on and don’t give up. Just listen to your heart. Every time you feel like giving up, just give it another try. Give it another push. Trust me, it will all work out. And always practice and be persistent.”

So moral of the story is that don’t ever give up. Persistent efforts eventually result in the creation of artwork as fine and elegant as these.

The American artist Tony DiTerlizzi once said, “Illustrations can be a big window: a looking glass into author’s imagination.” As described by him, illustrations truly reflect the creator’s vision.

Ranging from special occasions to day-to-day moments, every idea manifests itself creatively in the form of illustrations. Although abstract, still, it is a great way of putting across the message in the most fun, artistic and aesthetic way possible.

Some great Indian illustrators are breaking the barriers and social norms, bringing about a positive change through their craft. We bring to you some of such exceptional works.