Following his artistic spirit and immersing himself in the creative and witty, Amber has been capturing humorous situations and behaviors in his cartoons for a very long time. While his store of hobbies ranges from playing Lego (yes, even today) and going out on treks to writing about technology and playing Santoor, drawing and cartooning has been of paramount importance to him. Expressing himself through these cartoons which draw on relatable matters of day-to-day life, Amber’s artistic recipe is sprinkled with wit, fun and humour, and a tad bit of exaggeration!
Born and brought up in Surat and currently based in Pune, Amber had been cartooning since his school days. But it was in 2014 when he started to take the “funny business seriously”, as he likes to put it. That was the year he established ToonStory, a one-stop platform to host all his cartoons and comics. However, while successful stories reflect on many milestones, their foundation is built on some defeats and that is also how Amber was led to make this move. In facing rejections from newspapers and magazines which couldn’t fit his cartoons in their publications, Amber found the inspiration to begin his own site, just so he could offer people a chance to enjoy the works he was making. And by the measure of his own brand, through ToonStory, the journey of Amber as a cartoonist picked up its pace.
From then on, as he started taking his platform and social media more seriously, it helped him in building up a name owing to which many publishing houses approached him. Amber had many stints with regional newspapers like Sakal (English and Marathi), Gujarat Mitra (Gujarati), and City Plus as a featured cartoonist, publishing more than 100 pieces for them. And in turn, he found a sense of satisfaction from fulfilling his aim of making people smile through his cartoons that were released. One of his major achievements along this way was becoming a lifetime member of the Indian Institute of Cartoonists, which has had members like R K Laxman, and Amber’s biggest inspiration, Mario Miranda.
“For doing anything unconventional, we all have to think unconventional.”
Amber has always found cartoons as an interesting way of expression and his artistic process is much like that too. While creating something, he says, he becomes a part of that piece and the world he is creating, away from thinking logically and more creatively bound. And this process fuelled by persistence has led to improvements. Which is why Amber believes that talent, innate or not, always needs hard work and consistency. Because from an artistic standpoint, these improvements are what end up defining your work.
As someone who has navigated through social media and the real commercial market, Amber still roots for passion as the driving force for creation. He says don’t do things for likes or followers, but do it for yourself first. “To start with, begin the journey with expectations from yourself only and no one else.” And on this note of expectations, he brings another insight to focus, that is to devote your energies to the things that are within the circle of your influence. Because while the circumstances, market, and environment you operate in have an impact on your success, they will never be under your full control. This is why it is best to continue doing what you do with persistence, open-mindedness, and humbleness, and it will eventually take you to your goal.
After facing a fair share of rejections in his own journey, Amber concludes with this message of a reminder that all things take time. “Whether it is art or any other unconventional career, it will take time. But don’t give up in between.” Be sure to check out his work on his website @toonstory.in!
