This artist captures Carnatic musicians in all their glory

CHENNAI: Cross-hatched pen and ink sketches of Carnatic musicians in a state of trance — closed eyes, gesticulating hands — captured in all their glory, in black and white is what Anirudh Srinivasan, a young artist will be exhibiting at ‘Artistes by Artist’, a solo exhibition curated by Margazhi. org at Sarangi The Kanjivaram Sari Store.

“My journey as an artist began when I was three years old. I often used to scribble on walls, and learned a lot by imitating my mother and grandfather who were good artists. Eventually, not only did I invest more time in making sketches, but also knew I loved doing it,” shares Anirudh. He specialises in hyper-realism, a genre of painting that resembles high-resolution photographs.

“I learned art from Kamala Ravikumar for about seven years. Every time I did something creative and beautiful, it satisfied and also fascinated me. It served as a driving force to create more work,” he shares. About three years ago, when he started sharing his artworks on his Instagram handle, he turned quite a few heads. “The response was really good. My friends and family were supportive and encouraged me to do more of what I was doing,” says Anirudh, who has over 2,000 followers. Anirudh will be exhibiting about 18 sketches of artistes including Sudha Ragunathan, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, TM Krishna, and Rajesh Vaidhya. “In 2016, a friend wanted me to make a sketch of MS Subbulakshmi.

After that, I continued sketching other artistes too and the collection organically expanded,” he says. His love for Carnatic music and the urge to contribute to the music fraternity pushed him to work on this Margazhi series. “I enjoy Carnatic music, so that’s what inspired me to do it. I tried capturing the moment, where artistes are in a different world, oblivious of what’s going on around them. That’s what I wanted to convey through my sketches,” he says. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and turned to art after graduation. “I switched my major to design.

I want to pursue a full-fledged career in art...but, in the current age and time it’s hard to depend on classic art for a living, so I am currently focusing on digital media and animation,” he says. Anirudh’s a constant learner and searches for inspiration in every nook and corner. “I cycle, play soccer and every time I get good ideas, I go to my study room and start drawing. But, I also wait for the right ideas,” he shares. Learning the nuances of art forms block by block, Anirudh dreams of crafting his signature style in the future. “There are only a few thousand artists who specialise in realism. Like artist Emanuel Dascanio, who does flawless hyper-realistic artworks in big sizes, I would like to try my hands at it too,” Anirudh says.