What inspired you to choosing the path of illustration?

I'm Gauri Elisa, I'm an illustrator and graphic designer from Auroville. I still feel like I'm on the road to becoming an illustrator or at least the illustrator I want to be, but a lot of things have inspired me and do inspire me. I think a big part of it is having this multicultural background, growing up in Auroville and being able to experience various cultures through especially food and art.

 

Tamil aesthetics, especially fashion, jewelry, design, poster design, all the fonts used, the colors used have deeply inspired me. My mom is a ceramic artist, so she's heavily influenced me and I think this has also given me the exposure to different artists, especially in India and different art styles, because we'd always go to exhibitions. My dad is Italian, so during the summers we'd try to visit my grandparents in Italy and their town is close to Venice, so I think this has, this aesthetic and the fashion there and the colors have also inspired me in a lot of ways.

I also just recently finished my postgrad in political science, so I definitely do think of things within a political lens a lot more now and I hope that this is also translated into my illustrations. I love poster design, so a lot of leftist posters have also, especially recently, been a huge part of my inspiration.

What was the first thing you remember drawing and how does it compare to your latest?

The first thing I remember drawing is a sunflower. I asked my mom to draw one, like the base of it, so that I could copy it and know what it looked like, but I ended up getting really upset with her because she hadn't drawn the seeds the way I'd envisioned them.

And I was really detail-oriented at the time. So this has definitely changed now. I'm a little more messy and I put less pressure on myself, and I think my illustrations have become more fun.

What's your go-to remedy for overcoming creative blocks? How do you deal with them? Any bizarre rituals or techniques?

Different artistic styles have inspired me. I think in my teens I'd watch a lot of anime, so manga and anime styles influenced a lot of my art then.

But recently I've been exploring different styles. I'm still very much inspired by cartoons and comics. I've been obsessed with Marjane Satrapi's works.

They are forever my inspiration.

If you could go back in time and give your beginner self one piece of advice, what would it be? 

I feel like I'm in a creative block right now, and I'm looking for ways to get out of it.

But I think the best way is just to start small, no pressure, and try to do a little something each day. Sometimes I think a break is also good, and in that time I explore art from different sources. It could be online, or visiting exhibitions, or even going to habitual places that inspire me, or even throwing myself into like a completely new context.

I feel like there's no recipe, it's just really random. I think this is said a lot, but it's so important to stop overthinking.

I wish I didn't try to make my art look like someone else's, and I just did what came to me. I think now I'm trying to unlearn all those different things or styles I tried to mimic before.

 

What's your go-to snack or drink while working on illustrations?

Definitely tea. I love all types of teas, especially fruit teas. So any time of the day.

What's your guilty pleasure when it comes to art supplies or tools?

 There's this store I've gone to in Pondicherry since I was a kid. It's called Sigaram, and they have the best supplies.

So I've recently been indulging in a lot of canvases and paints from there. They always give a discount by the way.

If you could collaborate with any artist or illustrator - living/dead, who would it be? 

Marjane Satrapi a million times. I think her art is like the perfect confluence of political and fun and sweet, and just it's perfect. 

If your art supplies rebelled against you, what do you think they would protest about? 

Being misplaced. I'm constantly misplacing my tools and losing track of them.

What's a common misconception about being an illustrator that you'd like to dispel? 

I think a common misconception is that it's easy to be an artist, or it's always fun. Of course there are moments when it is fun, and it is easy when you're inspired and can devote time to exploring for yourself. But like everything, it can be frustrating and it can be really hard to bring this seed from your mind into life. 

And yeah, that's the whole interview.

You can shop for temporary tattoos designed by Gauri.