In The Spotlight: Satyaki Sarkar

Aakash Pandya

9 years ago

Satyaki Sarkar features under the BananaBandy Spotlight.

Satyaki Sarkar is a 24 year old from Kolkata currently pursuing a Diploma in Digital Design and Animation from Arena Animation. Previously he worked for a year at Oxford University Press as an illustrator and graphic designer, creating artworks for their courses, designing product brochures and promotional campaigns. He is mainly a digital painter, though he likes to get back to pencil, paper and paints from time to time.

This happens to be my first, original and detailed character design. I did this for a contest organized by Blizzard Entertainment for their Hearthstone gaming universe. Though I didn’t win, this project taught me so much about honing my craft, that I’ll always consider this one of my best efforts till date.

Satyaki Sarkar has a different process for the different types of artworks he creates, one is for the trend-following projects and the others are his personal projects.

For the ones I create according to market trends, I research a bit about the subject and try to find the subject’s USP and portray it in my own way keeping in mind how people will connect to it.

For the personal artworks, I need an inspiration first, which may be a song, a line or two from a poem, a fleeting moment of my life or raw emotions that move me so much that I want to paint it out. Once it gets stuck in my head, I start scribbling. And when I find something concrete, that gets my thoughts across clearly, I work on it towards a final illustration or a painting.

Though I’m not religious, spirituality is one of my interests and I’m always curious about the metaphysical and numinous aspect of existence. Shiva, the iconic presence, always interests me and this portrait was done as a sign of my reverence to the grace that I’ve always received in his name.

Satyaki Sarkar was recently approached to illustrate a book. It was an enthralling experience for him. Every artist would love to see their work being in the hands of lakhs of people all over the world and this dream came true for him.

A friend of mine on facebook shared a post by somebody who was looking for illustrators for a book project. I got in touch with him, showed him my works, which he really liked and asked me to be a part of the team. I was just given the story as it was supposed to be a surprise to the author, and they could only see the final illustration on the day of the book launch. It was fun! I enjoyed every moment of creating it and was really glad when it was accepted for publication.

This is a digital re-working of a watercolour painting I made back in 2009, which incidentally happens to be my first published work, as the cover of a little magazine me and my friends produced. It is inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ and Salvador Dali’s ‘Disintegration of Persistence of Memory’. That painting of Dali was actually a companion piece to his famous artwork, ‘Persistence of Memory’, in which he painted a disintegrating structure of the former painting. So, I too had painted ‘A Metropolis in a Starry Night’ at first and this is the ‘disintegration’ of that. This is my homage to these legendary artists who always inspires me.

When asked about what advice he follows in life, Satyaki Sarkar says that he really believes in the following poem which he found online.

“This is your life. Do what you want and do it often.

If you don’t like something, change it.

If you don’t like your job, quit.

If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV.

If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love.

Stop over-analysing, life is simple.

All emotions are beautiful.

When you eat, appreciate every last bite.

Life is simple.

Open your heart, mind and arms to new things and people, we are united in our differences.

Ask the next person you see what their passion is and share your inspiring dream with them.

Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself.

Some opportunities only come once, seize them.

Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them, so go out and start creating.

Life is short, live your dream and wear your passion.”

― Holstee Manifesto, The Wedding Day

This is an old work, from 2011-12, but will be one of my best efforts. This style, use of continuous slanting strokes to build up volume and indicate light and shade, is typical for pencil and paper, but I tried to implement that digitally in some of my works and this one was the best result. This is perhaps my most recognized artwork and the one that was widely appreciated in international art forums and social media.

When quizzed about his opinion about a formal education in the arts being a must have thing for artists, this is what Satyaki Sarkar had to say:

A child can also express through a visual medium, and it is often delightful. And as an adult human being, it can wonderful to let the raw emotions out in your artworks. But, to know the science of art, is essential for someone who wants to take it up as a profession. A solid foundation in the principles of drawing and painting is always beneficial. Now, whether you get that education form a reputed institute after spending a fortune or learn by yourself, from the internet, from other artists in workshops, that’s on you.

Quick Questions:

A book that everybody must read?

Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach

Favourite movie from all time?

August Rush

Favourite Hexadecimal Colour Code?

#000000

What’s the most annoying cliché in art that you’ve observed?

One can never introduce oneself as an ‘artist’ as if it is a heavenly title which can only be bestowed upon you by others after they decide whether you’re worthy or not.

Which is the coolest project that you’ve seen on BananaBandy?

2013 Movie Posters by Gary Ralphs

If you were not an artist then what would you be?

A monk

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