A student, an intern, an artist and constantly improving. Gauraang Pant shows us that he’s as normal as a lot of us but where he gets his inspiration is what makes him different.
Just to introduce yourself, if you aren’t freelancing, where are you working and what’s your current job title?
My name is Gauraang Pant. I am from Delhi. I am pursuing a Post Graduation in Animation Design from Maeer Institute Of Design Pune and currently I am doing a college internship as a concept artist in Firefly Creative Studio (of Bahubali fame) in Hyderabad.
His concept artworks will make dreams into reality.
Tell us about your journey from discovering your craft to acquiring the skill you have now.
I wanted to be an engineer when I was in school and did my graduation from the prestigious Birla Institute Of Technology. During my graduation years, I got hooked to anime and animated movies and there is a TV series called Avatar: The Last Airbender that had a really huge impact on me. The story, artwork and animation of that series was so amazing and inspiring that I started taking animation and concept art very seriously. After graduation, I got a job as graphic designer in a small startup and there, I learned a lot about drawing and developed designing sense with the help of senior artists.
We think the concept artists of Avatar would have been proud to have Gauraang as part of their team.
After dealing with various demands from clients and/or bosses, what’s that one experience that you learned the most from?
One important thing that I want to share is that when you are working on any project for a client, do your best. Do it even when you know that the client is not paying you much for the piece you are developing for him. I am not saying that one should work for free, it’s very important to put a price on your work but one should consider every project as a million dollar project where every pixel counts and always try to add things to it that make it different and stand out more. By following this method, you will develop a habit of creating good artwork and you become more consistent with it. Because if I am doing crappy artwork for a client who is not paying me much, it’s ultimately my loss because I am the one who is creating it and it won’t do me any good.
Always be the hero ready to save yourself from creating bad work.
In the whole world, whose work do you aspire yours to be like? And what attracts you to appreciate what they do?
There are many artists old and new that really inspires me but if I have to choose I would say
And Sam Neilson
John has a very loose and sketchy style and how he conveys energy in the story and mood of the scene with few scribbles is just amazing . Sam Neilson is a complete artist. He is a great character designer and an amazing painter. Just throw anything at him and he will do it.
What do people not realise about your work/area of expertise?
That a white canvas still intimidates me.
It’s when he starts filling in the white canvas that good things come
Which project of yours are you particularly proud of? Could you tell us a little about it?
I have not done a project up till now where I can say, ‘I am really proud of this.’ But yes, this short animated movie “Friend for a life time” I did as final year project for my college was very satisfactory to me as I worked really hard on it . The main objective of the movie is to bring awareness to kids about the importance of books and that they should be little more sensitive while handling them as they can give knowledge as well as great memories.
Can we have a piece of your advice that helps you with your own workflow?
Always be clear with the ideas that you want to convey but don’t be rigid with it. Always start small and then build upon it; that way, you will have more control over your work and you will be amazed how your artwork will evolve from it.
Be willing to let your art evolve.
So, what are you working on now?
These days I am really busy with my college internship and I have been working on a variety of different projects which I can’t disclose. As far as my personal work goes, I am trying to revisit the basics and foundation of drawing and design because it is always good to revise what you have learned so far .
Some things can’t be disclosed and may be protected by mummies.
Where do you see yourself in the future?
Frankly, I am not thinking too far ahead of myself. What I know is that I am still learning and trying to develop my art skills and have a long way to go. But what I really want to do is to work on different kinds of projects and contribute to them in a big way.
To add more variety in bigger and better ways.
How do you unwind and refresh your creative juices?
I don’t do anything different, I play video games, go for a run, watch movies and that usually works for me.
Then he can get back to making cool things like this.
Have you ever tried out a completely different creative field? If yes, how did that turn out?
My sister is a classically trained singer, so there was a time where I also wanted to sing but let’s just say it didn’t turn out well and my parents told me that it’s better I stick to drawing.
The look we imagine his parents probably gave him when they heard him sing.
If you had to start afresh in the industry today, would you choose a different path and if so, what would it be?
Actually, I am still pretty young and relatively new in the ‘industry’ but if I have to answer, I would say that I won’t change anything because whatever I do in terms of art came from the varied experiences I had and the people I met. If you take these things out then I don’t know where I would end up .
Probably not doing character designs on the former President of the United States.
If you could claim that any one person’s work in India was yours, who would it be?
I think It has to be Dattaraj Kamat and Abhilash Narayanan. Their work is amazing.
Now that you’re getting/you have a firm foothold in the creative world, what would you like to say to ‘all the haters’?
People have different tastes and opinions and you can’t do much about it , try to ignore it and just focus on your work.
Like monsters under your bed, opinions won’t keep you up at night unless you let them.
Quick Questions
Favourite font?
Favourite movie?
A book everybody should read?
Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
Your quick tip to everybody who does the same job as you?
Keep it simple.
And you might create something awesome like this.
Who has the best projects you’ve seen on IndieFolio?
Could you make something exclusive for us in the next 5 minutes?
Thank you for this, Gauraang. We love it and wonder if anyone from IndieFolio will look like this in a few years.
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