THIS IS HOW I DRAW is an incredible illustrator led workbook art directed by Canato Jimo and published by Pratham Books. I am stoked to be a part of it- for one- the roster of artists is quite diverse in terms of techniques, storytelling and place, and second- one of the rare instances where a children’s book centers the illustrator.

Artist-writers have a unique ability to bring in ways of seeing to a story, making illustration a cognitive tool to understand the world. Visual literacy helps you engage in sensorial and critical ways- from identification to complex interpretation on contextual, metaphoric and philosophical levels.

I hope more workbooks like these exist in children’s publishing in India. I pulled these from beginning, middle and end- but there are many more in there, do check them out!

Here’s part of my spread which is a visual idea that came to me that bats are essentially upside down hearts!

I had an opportunity to contribute to an eco pedagogy paper for the Global Studies of Childhood journal around ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ where one of the writers Niveditha introduced me to materiality – the “matterphorical” ways the physical, material, language elements come together. Nature printing has been a very rewarding side quest in my art practice and I am happy to incorporate it more in my journey