Dhwani Trivedi - An Artist in Her Works
Dhwani is an artist and illustrator who used to read comics and storybooks as a kid. The characters' worlds were the only things that mattered to her, so now she creates and writes about characters of her own. She constantly thinks up new ideas, characters, and stories, and loves storytelling.
She even writes to build concrete stories that influence all her work. Her parents stimulated her interest by bringing illustrated versions of mythological stories like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and fables like Panchatantra.
‘When we read, our brain is doing a lot more than just deciphering words on a page. It’s a neural workout,’ says Dhwani. She believes this has helped her imagine better and become an illustrator.
Travel, architecture, and other art also influence her artistic signature. ‘Traveling is an eye-opening experience for me that allows me to gain afresh outlook and draw on new cultures and surroundings to push myself and my work further,’ says Dhwani
After moving to London, Dhwani spends her time visiting museums, galleries, and artist studios. This has helped her learn about new subject matter, techniques, and a new perspective. She often revisits a specific area or a particular painting, so she can capture its essence. This reminds her of how amazing the world is and how critical art and history is —no matter what culture you're from.
Dhwani believes that illustration is about letting your ideas take shape across multiple mediums. Although pencil and paper continue to remain her favourite, Dhwani often turns to computer programs like Photoshop or Illustrator to assist with colouring, composition, and overall vision. In her opinion, producing art on paper gives her a better sense of composition than working on a computer screen does. ‘My hands and eyes are interacting with the area of the paper and measuring distances constantly.
When sketching on the computer, I find that placing everything correctly requires a lot more tweaking,’ she says. But for a lot of artists the possibilities of going digital offers speed and saves a ton of time. Dhwani is currently fluent with Photoshop and Illustrator and is learning 3D software's to study objects and use it on her 2D illustrations.
Dhwani has also worked on a music video for the song by Papon. ‘It is one of my favourite projects as I’m a big fan of Papon’s music and creating an animated loop for his song was an absolute treat. The beautiful lyrics made my work a lot easier,’ she says. She was also called as the judge for an art event at IIT Bombay.
The theme for the competition was "Psychedelic Visions'' and she was absolutely floored seeing how creative the results were considering they came from people that are not from an artistic background but brilliant in their own field. ‘It proved to me that anyone can be an artist if given an opportunity to explore,’ she says.
She advises aspiring illustrators that people seem obsessed with style, finding your style, whether they should have more than one style, and so on. ‘Just work and your “style” will emerge,’ she says as her motto. Steadily working and observing your own drawings will help you to discover things in them that could be the seed for a whole body of work.
If you are obsessed with somebody else's work, initially copying it also helps you find what suits you and what does not. While it is important, style is rarely a factor in a professional setting. Being flexible has helped her diversify her skills and build trustable relationships with clients. ‘Creator is more crucial than the critic,’ she concludes.
