Unveiling a captivating journey of artistic awakening, Vineed Vijayan's childhood fixation on Cartoon Network and Disney kindled a profound passion for drawing and was the key to unlocking boundless creativity.
A 90s kid, Vineed Vijayan was used to unwinding with Cartoon Network and Disney movies, which fuelled his interest in drawing and animation. As he grew older, he stumbled upon the world of comic book art and was astonished to learn about the diverse fields that required drawing. This epiphany sparked a never-ending journey to perfect his drawing skills, and he strives to learn more with each passing day.
His extensive experience in the illustration industry has not only helped him refine his skills but also offered him a unique vantage point to understand the art form.
But…what is a story without a few twists? Although Vineed was always drawn towards art, that passion faded a bit when he entered high school and started to focus on more traditional career paths like engineering or medicine. It was only when he stumbled upon a "NEW" website called YouTube did the world of art really opened up for him. It was like he opened a Pandora box and reignited his passion for art and inspired him to pursue a career as an artist.
As a visionary concept artist and master of character design, he firmly believes in the paramount importance of life drawing. Whether you're sketching people in person or doing gesture drawings online, capturing the gestures of those around you is a great way to develop your skills and it is so useful when it comes to doing storyboards.
Not only does life drawing help build muscle memory for drawing poses from imagination, but it also helps you understand how the human body moves and interacts with the environment. With each stroke of the pencil, the artist ascends to new heights, cultivating a unique artistic identity—a melodic symphony of style and expression that resonates throughout their captivating body of work.
An artist’s process starts even before the any lines have been put on the paper. For Vineed, It involves creating thumbnail sketches of ideas and making adjustments and improvisations until he is satisfied with the shapes and compositions.
He usually starts by brainstorming ideas for the character's shape, personality, traits, and nuance and tries to incorporate these ideas into the initial thumbnail sketches, considering how the character's physical appearance and body language can convey their personality. Once done with the thinking stage, the characters start fleshing out. These nuances are important in bringing a character to life and making them relatable to the viewer.
Most of his art is in black and white and its very personal. He is drawn to black and white art and grey tones because of his strong admiration for black and white comic book art and the artists who make “cool works” in this style. He also loves experimenting with the use of black ink and shadows to create depth and contrast in his illustrations. It's fascinating to see how adding black in different ways can completely change the mood and impact of a single image. Top of Form
He often finds himself drawn to exploring comic book characters and Hindu mythological characters in his own unique way, as well as depicting everyday Indian life in his signature cartoony style. They are his biggest source of inspiration. There is so much beauty and diversity in the culture and people of India, and he loves depicting that through his illustrations. Inspiration and motivation can come from the most unexpected places so one should always remain open to new experiences.
The future of art is evolving rapidly, especially in the digital age. With AI art and other new technologies, the possibilities for creating art are expanding in ways that were previously unimaginable. While this may seem daunting, he believes that we should approach these developments with a positive mindset and see them as opportunities to learn and grow as artists.
Vinned advises to focus on building a strong foundation in the basics of art and then look to use digital tools to enhance your work. Exploring the potential of AI art can be a fascinating learning experience, but these tools will not necessarily replace human artists. Instead, they may just provide us new ways to express ourselves.