The Flawless Representation of Indian Daily Life with Roshan Gawand

Roshan Gawand, a freelance illustrator and design owner at Gangsta Paradise Tattoo, from getting inspired from his daily Pinterest feed to moving his flashbacks to his canvas, shares his process of creating art and how he succeeded in this industry.
The Flawless Representation of Indian Daily Life with Roshan Gawand
4 min read

CG. Could you tell us about yourself, how you got into art and illustration, and your tattoo studio Gangsta Paradise?

Roshan. I am an Illustrator based in Navi Mumbai. I have done my Graduation Studies from L. S. Raheja School of Art as a commercial artist. I spent most of my childhood in a village and lived in an ordinary family. I feel the painting does not only colour on canvas, it is an expression of the artist. I keep expressing my thoughts through different artworks. I love to explore different colour schemes. As an artist, I never stop making myself better from all angles. My journey as a tattoo artist started during my college days. I used to earn money for myself by working as a freelance tattoo artist. This is how I earned my very first salary. Step by step I developed my skills and here I am today owning the Gangsta Paradise Tattoo and Art Studio located in Panvel.

CG. Could you describe your primary illustration style? Which mediums do you like to work with?

Roshan. I really like to work on Procreate. It gives me the ability to quickly bring my thoughts to life. I also like to create art with watercolours, it takes me back to where I started my art journey.

CG. Some of your work depicts themes of nature and rural culture. What motivates you to illustrate village life?

Roshan. I was born and brought up in the village only. Even now I live like an hour away from my hometown, so I have a warm spot in my heart for my native place. That's where all of my motivation
comes from.

CG. Tell us about your process when creating illustrations. How do you approach concept development?

Roshan. Whenever I see something interesting, I always try to click a picture and keep it on my phone. Most of my inspirations come from the actual scenes and experiences around me. For some ideas, I try to search for some inspirations on Pinterest as well. It gives me the ability to play around with the ideas that I carry in my mind.

CG. The series has a very unique use of colour - cooler colour temperature, vibrant, and abstract in some uses. Could you give us some insight into your approach?

Roshan. To me, colours are like a new way of living life, so I try to incorporate that happiness, joy and new way of life in my paintings. Human eyes are easily drawn to bright and vibrant colours, so I try that aspect in my artworks. People have started accepting these colour patterns nowadays.

CG. Where do you draw inspiration from when creating work with no source material?

Roshan. So whenever I do not have source material I do stick to my inner ideas and memories that I carry from time to native experiences. I start with a simple scribble over the blank page and then just continue drawing instinctively as my thought process allows me to move my hand.

CG. How do you approach work for your tattoo studio? Do you create only custom work?

Roshan. I would say most of my tattoos are custom work as per the client's requirements. And the rest of the tattoos are from references that my clients bring along with them.

CG. What is your opinion about the appeal of tattoos in general?

Roshan. People are more drawn to tattoos nowadays. They like to get tattoos as a mark of special memories from their life. This COVID situation has impacted the footfalls in the studio but I am sure that once everything goes back to normal, more people will start coming to the tattoo studios.

CG. Are there any other areas where you would like to apply your creative skills?

Roshan. I am into wall arts, watercolour paintings and dot work tattoos and I have done a couple of wall painting projects.

CG. We've discovered a way to animate tattoos on people and a person wants you to tattoo them in your signature art style. What do you develop?

Roshan. I would really love to tattoo my signature style on a person. I can already think of many ways I can make it look like a masterpiece. Just tell me when and where!

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