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Dharmali Patel
Children's Illustrator
Who or what made you want to become an illustrator?
Drawing pictures has always been my happy, go-to place. My love for story telling and expressing my ideas in a drawing led me to a career in illustration.
Did you attend art school or undertake any other formal artistic training?
Yes, I graduated from Rachana Sansad School of applied arts, in Mumbai, India, majoring in illustration. It was a four-year program that focused on design principles, graphic design and other Illustration aspects. I continued my education at Vancouver Film School in Canada.
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Who or what have been some of your major artistic influences?
Some of the amazing artists that continue to inspire me are Len Norris, Tadahiro Uesugi,Mark Davis, and Victor G Ambrus.
Describe your working technique and how you came to perfect it.
Once I meet with the client and/or read the brief, I will sketch a few thumbnails to see what character poses may work the best to express the story visually. Once I am happy with the thumbnail, I proceed to do a clean line art pass for the client. When this stage is approved, I then proceed to color.
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Tell us about the creation of your favourite character from one of your books.
My very favorite characters are named Asha and Baz. These two kids, a boy and a girl, were created for an upcoming educational book series about strong female characters in history. It is exciting to be a part of this new series that will debut soon.
Do you offer more than one style, if so – talk us through the different approaches and the audience you are targeting for each.
Yes, I have developed 2 different styles of illustration for my clients. My first style is tight and refined, and I use this style when I have the gift of time for deadlines and such. My second style has art with a trap line, and the color treatment is a little more organic / loose. I like to switch between these 2 styles depending on the brief / story of the book.
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Have you ever thought about trying out a different technique or a different style?
Eventually when time permits I want to dive back into watercolor and pencil. During my college days, I trained in different color treatments, and gouache and water color were my favorite.
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What do you hope children take away from your drawings?
It would make me very happy if my illustration caters to children's imaginations and sense of whimsy.
A child’s imagination holds so much potential. My goal is to nurture and inspire that free sense of creativity that lives inside all of us.
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What do you do in your spare time?
Drawing, sketching and painting are my very favorite things to do.
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