Today I'm sharing my conversation with Sarthak Sinha about his process for the first book in a new series with author Alom Shaha called How to Find a Rainbow. In the series we meet two pretty different Red Pandas, Reena and Rekha, and Sarthak takes us behind the scenes of illustrating these two distinct, lovable personalities.
Reena hates rainy days. She hates the way the dark clouds make everything look so dull.
Rekha loves rainy days. She loves the way the rain makes the earth smell.
When Rekha spots a rainbow, she rushes indoors to tell her sister about it. Reena will want to paint it, for sure!
But when the sisters go outside to find it, the rainbow disappears. Where could it have gone?
Check out the endpapers:
Let's talk Sarthak Sinha!
LTPB: How did you become the illustrator of How to Find a Rainbow, the first book in the Reena & Rekha series? What were the first images that popped into your mind when you saw Alom Shaha’s text?
SS: I was very excited when Miriam texted me about a book collaboration. I had seen a few books from Scribble before and was delighted to know that I’d be working with them.
I’d also like to think it was the script I wanted to illustrate at the time. I generally enjoy working with limited words and was instantly wooed by the simple text, and Alom’s script felt so right. His words crafted room for the art to come in.
I’ll be lying if I’d say the first images are not the final images. Well almost. The Red pandas are native to the eastern Himalayas and thankfully I have had the chance to travel through this region a bit. The region is known for receiving high rainfall, so I pictured rainy, cloudy, misty, damp mountains and the rural countryside with two red blobs frolicking around. I wanted their attires to reflect the handloom of the region and the book to feel almost soggy.
LTPB: Can you talk a little bit about the visual evolution of Reena and Rekha? As you got to know the characters, how did your illustrations evolve?
SS: I feel it’s the attires of Reena and Rekha that evolved, they remained more or less the same. Their age, influenced by the native dressing sensibility helped me imagine a form against the lush backgrounds. Which is what we see in the final spreads. I attempted to reflect their personalities in what they wear.
The story starts with Rekha indoors cribbing about the rain and Reena hopping puddles in the forest. That unsurprisingly set their tone for me.
In my head Reena was younger and more wild, while Rekha sounded slightly older. So I dressed them imagining their dialogues.
LTPB: What did you find most difficult in creating this book? What did you find most rewarding?
SS: I don’t think I found anything specifically challenging throughout the process thankfully. Guy, our art director was extremely supportive and allowed me to deep dive into the story right away. We were working on a tight timeline for the this one, I believe I was excited about the short duration of the project and that I could deliver without missing the essential steps.
LTPB: What did you use to create the illustrations in this book? Is this your preferred medium? How does your process change from book to book?
SS: I drew a whole lot with graphite while ideating and later transferred those sketches to the tablet. Using watercolour washes for textures and backgrounds in some places. The artworks were completed digitally with base layers made up of pencils and water colours. Maybe it’s amongst my preferred mediums as I really like drawing and layering with pencils.
I believe my process changes from book to book based on what I find exciting at the time. I am keen on experimenting with new and more mixed media and apply this excitement if the project/book permits.
LTPB: What are you working on now? Anything you can show us?
SS: I am working on a picture book with each, Candlewick and Flying Eye at the moment. And refining manuscripts and sample artworks for some author illustrator projects. Exploring some new tools and thoughts with old ideas that are maturing slowly. I am excited to share the artworks and hopefully we’d see them soon on the bookshelves.
LTPB: If you got the chance to write your own picture book autobiography, who (dead or alive!) would you want to illustrate it, and why?
SS: Hahaha! Wow!
I guess, I’d love for it to be Shaun Tan, for all the reasons known and unknown to me. Not only do I hugely admire his art, I also feel the kind of visual narratives he weaves with his art blending the real with whimsy, eerie and surreal would likely suit the story I’d like to write. There’s a beautifully balanced sense of nostalgia from the past and nostalgia yet to be in his art.
Beatrice Alemagna too! I like to think of my life as a museum and I go on such long tours when I flip through the pages of her books. Her spontaneity is so life like.
A massive thank you to Sarthak for talking to me about this beautiful book! How to Find a Rainbow published from Scribble US earlier this month!
Special thanks to Sarthak and Scribble for use of these images!
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