Artist Anna Jovita Rajam can never run out of topics. Things happening at home or the sights she comes across are enough to fill her sketchbooks and iPad. Her art also comes with a tinge of humour and often leave the viewers in chuckles. Some of the characters are even names next door!
25-year-old Jovita has a masters in animation is now a full-time freelance artist. She started by replicating portraits using a pencil. In time, the Alappuzha-native started tapping into multiple mediums including acrylic, gouache, oil, and now digital. While exploring different mediums, Jovita also found ways to convey her subjects creatively, by blending storytelling elements. “Initially, my subjects weren’t based on any concept. I used to recreate incidents or images as such. When I started doing digital art, to keep my viewers and myself hooked I started creating animations based on themes,” says Jovita, who has made her debut poster for the Malayalam movie, Thirike.
Influenced by comic books and cartoons from a young age, Jovita never left it behind as she grew up. Instead of keeping the emotions bland, Jovita often strikes joyful themes and characters. Sometimes she chronicles real-life incidents, like she being chased by her pet rooster and running for her life, or it is her pet dog Tony and the never-ending saga of him destroying the footwear at home.
“I added a humour element by keeping Tony in a parallel world surrounded by the footwear,” she adds. Artist admits that Mr peckers and Tony are the frequent show stealers. “It’s like they have become like an actual comic character, and is often demanded by the viewers,” quips Jovita. By bringing in modifications in each frame, and to convey the story better, detailings are done in an elaborative way. To make them more appealing and soothing, Jovita picks pastels and rusty red and oranges as her colour palette, unless the client wants it otherwise.
Not being bothered too much by sticking to one specific genre, Jovita is enjoying the flexibility of not having one. “The commissioned works I get to do are mostly illustrations for weddings, anniversaries, acrylic portraits, pitch decks for movies, and my sketches ranges from real-life incidents to anything that strikes a chord with me. Earlier it used to bother me for not having a specific style, I don’t anymore, because if a subject that goes against my style inspires me, I don’t want to ignore it, having a genre might restrict you from trying out,” says Jovita.
The youngster's inktober series inspired by the topics set by the artist, Jake Parker, is unlike her cheerful comic themes. The monochrome images made using lines and hatching with ink is another source to let her creative juices flow.
Instagram: @jovitartist