Breathing life into the mundane

Imagine walking down an inconspicuous route you take daily and suddenly out of nowhere you see a brightly coloured, human-friendly monster hugging a tree. Mumbai-based illustrator Sebin Simon clicks photographs of seemingly everyday objects and transforms the scene with his digital illustration skills. His illustrated monsters can be sighted at a number of locations in the country, right from Kasol to Kochi — on a giant-wheel, on a garbage truck and even inside an auditorium.

Sebin has a loyal fan base of 7.5 lakh followers on his Facebook page Inkology where he showcases his illustrations with a variety of themes each week. What started as vague scrawls as a kid on the walls of his house soon became a career choice for him. “Like every child, I too started my art life scribbling with crayons on walls and paper. The only difference is that I didn’t stop! It was the only thing I found peace in, while growing up. I had no idea or guidance about how I could make a career in art. All I knew was that I wanted to paint,” Sebin shares.

After graduating in applied arts, his design journey began, “Because I never studied illustration in my college, it was always a trial-error-learn-redo process for me. In fact, it still is.” His biggest breakthrough was with Inkology, “I needed a place to put up my work. I didn’t have the money to own a website, and Facebook was free and popular. I came up with the name Inkology, which stands for ink and psychology. Occasionally, I would upload my illustrations on Inkology. Not many people bothered about it, but I was happy since my purpose was being served and I was building my online portfolio. It was after I started uploading motivational-themed illustrated series that the page picked up,” he adds.

Sebin feels his work is always more about the thought and a little less about the detailing, “I always try to convey my thoughts through my illustrations, rather than command over technicality and complexity of artistic skills. That’s why I always call myself a common man’s artist. My inspiration comes from normal things in life, like the struggles we feel, the helplessness we experience, the days that come filled with love, some days that are full of hate and tears, etc. All I try to do is to have a conversation or make a statement through my illustrations.”

His page has a series of monsters and motivational illustrations. The series started as just a medium to express his thoughts when he was bored; “The Monster Series came about from a simple idea of having fun while I was feeling low. It is only now that it has developed into a flourishing one. Recently, I have also extended it to finding monsters on photos of different places around the world sent to me by people who follow my page,” he shares.

Simplicity he feels has always been the influence in his style of design. Keeping the characters and situations such that people can relate to it, is the USP of his works,  “I feel that the never-ending issues with people in this world are loneliness and demotivation, and these are what I choose to address many times. I always try to keep it simple by showcasing experiences and situations that are achievable. It’s just that we have to recharge ourselves every single day, and I like making that process a little easier through my illustrations.”

Like every artist, Sebin too has to fight his creative impediments and the only way to fight it is by facing it. “While creating motivational illustrations, the main setback is when I’m in a less motivated state of mind. So I have to pull myself out of it and try to create a post that will motivate someone else. I try to distract myself for a while by doing something else and come back to the same work. Sometimes the best way to come out of a creative block is to go ahead and create some more. This approach has always worked for me,” he says.

Next on the anvil for him is putting up an exhibition on the motivational series, “I have always wanted to put up an exhibition of my entire quote series — like a huge array or collection of all my motivational quote illustrations over the years. This year hopefully the dream will come true,” he says.