A heart for art

As a child, Sushant Rane was never great at art, but he loved to draw. Today, his perseverance has made him an online sensation with his 3D artwork going viral on social media. A self-taught artist, 20-year-old Sushant engrossed himself in creating art after he dropped out of Mumbai’s Ruia College.

What many may have considered as a major hurdle, Sushant took it as a stepping-stone. “I had failed five subjects in a semester. So, I quit college and decided to channelise my energy in making art. I started posting my work on social media, and my friends loved it. I’m now a full-time artist,” he proudly shares.

His is not an overnight success story. Sushant lost both his grandparents in a span of six months. It was their unwavering faith that kept him going. “I spent a lot of time with them, and they had seen my passion for my art and had witnessed my failure in spite of it,” he reminisces. “My grandmother would say to me, ‘Don’t worry about these minor hurdles. You’re going to do great things.’ It was the only thing that stayed in my mind; I started painting more than ever, fuelling my failure to push me harder,” he shares.

Sushant has over 65,000 followers across his social media platforms. He even tried applying at an art institute, but couldn’t make the cut. “I love painting. I may not be great at understanding subjects, but I understand art,” he says.

Sushant creates images of everyday objects that appear to jump out of the screen at you. It wasn’t his first choice, though. “It all began with portrait drawings of my favourite Hollywood celebrities with graphite pencils, progressing a year later to the use of colour. I dabbled with mixed medium the following year when I began to do realistic/3D drawings. I wanted to experiment with different techniques and mediums, and once I started posting my work online, it received some great response. I saw this as a chance to hone my skills, so I began concentrating on 3D forms,” he says.

Sushant takes over two days to make these hyper-realistic paintings, and he now sells his artwork through his website. “I’m planning to have my solo exhibition someday in the future. I have been receiving requests, and people want to see my work in person, it is very encouraging,” he signs off.

You can follow Sushant’s work on https://www.instagram.com/sushantsraneofficial