Tadam Gyadu is a self learnt young emerging comics artist from Arunachal Pradesh, one of the north-eastern states of India. His second comics Brahmaand Vikhandan released this month, previously he was credited in Adrishya Shadyantra earlier this year, both comics of Nagraj by Raj Comics. He has been a part of many independent comics and freelance works in past and goes by the pseudonym PencilDude.
In an exclusive interview with Mohit Sharma, Tadam talks about his art and inspirations.
Q) – Who inspired you to become an artist & how old were you when you started sketching/art?
Tadam – I always had a keen interest in art. When I was in kindergarten, long before comics came into my life, I used to copy the illustrations from my textbooks. Apples, bananas, planes and stuff, We also had some “life of the Buddha” books in our home, I copied their illustrations too. later, when passed to class three, i got my first comic book- So Ja Nagraj – illustrated by Anupam Sinha sir. i instantly fell in love with comics. And started copying those illustrations. I think I was 9 or 10 years old when I first started drawing comic heroes.
Q) – What is the story behind your pseudonym PencilDude?
Tadam – Actually there is no story behind my pseudonym. I know some great artists and writers like munshi premchand , artgerm, manu sir etc who use pseudonyms and I find it kinda cool to have one. So I did some brainstorming and came up with my very own alias – pencildude.
Q) – Were you involved in any creative, extra curricular activities in school?
Tadam – I used to sing, dance, draw and write at school. We had some good extra- curricular activities in school and I took part in most of them except sports, I am terrible at it.
Q) – What is/are your favorite genre(s)?
Tadam – My favorite genres are fantasy and sci-fi with some philosophy.
Q) – Other hobbies and pastimes besides art?
Tadam – Other than art, I like to enjoy music, movies and books.
Q) – Tell us more about your upcoming projects?
Tadam – As of now, I am not involved in any project. I am focusing on honing my skills. So I am taking some time off. I will be back pretty soon.
Q) – Who are your role models or people you look up to in art & life (and why)?
Tadam – In art, there is not a particular one whom I consider my role model. Anupam sir, who drove me into comics art. Sir David finch, from whose tutorial videos I learnt a lot of technical things of comic art. Dheeraj dkboss kumar, Lalit Sharma, Sumit kumar, abhishek malsuni sir are some who taught me many things. In short, I follow whoever is good and try to use their plus points into my own style. In life, my mother and my Grandpa are my role models. They inspire me to do whatever I do and I would not have been I, if they were not with me.
Q) – Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
Tadam – I see myself practicing to make myself better.
Q) – What advice would you give to young artists who want to pursue art as career?
Tadam – Well, I am an amateur myself, so I don’t have anything of my own to say. But I would like to pass on something, which the great Mukesh singh had said in an interview for the newcomers : be the first __________. (fill your name on the blank).
Q) – Your best artwork till date?
Tadam – I can’t decide which is the best artwork I did till date because whichever artwork I do, at first it seems pleasing but when I look at it after few days then I laugh at myself, seeing so many silly mistakes. So, I guess that best artwork is yet to come.
Q) – Tell us more about Arunachal’s art scene.
Tadam – As I said already, there is not much scope for an artist in Arunachal. There are no good art colleges, neither are there any publishing houses or production houses which would hire artists. The aspiring artists, who do not have much knowledge about the carriers they can pursue in art, either get interested in other things or become sign board painters, because there is nobody who can guide them. I hope people will get aware soon.
Q) – Share some interesting items from your ‘Bucketlist’ & few random facts about yourself?
Tadam – Let me share them one by one. (a) I myself came to know about art as a carrier after I passed out class 10 and went out for further studies in Assam. (b) Once I was planning to be an Engineer. Thank God, I wasn’t that Good in studies. (c) I don’t like living in cities, maybe because I lived most of my life in village. I think that’s all in my mind right now.
