D id you know a hippo’s milk is pink? Or that sea otters hold hands and sleep so that they do not lose each other? Kanika Jain Gupta’s exquisite colouring book for adults, Messages from Nature has 33 lovely double spreads with illustrations of birds, animals and flowers with a fun fact and an affirmation derived from it.
Talking about the genesis of the book over tea at Koshy’s, Kanika, who graduated top of her class from JJ School of Art, said, “It started with my search to make my art therapeutic. When I draw, a certain part of me is healed and relaxed, and I kept thinking how I could share this feeling.”
It was when Kanika met her teacher in New York at the School of Visual Arts where she did a residency programme last summer, that she was able to take the next step. “Professor Andrea suggested a colouring book, which would be a chance to compile my drawings as my therapy kit.”
Elaborating Kanika says, “There were certain pages I knew I had to draw. I made a list of animals I love to draw and I had to put in the mountains, (I love them) trees and a lotus on almost every page. Then I did a search on interesting facts on nature, from which I could derive a positive message as well.”
Some facts Kanika knew from before. “I knew the swan could separate water from milk. I was super fascinated with that fact but did nothing about it. On road trips, I would stare at trees, mountains and they did share messages. Some facts were completely magical, and could not be left out like the angler fish and the sea otters.”
Ask her which her favourite animal is and she exclaims, “Oh! I love pigs, for their nose. I find deer innocent. Pandas, sloth bears and squirrels are fun to draw and look adorable.”
Research involved “checking the facts and studying certain animals and natural forms.”
The 33-year-old artist runs Iktaara, a graphic house. “We do design work, make murals, wedding invitations, stationary and gifts with art. My day job is meeting clients, vendors, designing, brainstorming with my team. When free from deadlines, I draw and make books to unwind.”
Kanika’s next colouring book, which will be out in January, features gods and goddesses from Hindu mythology and again features 33 spreads with a brief introduction about the featured god.
“I love mythology. It is completely magical. Our gods have multiple hands, legs, heads and super powers. There are no rules and yet there is a backstory and meaning to everything. This book is a compilation of gods and goddesses of India. It is more styled and powerful. I felt responsible, and have not been too abstract.”
Selecting which gods and goddesses to feature was a task. “We have so many of them and each one is super-duper cool. I was sure I wanted to do Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and the 10 avatars of Vishnu. I also wanted the three goddesses — Kali (kill negativity, then fill yourself with inner/outer wealth (Lakshmi) and you are then qualified for divine knowledge from Saraswati.”
The last illustrations in both books are symbols of immortality— jelly fish and Hanuman. “We are immortal, Vedantic studies say we were never born to die. So why must the artist in us die? The jellyfish, and Hanuman both are immortal, so is the colourist and the book.”
