Remember iconic characters Appusamy and Seethapatti of ‘ Appusamy and the African Beauty ’, a popular series in Tamil by Bhagyam Ramasamy? The fictitious characters became so popular that a humour club in Chennai was named after the two central characters. When people can so easily recollect the protagonists four decades after their creation, then surely the artist Jeyaraj, who shaped Appusamy and Seethapatti, deserves all appreciation.
“I was asked to draw a portrait of the hero and was shocked when I was told the age of the hero. He was above 60, a romantic thatha with a penchant for running into trouble. After depicting the character I thought how it would be if the thatha had a soul mate and shared the idea with the writer Ja. Ra. Sundaresan. He wrote under a pseudonym. The then Editor gave the go ahead and Seethapatti, the sophisticated English-muttering wife, came into being as a saviour to rescue Appusamy from problems!” narrates Jeyaraj.
A self-learnt artist, Jeyaraj had a liking for art from childhood. “Then I was just three years old and My father worked in a British retail company and as a three-year-old I would watch English men and women coming in sophisticated cars. I had a fascination for cars and always scribbled something on paper. My father G.S. Fernando was amazed to see my drawings and always appreciated and encouraged me. He was my first fan, my inspiration and motivation,” he says.
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While studying in Setupati Higher Secondary School he surprised his drawing master too with his skills and his master even arranged an exhibition to showcase his talent. Jeyaraj’s knowledge of human anatomy also remained impeccable. “My father always gave his valuable inputs and that helped me to perfect my art,” he says. At the American College, where he studied Economics, Jeyaraj was sought after by students who would always swarm him. When he was searching for a job, his father was instrumental in putting him in touch with popular Tamil magazines. His first illustration was for writer Ra.Ki. Rangarajan’s short story. It was a Principal’s room and the portrait looked so real that it was acknowledged immediately by the writer and the editor. “I was very particular to put all the objects in place. I remembered the day when I first went into the American College Principal’s room for an interview,” he says.
That was the time people identified artists with their portraits. Jeyaraj’s illustrations are distinct as he never followed anybody’s style. He was so prolific that he churned out thousands of illustrations for around 195 magazines. As stories arrived, his wife Regina would read them and suggest suitable scenes for him to illustrate. “In fact, she is my copy taster, who would read first and help me fix situations,” he says.
To depict emotions pictorially is not easy. But Jeyaraj did it to perfection. “If there are six people in the illustration, each should be portrayed with different emotion and action and also be in coherent with the story. It was challenging as none of the characters would resemble each other,” says Jeyaraj, who has done illustrations for jokes, covers for novels, posters for awareness on HIV and Family Planning and also school textbooks, which earned him fans across all age groups. “Many fans have told me that they would first look at my illustration and then read the story,” he says.
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Jeyaraj is also known for his speed. “There were times when I had to draw three or four portraits in a minute. I used rapidograph pens to draw them and it brought many people close to me,” he says. Once he suffered a fracture in his right hand and was forced to remain jobless for some time. Many publications came forward to help him while his friends suggested he use his left hand for drawing. “It dawned on me and from then on I started drawing with my left hand as well.” Nothing can keep Jeyaraj, fondly called ‘J’ in artistic circles, away from art and he is still busy doing illustrations for magazines but definitely the numbers have come down because of the technology explosion. Be it a linear art or a coloured portrait Jeyaraj's mastery over the art is indisputable.
The irresistible artist
Jeyaraj finds his sketches for the series Pattampoochi (a translation of popular Papillon) by Ra.Ki. Rangarajan most challenging. “When there is a sharp light there will be equal sharp shade. I focussed only on the shady part for all the illustrations in this series. It also matched the central character, who is a murder convict.”
He has illustrated Oxford University Press translation dictionaries from English to Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Malay. He has also done sketches for Atlas.
Poet and film lyricist Kannadasan had acknowledged Jeyaraj as the inspiration behind the lines ‘Kalaigalile aval ovyiam’ in the popular number ‘Kaalangalil aval vasantham’ of Paava Mannipu
He has helped Police Department with his sketches to identify the killers of Rajiv Gandhi.
Jeyaraj has done illustrations for many top line writers including Sujatha, Ra.Ki,Rangarajan, Pushpa Thangadorai, Balakumaran, Rajeshkumar, Rajendrakumar, Indhumathi and Sivasankari.
He has done costume designing for Nenjathai Killathe , Johnny movies. He designed the pre-release poster for Kathalika Neramillai , depicting a shooting spot.