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Brown Geek Spotlight: Aishwarya Tandon

Brown Geek Spotlight: Aishwarya Tandon

This week’s Brown Geek Spotlight highlights a talented artist who shows great potential to work in the publishing industry. Based in Jaipur, India Aishwarya Tandon is a graduate of Birla Institute of  Technology, Jaipur Mesra branch with a B.Sc and Hons degree in animation and multimedia. From Studio Ghibli to Naruto, her work comprises a multitude of media, art, and books all of which shows her amazing unique style. 


Art by Aishwarya

What did you want to be when you were a kid?

Happy! Being happy is what I believe little me used to always want in life because every few weeks my aspirations would change from being a (happy) pilot, or a (happy) dance teacher, (happy) fashion designer, etc. Changing goals depending on the things which constantly made me happy. Surprisingly, when I think about it now, I never thought of becoming a professional artist as that was not something I knew which could be achieved or actually existed. Look at me now, hah! And I am MOSTLY happy!

Art by Aishwarya

What are you hoping to accomplish in your career?

I hope to continue to work on wonderful projects with more wonderful people (and pay! let’s be real!) and helping create stories that, at the very least, bring a smile to the reader’s face. And at the very most, make them take a moment and think. Be it a small project or a big one, helping tell good stories that need to be read or consumed, stories that bring joy, I want to accomplish that and keep at it.

Art by Aishwarya

How successful do you believe you are currently and what would success look like for you in the future?

I, now (after 2020), try to measure success in terms of how happy I am drawing at the moment or how happy I am working on current projects while making sure people working with me are also happy, so, right at this moment, I’d say I am moderately successful. Realistically speaking, my work is helping me pay bills, so I am faring well on the societal definition of success and I hope to continue to have that in my life. I hope in the future too, I am able to determine my success with the love I have for drawing. When I am unable to meet deadlines or unable to create an expected level of work, that is definitely not a happy feeling and I tend to think I am failing at this craft.

What would you like readers to know about your industry that they might not realize currently?

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Art by Aishwarya

Drawing professionally is NOT like drawing as a hobby! Being a professional artist doesn’t mean you will only need to draw multiple hours a day, have fun, go through your day, sleep and repeat. A professional artist too has multiple roles to fill to keep working professionally (you are your own manager, assistant, accountant, social media manager, branding expert, you need to look for work yourself (most times), stay updated and keep evolving). The industry is big and spread all over the world and all of it is inter and intra connected. I believe people who are not a part of the industry (or a professional artist themselves) tend to believe it is easy and all fun-and-games being an artist but that is not the case. We work on a project for months and years which is consumed in a matter of minutes or a couple of hours. I think it’s important to realize production time does not equal consumption time.

Are there any changes or improvements you would like to see made in the industry?

I’d love to see more focused jobs available with good pay because one person cannot and shouldn’t have to do the work of a layout artist, comic writer, environment artist and logo designer at the salary of one profession. It especially intimidates people who are newly becoming a part of the industry professionally and struggling to find jobs. Also, I really hope companies/studios all over the world would continue to be open to freelancers and work-from-home/remote work opportunities as it brings more opportunities to people from all over the world.

Art by Aishwarya

Is there anything else you would like to add or that you think is important for people to understand what you do?

I’d like to add, for anyone considering becoming a professional artist, go for it and keep drawing the things that you want to draw! Your art and stories will always relate to someone! Just be consciously prepared for all aspects of this career while making smart-work your colleague!

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