“The urge to draw was there in me as a child. I had started exploring it since Class 1. It was like my little secret. I was scared of the thought that dad will find it out one day and scold me for ignoring studies, instead he brought me colours. That is the start of the artist in me," says Suneesh Narayan, aka Logan Reed, an under-graduate Botany and Biotechnology student at the Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram.
Suneesh loves to draw and finds it soothing at stressful times. He has given tips and tricks to many and when he inspires others to draw that gives him a sense of fulfilment.
“Initially, I was into pencil shading because that was the only thing I could learn on my own. My mind was always in search of learning new ways. Many people helped me to improve the skills. I remember how I used to save money as a little boy and put all my small savings into buying instruction books on pencil shading. I eagerly tied to replicate other works and gradually I excelled at it. By the time I was in 9th grade I knew most of the basics from each art forms," Suneesh recalls his growth.
The budding artist took up doodle and vector art while in class 10.
“But soon art got mixed up with studies, and for 3 long years studies won over. All these days I felt a sense of void in me. I was like a fish out of water. Then I realised art is perishable, provided it is not dead. Luckily, I found out that I could draw much better than where I left," he notes on a critical phase.
Soon, Suneesh did some realistic drawings on characters from movies and comics. Then he started trying out charcoal pencil and white charcoal soon became an essential medium.
"Black paper and dark tones fascinate me; hence I poured more time into white charcoal art and now it is my absolute favourite. Mar Ivanios College has opened up immense opportunities, and with equally supporting teachers and friends, I could make the best use of them," the young artist says.
At this juncture, YouTube helped Suneesh to know about things that he was not even aware about his art. "Through all this, one thing I learned is that if one has that passion to learn something, one can learn it, especially in this era of internet when knowledge is not restricted. With time and skill, nothing is too far; just be ready to take that extra mile," Suneesh advises.
The talented student-artist has set his goals. “I’m trying to leave my signature. My biggest inspiration for this is an artist named Kerby Rosanes, who specialises in metamorphic art, which is a form where he combines two elements or aspects of the world around us to form an art," Suneesh opens up.
Revealing the significance of drawing for him, Suneesh says: "Art is never just a hobby for me, it is my life, and what defines me. It has given me a lot and I am never going to quit it ... because whenever someone who previously heard of my work, meets me, their first reaction is mostly “oh, you’re the guy that draws, right?” And I very much like to keep it that way for the rest of my life.
