Small Talks: Shruti Sharma

Shruti Sharma is an illustrator specializing in pattern design, comics, and portraiture. Originally from Mumbai, India, Shruti now calls California home after completing her MFA in Illustration at Maryland Institute College of Art and she continues to draw and paint in her eye-catching chromatic style. Her illustration recently appeared in The New York Times and she’s made weddings special through illustrated portraits and invitations, among numerous projects and commissions. With bold pops of color and a keen eye for shapes and geometry, Shruti’s work moves between playful humor and profound contemplation as she captures the world around her. You can follow her practice on Instagram and check out her portfolio on her website.

On Monday, May 24th at 2PM EST, Sharma will lead a workshop on pattern design as part of our Small Talks workshop series.

Let’s begin by talking about your 2017 sketchbook, “The Way Back.” What inspired you to create this sketchbook? How has your art practice changed since you participated?

I worked on my 2017 sketchbook as part of a collaborative sketchbook project that was part of my curriculum at MICA’s Illustration MFA program so you’re bound to find sketches by many other artists in that sketchbook as well as mine in theirs. I think what has changed the most since I worked on that sketchbook is my life in general. I am a parent now, I am 5 years older now, so much in my life has changed and as a result of that so much of my work and what I create has changed. I think these 5 years have made me more thoughtful and mindful. My work is more informed and thought out and more true to who I am as a person.

Do you continue to keep a sketchbook in your daily practice?

Yes I do! I got really into patterns two years ago and I find it helpful to maintain a sketchbook of patterns that I can go back to, also drawing in my sketchbook helps me make sure I don’t forget how to draw. I also start ideating in my sketchbook first before I go into creating digital work. I’m considering journaling because I’ve heard it’s therapeutic but it’s hard to fit in too many things with a 1-year-old.

As an illustrator, a lot of your work is created digitally. Do you find that physically making and sketching helps fuel your creativity?

I think that physically making can help just get things out of my head and see things laid out in front of me. I can pin things up, come back to them easier when they’re on paper.

Could you speak more about your path to becoming an illustrator? Was art-making something you were always interested in as a young artist or did you come into creative work later in life?

I was always interested in art as a child. My grandmother is an oil painter and she had very exacting standards. I never thought I could be a painter like her but I wanted to create work that had more of a narrative. When I went to grad school for illustration I went in thinking I would work with children’s books. It’s funny how removed from that my work feels now. I wanted to make work for POC children like me, and now I feel like I’m making work for POC adults like me.

Your comic, “What Are You Looking For?” was part of your thesis at MICA and is reflections on moving to America. What was it like working on a multi-panel, story-based series compared to more standalone images and commissions? Do you want to work on more comics in the future?

I absolutely want to work on more comics in the future. I feel like comics are the only way I can really talk about how I feel. They are a work of love. Standalone pieces and commissions are fine. They pay the bills. I don’t believe in being a starving artist. But comics and narratives fuel my introverted soul. I find my comics to be a very important source of therapy for me. And I hope to make more.

You’ve made GIFs, full-page patterned spreads, and illustrated wedding invitations and cards. Where do you see your creative practice going in the next year? Do you have any personal goals or projects you’d like to focus on?

I hope to take time out and redo my thesis this year. I want to talk about moving to America and understanding the concept of race in a more paneled comic book format that is hopefully easier to publish. I’m also finally dabbling in children’s books.

What’s the best piece of art-making advice you have ever received?

I think there’s always a lot of advice and not a lot of encouragement in art. As a brown person and immigrant, I’ve found the world of illustration to be a very white space that isn’t welcoming towards non-white narratives. I just think that I was always advised to conform, and the best advice I took was to keep making work that felt true to myself.

What is your studio space like? Do you have a designated place where you work on your projects or do you prefer to take your creative work with you?

I have a studio space in my house, where I play loud Bollywood music and drown people out, but my daughter just learned how to crawl and won’t stay in one place so work has to be on-the-go. 

Do you have any tips for budding illustrators who are hoping to develop their personal style or may be intimidated by growing their art practice?

Find your people. Keep making work. Don’t get discouraged. Listen to critique but know when to stick to your guns. Fight for yourself. Don’t let yourself get lost.

Who are some illustrators inspiring you today?

I’m always inspired by my peers that do work I don’t do like Hayley Powers Thornton-Kennedy, Yifan Wu, Victoria Maxfield, Sanika Phawde, Arushi Kathuria, Jun Young. I adore Julia Wertz’s comics and her child. There’s Siddhesh Gautam and Shrujana Shridhar who make important social and political art in India. Jason Katzenstein and his comics for the New Yorker and the more progressive ones for Current Affairs. I could go on.

Are there any art supplies that are essential to your practice?

Acrylic gouache, pencils, markers, colored pencils, my laptop, iPad, and Wacom tablet. Netflix for background music.

How can people support your work?

I’m going to be selling prints soon. This will help me make more individual work that I love and hopefully, make work that people want to buy. If you’re a fan of my work and would like to buy my prints please let me know! Follow me on the ‘gram @shrutisharmaillustration. I’ll be posting shop updates there. And share. Share my work with a link to my page if you like my work, do the same for any artist you like! We get a lot of work off of recommendations and shares.