More than 18 years in the animation industry have equipped Phani Tetali with the skills to be an accomplished academic
How did you discover your passion for drawing?
PT: I am told that the first drawing I did was that of a cow, maybe when I was four years old. My parents were very supportive and encouraging, getting me to draw every day. I was lucky I got to read all the comic books of those times. The fun part was when I used to draw the entire comic after reading it.
Growing up, I got introduced to MAD magazine. That was my real inspiration! I used to spend hours admiring the work of great cartoonists and caricaturists who regularly contributed to the magazine. Sergio Arragones, Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, Al Jaffe, Don Martin, Duck Edwing, Angelo Torres, Sam Viviano and Dave Berg became my heroes!
My biggest inspiration has been my uncle, Bapu, who was a great cartoonist and film director in Andhra Pradesh. Whenever he visited us, my parents would get me to quickly draw something and show it to him!
My art teacher, Mr. Parameswaran, was another huge influence. In school, I used to spend hours sitting next to him, watching him paint on huge canvases. He used to get me to draw alongside him, and during those conversations, he would tell me about the medium, about his process and technique.
What took you from engineering to design?
PT: My dad was a Professor at IIT Madras and I spent my childhood in the 1970s in the beautiful green and wooded campus. In the last year of school, everyone was busy preparing for medical or engineering entrance exams while I used to sit and doodle or draw cartoons on the margins of my Physics and Math text books. I loved to draw, but at that time, in the early 1980s, I had no idea where these sketches and doodles would take me.
This story is from the POOL 89 edition of POOL.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the POOL 89 edition of POOL.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
A Legacy Continues
Leveraging the success of his family's export business, Naman Jain is focusing on creating a retail presence in India
Creating KAIRA
Long fascinated by Indian fabric, Nikita Gupta has launched an attractive line of contemporary apparel in traditional block prints
Stories faces tell
Aditya Narula dabbled in various vocations before he realized portraiture was the best way to express the fascinating complexities of the people he encountered along the way
time tested DESIGN
Surrounded by art and architecture as a child, Sarah Sham went on to take the family antiques business in a new direction through her interior design venture
DANGEROUSLY DELICATE
Kavya Potluri's attention to minute detail is what sets her intricate and unconventional jewelry apart
music as muse
A multidisplinary visual artist, Aaron Pinto, also known as Kidsquidy, has had an interesting journey that started with MTV and has him now working on everything from music videos to stage design
DEVELOPING A DISCOURSE
Documentary photographer Taha Ahmad believes his work has a greater purpose than merely being admired by a select audience for its esthetic value. It's when people are able to see the underside of society and understand the prevailing social injustice that the work tries to reveal that it is truly worthwhile.
Tiny little Stories
Creating miniature worlds allows Ruchika Nambiar to continue to play childlike games of make-believe
The Richness Of Handmade
Amit Vijaya and Richard Pandav are committed to bringing together many hands and hearts through their clothing label ‘amrich’
The perfect balance
Aniruddh Mehta is as much graphic designer as visual artist, and he tries to do justice to both through his work at Studio Bigfat