The Hindu : Kerala News : Digital touch to portraits

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 18, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala

Digital touch to portraits

T.P. Sreedharan remembers the digital portrait set against a black background of M.S. Subbulakshmi, Carnatic vocalist, that he had created on the day of her death.

The effect had been spectacular. The expression on the singer's face had been captured to perfection. That was the first attempt of an artist's tryst with technology. The success with which he can capture emotions on the face of his subjects to great detail has prompted Sreedharan to create more such portraits, primarily of writers, musicians, filmmakers and philanthropists, using software technology.

He has since been experimenting in computer graphics, exploring the unlimited potential of vector graphics.

"I have sought to create the portraits of those who have impressed me. I have tried to highlight the emotions as best as possible using the software vector graphics that can capture very sharp portraits. It is a challenge to draw with the mouse and then fill in the details," says Sreedharan, who hails from Vadakara.

An exhibition of Sreedharan's digital portraits, Strokes and Frills, showcased at the Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery, Kozhikode, recently had evoked a good response from the public. The exhibition had been extended for a couple of days.

The portrait of O.V. Vijayan, novelist, too had been created on the day he died. "It just happened that way," Sreedharan says. The seven-odd portraits of Mahatma Gandhi are notable creations in his collection done on an experimental basis.

The series on Vadakara poets such as V.T. Kumaran, Kadathanat Madhavi Amma, P.T. Abdurehman and M.C. Appunni Nambiar are notable among the works and not easily available elsewhere.

The life-size portraits of Vaikkom Mohammed Basheer seated on an easy-chair under the legendary mangosteen tree and Mahatma Gandhi during the Dandi March are notable among the collection.

The life-size portrait of Kunhunni Master stands out and has been created with 15 separate images to create a good effect. Mother Teresa's wrinkled face, John Abraham, filmmaker, during the shooting of Amma Ariyan, and M.T. Vasudevan Nair and S.K. Pottekkat, writers, find a place in the repertoire. Sreedharan is an art teacher at Ramavilasam Higher Secondary School, Chokli, Thalassery.

He studied fine arts at the Kerala School of Arts, Thalassery. He is the recipient of the first Sivaram Award for best cartoon instituted by the Kerala Cartoon Academy.

He has worked as an illustrator at major advertising agencies in Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Kozhikode.

Maleeha Raghaviah

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