Hyderabad-based artist Aditya Chilumula's podcast might answer your questions about art. Tune in

Though the podcast What The Art is just a few episodes in, we hear that many listeners are already tuning in. You know how there are so many youngsters taking to art and displaying their work on Instagram, right? What you probably don't know is that most of them are often wrought with questions, like how much they should charge for their work, how one makes a living as an artist in this day and age and so many other burning questions. What The Art comes as the answer to these and many other queries. The brainchild of two artists, Sri Priyatham and Aditya Chilumula, the idea came to them when they were talking about the art scene in the city of Hyderabad. And, "we were really surprised with the reaction! We have been getting good traction," says 23-year-old Aditya who brought on two others on board the podcast — artist Keshav Rathnavel and the CEO of art company MadCap, Gokul Raj.  

Aditya Chilumula | (Pic: Aditya Chilumula)

Speaking further about his own art, New Jersey-born Aditya tells us how he has exclusively been working with charcoal for a few years now. "I like the contrast and the shadows, the difference between light and dark that can be brought out by charcoal. And the shades of black you can achieve with it; you can never achieve with graphite (regular pencils)," he explains. Currently, he is freelancing and taking on commissioned work. He also does workshops on the side and has taken a few sessions in Bengaluru and Chennai, and will soon take one in Mumbai. This self-taught artist aspires to pursue his master's in the US, but his end goal will always be a career in the creative arts.

Aditya with participants post-workshop | (Pic: Aditya Chilumula)

The first memory of sketching for Aditya, who pursued Mechanical Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad, was that of drawing dinosaurs, "I was genuinely fascinated by Jurassic Park," shares the artist. Indeed, he has come a long way. Over the years, this night owl, who prefers to work while everyone else is asleep, has transitioned from drawing inspiration from pop culture to now, trying to create his own reference image from scratch. "I am trying to feel inspired — observing what I can do better and applying it in my next work," concludes the artist.

Some of his work

For more about him, check out instagram.com/theonyxmethod