Pencil sketches and paper cutting have become a bit unique these days, feels young artist Vibhav Mangalore. He says, "Fewer artists do pencil sketches and paper cutting art. In a way, it has become rare and unique." When we saw Vibhav's Instagram page, we just had to agree. His recent pencil sketch of an old woman and a child, posted on his page @thekirigamist, is a perfect example of that. The sketch describes all those emotions that a woman can have towards her children or grandchildren. He explains, "There is no particular reason behind my creating this sketch. One of my friends, Akshith, had clicked this picture of an old woman and a child in her hands. He shared it with me and I felt that I must be making one sketch of them. And at the end of the painting, I felt that I was picturising the mythological figure, Yashoda. Hence, the caption I wrote was also on the same lines. I wrote Yashoda, the one who nourished."
Vibhav is a BSc student studying at the JSS College of Arts, Science and Commerce in Dharwad. His sketching skill, though, did not develop overnight or in the past few months. He has been deeply involved in his art from the time he was a child and he credits his father with the perseverence. He says, "Though my father is not a professional artist, he is quite good at it. That's how even I learnt it from him. Gradually, I learnt pencil sketching and painting."
Curious to understand paper cutting, we asked him how it worked. To this, he tells us, "Paper cutting art or Psaligraphy created an effect that looks exactly like a painting. Detailing and intricacy play a key role in the paper cuttings. They either have black or white shades to it. It is made on a paper that is neither too thick nor too delicate. Since we make good use of the blade, getting the exact thickness of the lines on the portrait is a challenge. But is an interesting art which hardly people know or learn."
Vibhav, who is sort of a pro, has done cuttings of Tyrion Lannister, Morgan Freeman, Salvador Dali, Dulquer Salman, Amitabh Bachchan, Prof Niel deGrasse Tyson and a few others. Apart from this, Vibhav is also involved in organising astronomical events in Sirsi and sometimes in Kerala through his amateur astronomers group called AGAS 360. He says, "I come from a place called Sirsi and it is the place that has the darkest skies in India. It is perfect for anyone to observe sky especially during some of the important astronomical events. Such dark skies fall in what we call the Bortle Class 1 category. People from across the state come here to watch the important days through the telescope and so on. Every year, we organise observation events during winter. Hopefully, if the cases of Corona decrease gradually, then we plan to organise such observation events in the first week on November."
You can find some of his amazing work on his Instagram page @thekirigamist
