Shubham Kairi - For Being A Photorealistic Artist, I Always Try To Make Drawings As Similar With The Reference (Artist)

Shubham is a Self-Taught Freelance Artist, skilled in numerous mediums including Graphite pencil, Coloured pencil, Oil pastel, Pen & Ink, Charcoal, Watercolor, Mix-media, Acrylic, Oil paint and Spray painting. He is professional as a Portrait Artist. He spends majority of his time in drawing and uses his strongest medium the pencil, graphite, carbon, charcoal and colour pencil. He has 2 Years of related experience in Exhibitions, Workshops and Art Classes. He aspires to attain a creative platform that would allow him to explore and develop his skills and talent as an Artist.

1. Tell us about your background and journey.

The beginning when my first drawing journey was started was when I was in class 7. I learnt drawing from a small drawing school in our locality. After that when I was in class 9 my parents told me to quit drawing and start focusing on my studies. So I left the drawing school. Then after 12 years I'm back to my drawing world again.

I did my matriculation exam, higher secondary exam, graduation with zoology honours (B.Sc), Masters In Zoology(M.Sc) and just started PhD in these 12 years. At that moment I started to feel disappointed and I couldn't understand what was going wrong. I was heavily depressed. From that depression one day I took a paper and a pen and started to draw.

I felt a bit relaxed after a gap of 12 long years. And from that time I increased my focus and time for my drawing. Then after I thought that I need to leave the PhD and I conveyed this to my parents. They never agreed with my decision but finally I quitted my PhD by going against them.

Then I faced lots of financial problem in that 6 month duration. Then after I started teaching drawing to students and that was basically my first pocket money. These all happened somewhat between the mid of January 2019. Then after slowly my journey took up speed.

I started posting my artwork, my drawing processes in social media and slowly I got good responses and really they were a motivation for me. I practice minimum 8 hours a day but now I do it for 14-15 hours. I never get bored while drawing, I really love that so much.

2. What has been the biggest challenge you faced and how did you overcome it?

The biggest challenge for me was to be a successful artist. When I left PhD, my parents were totally against me. They eventually stopped my pocket money. I suffered for 2-3 months in buying my drawing supplies. I'm from lower a middle-class background and the financial condition was the big problem for me and my family.

After that I started to teach students so that I can get some pocket money. Along with that, I posted my drawings in social media and through that I got some order called commissioned work. I got money from that and then I purchased some good quality material.

Can you believe (December 2018) if I say that I sold my first commissioned work from Kolkata for just 250₹ without excluding the delivery charges? Yes. My profit was 150₹ and the rest of the money got spent in my travel but now for the same drawing I charge 5000₹ in spite of the delivery charges.

But there was an another problem where I had a degree for my B.Sc but I didn't owe a single degree for my art. So it was really difficult to get a job without degree.

But luckily I started my work as an art teacher. It was offered by someone who saw my art in social media and he gave me a chance which was a great help for me. After that I got a experience and it was easier for me to apply for other jobs.

3. What has been your greatest achievement?

My greatest achievement was:

Getting a commissioned work order abroad
Getting a job without having the degree
Selling my artworks to USA for commercial purpose (the metallic skull)
Working as a drawing artist for a research paper
Working for a book cover page designer

4. How and when did you realize your passion for art?

12 years after when I again started to draw I believed that I can do very well in this. Every time when I see portraits from you tube, I always try to do with cheap materials because I couldn't afford expensive things. And I really got good results.

Also if something doesn't get the required result I expected, I would work on it twice to make it good as I want. I never felt bored nor tired. I always think in different way to achieve the same effect by using cheap quality materials. I do apply some creativity and invent some easiest way to make the same thing. These are quit personal.

5. What piece of advice would you like to give to the future and aspiring artists?

Here are some of my few advice for all the budding artists out there:

Try to select a difficult thing what you know you never can do and draw those things. That makes your improvement faster.
Never get satisfied with your work. Remember the most finest art also have some mistake. So there is no way of satisfaction to being an artist.

6. What is your mantra for picturizing all your art realistic?

For being a photorealistic artist, I always try to make drawings as similar with the reference. I know I'm not a great artist, I'm not perfect but I always do my best.
That s all.