Loop — An interview with children’s book illustrator Ishita Biswas
There are these simplest elements on the earth that nurture the most complex loops of life. This natural system reveals its sensitivity to the increasing dominance of a single element.This book is a reminder of the most obvious story of present times.
When I was browsing through children’s books at the world book fair in New Delhi in 2017, my attention was caught by this small wordless picture book called ‘Loop’( chakkar in Hindi) printed on tantalizing brown recycled paper. Its minimalism, bold strokes and simplicity is what drew me to it. And I wondered, as I do when I look at books that are interesting, how did this particular idea materialize into a book? So, I spoke to its creator, Ishita Biswas and it has been a rewarding conversation. Here’s a peek -
Me — Tell us about yourself.
Ishita — I work as a children’s book designer and parallel to that, I have a personal practice of visual art. I studied Sociology before taking my concerns to creative disciplines of Art & Design.
I was studying Design and Illustration in Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology, but I found myself not completely fitting into pure Design.
I realized that I work best at the intersection of the two disciplines (Visual art and graphic design) and the framework at Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology allowed me enough flexibility to explore that.
Some people think that I made a shift from one to the other but in reality Sociology has pushed me into the discipline of Visual Art. For me they don’t exist separately and I am fortunate that now we have pedagogical approaches which see social sciences, philosophy and art complimenting each other as a necessity of contemporary times.
Me — Indeed. I think fantastic discoveries are made at these intersections. How did the idea for ‘Loop’ come about ?
Ishita — My affinity for animals and concern for the environment has always been there innately. I had started with a drawing of a sapling and life around it and the rest followed to shape up into a picture book. I was specifically concerned about reaching out to making children think about the environment. In urban spaces children grow up surrounded by concrete that nature becomes a secondary existence. But I also wanted the book to be simply and quickly approachable to adults as well.
Me — What led to the decision to make it a wordless picture book? Was it decided at the beginning or was it an outcome of your process?
Ishita — Since the beginning I was sure that it was going to be wordless. Firstly I don’t see myself as a creator with words, secondly I wanted this book to have no barrier of language or region. I was thinking — how would it be to make a book that even an illiterate person can read?
Me — You wanted to create something simple, approachable with a concept that is difficult to visually depict.Would you say that ‘loop’ is a book that deals with an abstract concept?
Ishita — I would like to call it an abstract concept though it can be taken very literally. I see it as abstract because the message being conveyed is not so simple. There are layers of complications when one starts thinking of the relationship between animals and urban landscapes. It can’t be contained into a clear category of the ‘environment’. It is more poetic than that and hence, abstract.
I think visual simplicity comes easily when you start thinking from what is basic, try to define the basic.
Me — Tell us about your process.
Ishita — I didn’t go through the standard process of storyboarding and step by step rendering. It was more free-flowing than that. I kept making sketches and building up the story in my head. When I decided to put them into a book-I finally put them into a storyboard to organize the pages.
Me — How did you decide on your illustrations for this book?
Ishita — Well the visuals developed quite organically like a day-dreaming session. The format of a brown-book had allured me when I first came across the book ‘choti lal murgi/little red hen’ by Karen Haydock, published by Eklavya. I felt the recycled brown paper in a book just spoke conceptually for my story.
Mostly the drawings were memory drawings with very less references. This is because I wanted to develop a visual style as a language which is based on reality but not exactly ‘realistic’.
Me — Were there any artists’ work that influenced you while making this book?
Ishita — Not really. What actually inspired me was geography. I had already begun with the basic concept and kept it aside until I reached Bhopal for the first time. The extraordinarily green landscape around Bhopal had stunned me. That is what motivated me to take the project further.
Me — How long did the entire process take — from the initial idea to the final printing?
Ishita — After the initial idea there was a gap of a few months before it resurrected in Bhopal. After that it took about 2 months if I remember it correctly.
Me — Do you think an audience matters when you have an idea for a picture book?
Ishita — This is subjective.
If you are concerned about the audience and making the book with a publishing house then definitely the audience is very important.
For me, I don’t orient my ideas from the point of view of the audience. I build a concept and the audience gets decided in the process.
Since I was getting this book published from Eklavya, I had to keep the audience very much in mind while finalizing the format and even had to make certain modifications according to the needs of the target audience that suits the publisher.
But if I was publishing it independently and not for sale, some aspects of the book would have been different.
Me — How do you mean?
Ishita — The way I had conceptualized this narrative initially, it wasn’t linear like a story with a beginning and an end. It was a compilation of spread out images pointing towards the same idea.
If I was publishing independently with no regard for the market then maybe I would have left it more vague without any clear conclusion.
Since every publisher has to orient towards the market to some extent, I had to make the narrative flow in a linear way that would be most approachable to the general audience.
Me — Would it have been different if text was included with the pictures? How do you drive the story forward with just visuals? Is it more difficult than a story with text?
Ishita — I think it is definitely more difficult as we grow up mostly trained to read text better than visuals, I mean the focus of our general education is on learning text. The flow of the narrative is what drives the story forward.
Me — What role does symbolism play in picture books? And the symbolism of the animals with closed eyes that open just when there is a disruption in their life in ‘loop’, could you tell us more about that?
Ishita — I personally find symbolism very moving. It is not a necessity but I believe it certainly helps in communication. For instance, in the book, closed eyes symbolize serenity but maybe we are better off having our eyes open — that was what I wanted to say.
Me — What is it about picture books that excites you the most.
Ishita — I think Picture books allow you to see beyond the given. Although they are mostly associated with children, I feel if adults are more open to picture books they will have broader perspectives on life.
Me — I agree with that! Are there any picture books you want to recommend?
Ishita — For sure, ‘Choti lal murgi/Little red hen’ by Karen Haydock and ‘Silly Suzy Goose’ by Petr Horáček are the ones that have really influenced me.
Loop/ Chakkar by Ishita Biswas has been published by Eklavya Publications. It is available on their online store — https://www.pitarakart.in/Loop_chakkar
Here is a link to Ishita’s personal blog — https://ishita-visualartdisplay.tumblr.com/
The idea behind this series of interviews is to give readers a glimpse into the world of children’s publishing and picture book illustration in India — what illustrators actually do and how they work their magic. Stay tuned!
