Freelance illustrator and graphic designer Rae Zachariah creates intrigue, wonder and delight through her beautiful depictions of life, people, and both urban and pastoral scenes. Every piece, regardless of the series, tells its own story, leaving the audience to create a narrative for each.
In this candid interview, Rae tells us about how she started out, her style and the best piece of advice she received:
1) First, when did you start drawing or painting? Were you born with a pencil in hand or did your interest in art develop over time?
My story isn’t very original. I, like the other 30 kids in my class, made my first foray into the art world during a 1st grade art class, during which we were expected to draw an outdoor scene. I sketched out two mountains with a bright, chirpy sun in the middle and a terribly out of perspective river flowing downwards and a house inexplicably placed right at the river bank (I hadn’t quite grasped the concept of floods and soil erosion at this point) – and that was my start!
As I grew older, I retained it as a hobby – drawing figures from Archie comics, making posters for schools, and sketching diagrams for Biology class. In the 8th grade, something clicked. I had no idea how I would do it or even what it entailed, but I knew I would become a designer.
2) Where do your ideas come from? Does your background, your family and the culture you were raised in shape your taste and your work?
Definitely. Growing up in Kerala and not knowing a lick of Hindi made me lean heavily into an alternate pop culture. All the books I read were by American/European authors and illustrators, all the shows I watched were in English and I spoke English more than I did my mother tongue, Malayalam.
This led to a bit of an identity crisis, but I think the internet helped out here a lot. I was able to expose myself to a whole different kind of visual culture without having to worry if I was “Indian” enough. I think at this point, we’re all global citizens in some way or the other.
3) How would you describe your style?
Right now, I’m still developing my style. My aesthetic is constantly being shaped by music and colours that I see around me. I have a little folder in my phone where I have taken images to refer back to later purely for the colour palettes.
4) What do you feel are recurring themes in your work?
The largest recurring theme in my work would be humour. I love working with topics that make me giggle conspiratorially to myself or bring a smile to the face of the person viewing it. Lately, I have been obsessed with doodling on photographs on Instagram stories. I like manipulating photographs and adding a fun little twist to them with my illustrations.
5) What is the best piece of artistic advice you’ve been given?
There are two pieces of advice that I’ve been given that I apply to this day. The first: crank out as many ideas as you can for each brief that you’re given. This will help you work through clichéd ideas and move onto more unique ones.
The second is: be fearless. There’s nothing as daunting as hovering over a blank canvas with a paint brush; indeed, I used to start from the last page when I got a new journal as I did not want the first page to be a mess. A friend told me to fail, and fail fast, which I took to heart. Just get the fear of starting or failing out of the way and move on – this of course is sometimes easier said than done, but I always try.
6) What projects are you working on?
I recently illustrated a fun children’s book with Pratham Books.
If you like Rae’s work, head on over to her Behance page to view more of her pieces, and don’t forget to follow her on Instagram as well.
Words by Pavi Sagar
Featured image source: Rae Zachariah
