SHALINI SONI MAZUMDAR
Shalini Soni Mazumdar is a freelance illustrator based in New Delhi, India, who specializes in illustrating children’s books and creating artwork for kids.
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CREATIVE STATEMENT
My journey as an illustrator began a few years ago when I transitioned from being a painter. I make it a point to learn from as many sources I can. Reading and seeing what contemporary illustrators were doing was a great learning tool as well. And a lot of this comes from Pinterest and lots of drawing. I now specialise in illustrating for children’s books. What I find most wonderful about this is the opportunity to create new worlds and to be able to stretch my imagination like a child would. To make a successful illustration for books, the art should also tell the story. Colours, details, expressions of the characters and their gestures, etc are very important. There are so many amazing stories to tell. I particularly enjoy old tales, mythology and folk tales from all over the world.
RECENT CLIENTS
- Wonderhouse Books
- Tara Dinic, author of Cisi goes to Nursery
- Olivia Shirley, author of Yoga for Kids
Q&A
What was your favorite storybook as a child?
Among the many stories book I had as a child, a fairy tale book illustrated by the sisters Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone was one of my favourite. Their illustrations brought the stories to life and the visuals have stayed with me forever. There was another book of folk tales from India, a small book with black and white line illustrations. They were very close to the folk art traditions in India.
Which authors do you admire most?
Though I like a lot of authors books, for children’s literature a few names come to mind immediately. These are Indian authors like Ruskin Bond, RK Narayan, Sudha Murthy, Pandit Vishnu Sharma (of the Panchatantra Fame) and Gulzar. I also love works by Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Thomas Taylor, to name a few.
What characteristic really brings a children’s book to life?
A children’s book needs to fulfill a few important criteria to be really good. But what I think makes the book really come to life are the illustrations. These should hold the child’s attention, be detailed and meaningful. It should be able to tell the story so that the children find it easier to comprehend and retain the actual words of the story. Making reading and learning more fun.