It’s time for our next Featured Student! For February we are featuring:

Neha Rawat Battish

• Website: www.nrbstudio.in

• Instagram: @nrbstudio.in

• Facebook: @NRBStudio.in

• SVS Forum: @NEHA RAWAT

Below is an awesome Q&A that Kathryn Adebayo (@KATHRYNADEBAYO) conducted with Neha Rawat:

Some people talk longingly about making art their profession. Others create on the side. Yet there are a few who take the plunge into earning their living from their art without looking back, including Neha Rawat Battish. In this interview, she tells a bit about that process and also shares some of the gems of knowledge that she’s picked up along the way.

Hi! Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your art? 

Hello! My name is Neha Rawat (pronounced Nay-ha Raa-wut) currently freelancing full time as an illustrator. I have an engineering degree and worked as a software engineer for 5 years before changing career paths. My journey as a freelancer has been a roller coaster in trying to figure out the kind of art I enjoy doing.

My art has evolved from drawing cartoons and portraits as a kid to dark emo sketches during my teens to anime in college. I also frequently doodle comics illustrating funny incidents happening in my life and then look back at them months and years later and laugh at the silliness of things.  

I think I’ve always loved story telling but it only became obvious to me recently. That, coupled with my love for drawing cute characters paved my way into the world of kid lit art!

What’s your first memory of creating something as a child? How did your childhood affect the way you create today? 

My first and definitely one of my favourite memories was when I was about 3+ years, an art teacher would come home to teach my elder brother how to draw. I remember sitting in the balcony of the temporary guest house provided to us by the company my dad worked in (since we'd just moved to the town). The teacher was showing us how to draw a cat and I was just sitting with them and being a good kid. I started copying what the teacher drew and he was very impressed and gave me a compliment. I think that appreciation gave me a lot of confidence and grew my interest in the subject. (It may also have boosted my ego that my brother's drawing of a cat looked nothing like one :P)

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a suburban town with lots of greenery and open spaces. I've always had dogs growing up which is why a lot of my illustrations features dogs among other cute animals. I also love illustrating characters, forests, flowery stuff and all things happy and colourful.

Even though you’ve been working professionally as an artist for five years, you mentioned being relatively new to the world of children’s illustration. Could we see some of your work that you feel is leaning towards kidlit? 

Yes! I quit my full time job knowing that I wanted to pursue art, but it took my a looong time to figure out what kind of art I enjoyed. I tried everything from graphic designing to canvas painting to merchandising etc. I only discovered my love for storytelling and children's book illustration in the past year and I'm super thrilled! :D These are some of my recent and favourite pieces once I seriously started thinking of creating a portfolio.

1. Circus - This was a prompt from the Portfolio Club challenge on Instagram. I've only ever been to a circus once as a child, and I clearly remember feeling very uncomfortable seeing all these wild trained animals perform stunts.  

2. Flower forest - Because I love drawing foliage and cute animals and colourful happy things :)

3. Toy Shop - This was my submission for the SVS Slovember challenge. Inspired by Will Terry's "Draw 50 Things" class, I really wanted to push myself to draw something detailed, funny and dynamic.

4. Sunsets - Being a big dog lover and growing up with dogs, a lot so my illustrations features kids and dogs. I find it amazing how a simple scene with different lightings can completely change the mood and storyline, and it is something I love experimenting with. 

How did you transition from being a software engineer to being a full-time artist?

The small town I grew up in was one where majority of the people were either engineers or doctors. Hence, most of the kids grew up following a similar path. I too acquired a degree in Computer Science Engineering and worked as a software engineer for 5 years. I was still drawing on the side as a hobby. I realised by then that I neither wanted to pursue further technical education nor climb the corporate ladder, and with the support from my family, I finally took the plunge and changed my career path to the arts!

What obstacles have you faced as an artist, and how have you worked through them? (Or how are you working through them currently?)

Shifting careers from a corporate employee to a freelancer had more struggles that I anticipated. From a disciplined 9-5 work period, a constant monthly salary,  interaction with colleagues and a clear task list, to absolutely no set work time, no idea how much you’ll earn, to working alone at home and diving deep into a vast field like art without a proper plan was extremely daunting. 

It took me a while to get myself on track. I would take up any freelance work I could get which slowly helped me realise the things that I didn’t enjoy doing. 

To be honest, there was a time when I was really demotivated since things were not falling into place and the path I was walking on was very hazy. Time continued to pass but I was unable to build a strong foundation. But persistence and hope came to my rescue, and now, with my new found love for illustrating for children's books, joining amazing communities like SVS and SCBWI, I have a clearer vision of where I want to be and the path I need to follow. 

What’s one goal that you’re working towards this year? 

Getting a contract with an international children's book publisher. :D I've worked with some independent Indian publishers and am currently working on creating my first ever portfolio. I became a member of SVS and SCBWI last year and it's been one of my best decisions. It's not only improved my illustration and story telling skills but also gave me insight about the industry. I plan to apply everything I've learned into contacting international publishers and hopefully getting an opportunity to meet and present my portfolio to some of them.

Finally, what’s your best advice for others who want to progress down their own paths as illustrators? 

1. Believe in yourself and your art. Be comfortable calling yourself an illustrator even if you're just starting out.

2. Never compare your art with anyone else's. There will always be someone better than you, but also at the same time, there will be those who will look at your art and feel like yours is so much better than theirs. Instead, take inspiration from those you look up to and try and inspire those who look up to you. Art is subjective and every individual has their own unique way of expressing it.

3. Network and socialize with other artists, online and offline. Share your work proudly. Be open to critique and feedback. 

4. Never stop learning! Be it drawing skills, technical skills, the industry, or even about the journey of other artists (you'll be surprised how many of the big shots have struggled in their early years)!

4. And last but not the least, practice, practice, practice! :)

Thank you so much, Neha, for taking the time for this interview! Your work is so fun and I hope you go far!

Thank you so much! :) It was my pleasure and I'm super thrilled to be a part of the SVS community!

If you would be interested in sharing your work for a chance to be featured for March head over to the SVS Learn Forum and post your best work by March 2nd.