Want to be caricatured?
One of the many couples Harshaka has sketched at their wedding
It’s not just the people in the news who are caricatured. If you would like to see yourself in this way, Harshaka Rathna Kumara will, with a few expert strokes, create a caricature as seen through his artist’s eye.
His love of sketching started from childhood, he chuckles. “My brother and I used to cover every inch of the walls in our house with drawings done with paint, mud and charcoal. Our parents never blamed us for ruining the walls,” Harshaka says.
A graduate of the University of Visual and Performing Arts specialising in multimedia arts, Harshaka went on to develop an interest in digital painting, a new field of study back in 2006 while his passion was Stop Motion Animation. After graduation he worked as a concept artist for game designing and currently works in the field of UI/UX – user interface for mobile applications and website design.
“The art of caricature, commonly seen in editorial cartoons is about creating an image of a person by exaggerating and simplifying certain features,” he says. Harshaka feels the cartoons or caricatures make a great personalised gift.
Harshaka’s first caricature was just a thumbnail on paper done for one of his office colleagues some eight years ago. Getting more interested in the field, he researched the subject thoroughly looking at new caricature trends as seen in the works of contemporary artists like Jason Seiler, artist and illustrator at The New York Times Magazine that greatly inspired him to develop his style.
Digital pen: Harshaka at work. Pic by Ishanka Sunimal
Receiving positive feedback, in 2013, Hashaka decided to extend personalized caricature and drawing services to people by creating a facebook page. “I still don’t do it as a business to earn money, it’s more like a pleasurable pastime to keep myself in practice,” he says.
Harshaka prepares the draft of the caricature and consults his client to make necessary adjustments. Some clients, especially the young ones give him full freedom to decide what their caricatures should look like, he says.
One of his challenging assignments was at a wedding in 2015 when he was asked to draw on the spot. The couple wanted the sketches to be completed while the ceremony was ongoing. “I had to capture the emotions and expressions of the couple within seconds. However, within three hours I sketched around seventy drawings, each one within 3-6 minutes,” he recalls.
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A carricature of singer Umariya Sinhawansa