CHENNAI: Welcome to the world of Limn, the brainchild of 22-year-old Avantica Hemanth, the self-taught artist who came up with the name; Limn means to depict something in the form of art.
Avantica paints and works with Photoshop and Illustrator to create quirky hand-painted notebooks, phone cases and tote bags. “I learnt everything on YouTube. I paint on paper, scan it and then it gets digitised to make a pattern,” she explains.
Painting is a skill that runs in her family. While her mother and grandmother work with murals and sketches, Avantica’s weapon of choice is watercolour. “I dabbled in various forms of art, including knife painting, but my practice became more refined over time. I like working with watercolours now,” she smiles. “I also enjoy working with gouache, which is a mixture of acrylic and watercolours.”
With the support of her father, she started Limn in January this year. “I worked at a few places before realising that I can’t work for anybody. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I also freelance as a graphic designer, which keeps me busy,” she adds.
The brand’s tagline is ‘a world of colour’, and her work does not fail to deliver. Inspired by Alicia D Souza and RM Drake, Avantica’s work is a myriad of radiant patterns, which range from random everyday stuff like puppies, outer-space patterns and french fries.
The papers are sourced from Vienna and the bags are made of recycled material and are eco-friendly. “The paper is of really good quality and is good for people who doodle a lot, because the colours don’t seep through on the next page. I do all my painting on these papers too!”
She sighs over her cup of mint chocolate chip ice cream as she talks about the hardest part about starting off. “Waiting for a response is nerve-wracking. I shortlist the designs and send it to a few friends to get feedback before getting them printed.”
Avantica also takes mass orders for customised books; she wants to design wedding invitations and plans to begin calligraphy soon.
For more details, visit www.limndesigns.com