HYDERABAD: What would any artist dream of? To be recognised and if that happens on an international level, there can’t be anything like it. Hyderabad’s very own digital artist, Sri Priyatham got this honour. Being one of the 16 artists picked from across the world and the only one from India to design the concept art for Stranger Things 3, was no less of a dream for him.
“I was jumping with joy when I got the call! I am a big fan of the show and had binged on it multiple times already” he quips. Stranger Things, the popular Netflix series is now running a promotional campaign where the 16 episodes from the last two seasons are featured as an artwork by creative minds from all around the world before the new season starts on July 4.
The fine art graduate’s work caught the eye of these makers leading him to illustrate the episode Hopper (Season 2 Episode 5). The illustration features Hopper (a major character in the show) trapped entirely by the Vines in the alternative reality - “upside down” - which fades out into the scribbles, the map of Hawkins (the town the show is set in).
“I had to encompass the entire essence of the episode in one artwork,” adds the 27-year-old.
So how does a freelance illustrator from Hyderabad get a spot on international media? “I don’t know how but their creative team came across my Instagram profile and looked through my profile as I understand it. I’m sure their team generally keeps a look out for new talent, and this campaign probably brought them to me.” he says.
Now designing for a globally loved show is no mean feat and the process too was pretty tedious. However, the designer was too excited for the opportunity to wear his creative hat for the show he loves that he barely noticed.
“After I was allotted the episode I was designing for, I watched the episode 12 to 15 times, got screenshots, planned captions, noted lines etc before thinking of what I’m going to do with it,” says the Secundrabad boy.
While this was his own personal effort he put into it, the official process of finalising a design was a lot more elaborate.
“There were phases before which the final art finally came together. We had a lot of back and forth. The process starts with me sending them a conceptual draft, in text form for them to approve. Once that is approved, then there is the initial lines which is sent for corrections or other changes that they might want. The first draft is then sent which they approve after which we add the textures, the detailing before finalising. The team was very particular about the detailing,” he elaborates.
Despite the to and fro at every stage of the work with four or five days of gap between each phase, Priyatham enjoyed the work mostly because they let him stick to his style.
He says, “They did not want me to go out of my style. They respect the artist as they are, even within their own limitations of being a global platform. But they contacted me because of my style and they let me play along in that domain.”
Flooded with appreciation both from his peers, his students who he teaches in his workshops conducted across South India, the artist credits this to social media.
“I have only ever posted my work on social media. This is where I found my livelihood, this is where they found me, this is where my students find me, this is where I built my life,” he says. Well, amidst all the chaos, looks like something good does come out from the internet.