THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:There are many artists who have painted out great works on huge canvases but Nikhil Soman is someone for whom canvas does not matter. “Miniature artforms make a different observation for us rather than big canvas, says Nikhil. This artist has carved out tiny sculptures on pencil lead, pista shells, stones, bird's feathers, seeds. He is enlarging the purpose of reusing materials, carving out miniature works of art and painting small portraits on seeds, pista shells and bird's feathers,with perfect detailing.
Nikhil had always a creative streak. “I used to do lot of sketching and drawing from a young age. I went for a lead art workshop in Jaipur conducted by Architect Midhun R R. He was awarded a world record in drawing some two years back. It was from then that I got fascinated in carving out lead art works. The intricate features and detailing required for making these tiny objects is what initially got me interested.”
He started out by using ordinary cutter and blade in order to get great precision in his creations. One blade is used for shaving the wood from the pencil and the other for detailing. Each piece takes around one hour to be created into a work of art. The tiniest mistake means starting from the scratch. “It doesn't consume much time for me to create a sculpture but if the lead breaks, I have to start all over again,” says Nikhil.
Though the micro artist has designed many little marvels using pencil lead and done miniature paintings on pista shells, medicine tablets, bird feather, his favourite is the Baahubali lead art creations by him. Carving out the wood of one pencil, he has sculpted a miniature model of Baahubali with the perfect detailing, Kattapaa killing Baahubali where he has used two pencils and also a scene of the birth of Baahubali. Everything is sculpted out without losing even the minute detailing in these sculptures.
Out of all his lead art works, it took more time for him to sculpt out the 'Lock & Key' model. He says, “It took me four to five hours to do this lock and key model. As it had to be done on a single lead, it was very difficult to sculpt out. The lead broke four times and I had to start from the scratch.” Besides this, he has done miniature paintings of birds and animals on shells, seeds and stones using acrylic. “Doing miniature paintings does not consume much time when compared to lead art,” he added.
Nikhil is a third year Architecture student at college of engineering Trivandrum. He likes sketching and every Saturday he, along with his friends visit temples across the city and sketch temples and portraits. Now this micro artist is on an attempt to carve out National Anthem in a pencil lead.