Anyone stepping foot into Trotsky Marudu’s house will know he is an artist who loves his canvas and colours. The 60-year-old comic illustrator, in his casual shirt and shorts, greeted us with a bright, full of life smile, even after his long working hours in office.
“I’m not only a comic book illustrator, I illustrate for novels. I’m an animator, a painter, a sketcher and also a guy who gives special effects in films,” he says proudly.
Sitting on the table was a Tamil book with the illustration of a mother hugging her child. Yes, it was his illustration. The surprising part was the fact that the writer was his own mother. “Quite a few of my family members are artistic. My mother is a writer, one of my grandfathers was associated with Scriptwriter N S Krishnan, my other grandfather Solaimalai was a leading scriptwriter in the Tamil cinema in those days and my cousin brother is actor S S Rajendran.”
What began with the drawing of a butt of an elephant at three became a life-long obsession. After completing college, Trotsky worked for nine-and-a-half years at Weavers Service Centre, a research centre for handloom clothes before he got into illustrations and animation in full swing. “It was a good job but my mind continuously wavered to drawing, painting and animating. So I finally quit. I began illustrating for magazines including Anadavigadan and Kalki.”
Trotsky says he I grew up watching Disney movies from 101 Dalmatians to Girl and the Tramp. “I’ve watched all the early Disney movies. I used to go to the cinema and watch shows one after the other only to be dragged back my parents,” he chuckles. “I was fascinated by the animation. Once, I came across a magazine called Who published by National Geography…a 27-page magazine about behind-the-scenes of Disney Movies. I was hooked, not only to the magazine but to the world of animation and illustration.”
Two more important elements that added to Trotsky’s inspiration: one was an old library and the other was the political movement in the 70s and 80s. “My father was very active in the communist party movements. He was against the British. Oh, and all his children got the names of the rebels. I got Trotsky,” he chuckles again. “My father used to force us to go to the best book shop of that time, Bharati Putagham, where all learned people came. That’s I was introduced to comic books.”
Trotsky agrees that the crowd in Tamil Nadu had lost interest in comics a long time back. “When I teach or give a presentation at school, students aren’t that interested. But I think the digital medium will get the trend back. There are pages and groups in Facebook where comics are discussed,” he opines.
Totally tech-savvy, Trotsky was the earliest and proud user of the computer in Tamil Nadu. He bought it in 1989 for `16 lakh. Ananda Vigadan had published his computer generated illustration with a caption specifying that it was done in a computer. He showed us his works through his iPhone and also come canvases which were all a mix of liquid ink, photographs painted on a sensitive tablet and digital prints. “When I take a picture of something, I draw it on my iPhone, upload it and then work on it digitally,” he adds.
Trotsky now illustrates South Indian culture and people. His collection of works was published into a book three years ago. Soon another book will be out in the market.