CHENNAI: As kids, we have all scribbled on the walls of our homes and perhaps only a few of us had genuine talent to deserve praise from our parents. Jeyaraj Fernando was one lucky child who was constantly encouraged by his father right from teh time he was three.
The 75-year-old artist recently took part in the Chennai Weekend Artists, an art show organised at the Lalit Kala Academy, where he also conducted many discussions on paintings. He proudly says, “I always used to draw on the walls of my house. My father encouraged my love for drawing, and that’s how my career began.” After his graduation, when Jeyaraj’s father insisted he take up art seriously, he joined the Kumudham magazine in 1958 as an illustrator.
He recalls his first art work and smiles, “It was based on my imagination. It was of a college principal warning a lecturer and two students standing outside, looking at them and having fun.”
Jeyaraj has designed posters, illustrations, costumes and banners for many Tamil films directed by Balu Mahendra and K Balachander. He still draws and paints with water colours and poster colours. After nearly 56 years in the industry, Jeyaraj is proud to have been invited as a judge for many art competitions in the city.
“It’s a visual treat to see drawings and paintings by young artists today. It’s also gratifying to see art being taken up as a career now,” he adds.
Jeyaraj got fame through an illustration that appeared in a novel by Raki Rangarajan. “It was a simple illustration of a butterfly, but the technique I used made it popular,” he beams.