CHENNAI: A stainless steel davarah brimming with a frothy layer of freshly-brewed, steaming hot filter coffee sits comfortably on a wooden table with a newspaper and coffee beans spilled around it. Even as the visual instantly conjures up a heady aroma, inviting us to take a quick slurp, the brain is busy processing whether it’s a photograph or a painting as it’s too realistic to be the latter. But as we scroll down the Twitter feed, it appears that we’re just one among the many netizens, who found ourselves at the other end of optical illusion while watching this painting that went viral a few days back. Courtesy, Varuna Shreethar, the 21-year-old creative behind the artwork. Little did she know that a random post by her would get retweeted by celebrities like entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala and Tamil Nadu finance minister Palanivel Thiagarajan, spiking the count of her social media followers.
The filter coffee happens to be a part of an ongoing art series showcasing mundane objects (predominantly food) on her Instagram page @eighteenpercentgray. “Eggs and idlis were the first few artworks and they received encouraging responses. I put out a poll asking my followers to choose between filter coffee, Onam sadya, and bread and jam. They opted for the most popular one. I posted the filter coffee artwork first on my page and it received over 1,000 likes. I created a Twitter account on the same day, uploaded the same, and went about my day. Only to realise that I got famous the next day,” beams Varuna.
The RA Puram-based artist has uploaded a time-lapse of the making of the artwork, showing the intricacies that went into its creation. She explains, “It took me four days to complete. I’ve followed an oil painting style for my digital illustration. I started with the outline, then details, and finally, the frothy layer that consumed the maximum time. The colour pads and brushes were customised to produce an authentic output. While compliments have been pouring in for the realistic depiction, my intention was for the picture to look like artwork and not a photograph. Because, I’m an artist and not a photographer. Having said this, there were negative comments criticising that I’ve used filters to enhance the effect. I was too overwhelmed by the positivity to pay heed to all that.” Next in Varuna’s digital art series is the crispy masala dosa. She’s open to taking up commissioned work and will be releasing 9*9 limited prints of her popular filter coffee.
A self-taught artist, Varuna has been painting since the age of two and a half. Thanks to her father — an artist — she grew up around colours and crayons all her childhood. She’s displayed her artworks at 13 exhibitions across the country and won awards around the world. Having pursued graduation in BSc Visual Communication graduate from the University of Madras, Varuna also holds a diploma in Cinematography and Photography from Mindscreen Film Institute.
She currently heads a design team at a corporate film. “I did my schooling from Kalakshetra Foundation and art was one of my subjects. I’ve learned a few professional art courses even from Singapore and Bangkok. I underwent the course for corel painter software from Corel Academy and completed the certificate course at the age of eight. I’m the youngest corel-certified designer in the Asia Pacific region. Art has been a constant companion. I’ve been fortunate to have a supportive family of artists who nurtured my skills. I wish the same for other friends from the community. Respect artists and give them due credit,” she shares. For details, visit Instagram @eighteenpercentgray or Twitter @VforVendakka_