KOCHI: For Karunagapally native Anoop Anu, the pencil is mightier than the sword. It has bought him fame, name and monetary benefits to support his family. With an Instagram account that boasts of 16,000 followers and counting, the 22-year-old earns a steady income through his hyper-realistic pencil sketches.Anoop attributes his success to his parents, especially his father who made him join an academy for watercolour painting in Class IX. “I was also trained in oil painting. From Class XI, I tried my hand at pencil drawing. The process took time but I’m glad I didn’t give up. Soon, I began getting commissioned works,” he says.
During his BCom days in T K Madhava Memorial College, Nangiarkulangara, he delved deeply into pencil art. “I used to bunk my afternoon sessions as I was busy delivering my artworks,” he says. Around this time, his sketch of actor Tovino Thomas went viral on social media. “I put in a lot of effort into my sketches. It takes me a day to complete one piece of art,” he says.
Anoop has also been getting offers to do posters, character sketches and storyboards for films. “I’ve done the storyboard for a film which is expected to go on floors by next year,” he says. Though Anoop wrote the entrance examination to enrol himself for a Fine Arts degree after his BCom, the same didn’t materialise. “I got to know that I can’t hold two bachelor’s degrees under the same university.
So, I decided to keep the BCom degree. My parents were sure that art will always be around,” he adds. Anoop earns around Rs 25,000 a month for his sketches. “While I intend to work in a conventional setting later, right now I’m enjoying my life as an artist,” he says.