KOCHI: Picture this. The Eiffel Tower scaled down to a fraction of its size. Pint-sized Batman and Christ atop a pencil lead. The magnificent gets a miniature twist as Akhil Balakrishnan chisels the pencil leads and fashions out anything under the sun. The lead of 6B, 8B and 10B figure as this engineering graduate’s canvas.Although new to the crafting milieu, having taken up the art of sculpting on leads only during the past ten months, Akhil has carved a niche for himself in miniature sculpting. It is sheer passion that drives this 23-year old who learned the art of miniature sculpting by himself.
Akhil started pursuing his artistic passion in the fag end of his engineering life. It was after seeing a pencil craving in a film that Akhil took to the art. That spiked his interest. It was during the time of the World Cup and a time when the world was gripped by football fever. He thought of creating a World Cup figurine on the lead. But even after several attempts, he could never craft it properly.
“I used to draw and so I used a 2B pencil to create this and was using a normal knife. But it was only later that I learnt I should have worked on pencils having a wider lead and that I should have also used a precision knife. When I started using these, my sculptures turned out right,” says Akhil. And ever since, he has been creating miniature sculptures on pencil leads.
“I started doing it for fun. And soon, I started getting orders as well. Now I get to earn some pocket money from this. But the larger idea is to keep creating artworks,” he says. All that goes into creating these masterpieces is patience and interest, according to Akhil. “You see, it is not that difficult to create this. All you need is passion and patience. It needs your full concentration and since we are working on a minute object, it requires a lot of involvement to ensure that each nook and cranny is taken care of,” says Akhil.
“You may not see any major flaws while working on it. But when you start taking pictures, as when I do using a macro lens, the flaws become pronounced,” he adds. Each work takes around two - three days to complete, he says. “I do not try to complete it at a go. That can put further strain on your eye. Personally, I enjoy working on sculptures, cause that is where you get to innovate,” he says.