Pixel cute

Anakims Varghese’s pixel arts make everything cute and funny. From Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings to Pepe the Frog, her works have myriad themes and characters
Pixel cute

KOCHI: It’s Tilottama - the painting of the celestial nymph standing partially undressed in a red saree about to fly up to the heavens. With her one hand up and the other holding the saree in place, she is a mesmerising figure with a sensual physical presence. With blinking large eyes, she looks less like a nymph and more like a cartoon character in the hands of Anakims Varghese. She has recreated the legendary painting by Raja Ravi Varma in pixels giving it a twist. Inspired by the painter, Anakims has created many more Ravi Varma paintings into digital works - all at the pixel level. Like any pixel work, the original sensual artworks turn into something cute with undertones of comic quality in her hands.

The Pune-based artist, an engineering graduate currently working as a content writer, started making digital arts only recently. It was during the lockdown she forayed deep into the art. Her journey from creating cute and whimsical artworks with a childish innocence to a pixel artist was quite rapid. “I started making pixel arts only in the middle of last year, somewhere around September. Earlier, I used to make gauche and acrylic paintings and macrame crafts. When I got tired of making macrame, I started exploring digital paintings,” she says. When she found pixel arts, it was a fit made in heaven. “Though it seems easy, to get it right is a bit hard work. As the drawings follow pixel style, you have to be careful to get the image right,” says the artist, who is now settled in Mumbai.

Within a short period, the artist has made a name for herself in the NFT community in India. “Some call me the pixel queen,” quips Anakims with a laugh. She constantly strives to better her art and practises daily to get more flexibility to improve her detailing skills.

“Once I started making pixel arts, I realised I have a knack for it. And drawing on pixels is very primary. But it takes a lot of effort to get it right, especially while showing emotions. You have to show more expressions with little detailing. I wanted to work on Ravi Varma paintings because many people outside India are not aware of him. Being from Kerala, I have heard a lot about him. So, while doing works for NFT, I decided to explore his artworks. Three of them were bought by people abroad,” the young artist says. And the funny elements have followed her into her new artistic style.

Her pixel portraits of superstars Mohanlal, Mammootty, Rajinikanth and characters of ‘Money Heist’ and consummate actor Fahadh Faasil all turn super cute in her expert hands. The Pepe the Frog, a character icomic Boy’s Club by artist Matt Furie, is one of the most recognisable memes on the internet. Anakims’ recent works are on this memorable frog on a humanoid body. Her latest work of an Indian princess meeting the legendary Pepe king makes evident her prowess in pixel arts.

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