KOCHI: From scribbling on the walls as a child and later starting his own YouTube channel, thirteen-year-old Ryan Nimrodh Rabin has come a long way. The teenager recently visited Rashtrapati Bhavan to meet President Droupadi Murmu to show her the portrait he made of her.
Ryan, like any child, had a penchant for drawing on walls, his father Rabin O R explains his son’s artistic beginning. His parents bought a colour book to make the walls safe from Ryan’s sketching adventures.
“Then we discovered an almost perfect portrait of Bollywood actors Shahrukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor in a third-standard student’s drawing book. And the rest is history as they say. We began our YouTube journey showcasing Ryan’s works,” Rabin explains.
Ryan’s passion for art expanded during the Covid lockdown. With no option to venture outside, he spent more time confined at home and drew away, perfecting his craft. His talent, attention to detail and pure determination are evident as one goes through the nearly fifty videos on his YouTube channel that charts his artistic progression.
“Like any child, in the beginning, he used crayons and crossed the borders of model pictures in the colouring books. But we upgraded to quality art supplies in the market because his efforts and valuable work demanded encouragement,” says Rabin.
Ryan usually draws from references. “While he was in Kindergarten his subject was surrounding flora and fauna. Later, he shifted to cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse,” Rabin says.
Ryan also met Bose Krishnamachari, president of the Kochi Biennale Foundation, when the latter visited his school. “He said, let Ryan be free to explore his creativity rather than getting him a tutor,” Rabin recalls.
It was last year in June that Ryan, currently in grade VII at Assisi Vidyaniketan Public School, in Kochi, finished a portrait of the president. He mailed it to the Executive Office of the President in July, which got him an invitation to meet her by the end of August. The moment was nothing short of sublime, explains Ryan.
“Recently, I drew a portrait of M S Dhoni,” Ryan smiles as he he talks about his works.
“I like to make portraits of people I admire. But nowadays, I have been feeling some pain in my shoulder and arm while sitting for a long time to perfect my works,” he opens up.
“I want to draw works that can inspire the world; that is my dream,” reveals Ryan while adding that he has no plan to leave drawing, even if he has to deal with pain occasionally.