MYSURU: With a surgeon’s knife and needle in hand, he gets to work on a pencil lead! A couple of hours later, the graphite has magically transformed into something or someone familiar. Sometimes, the face of a celebrity shows up, an actor grins or there is a politician waiting to speak, all from the lead in its new avatar. With flawless dexterity and eye for detail, S Nanjundaswamy has created a niche for himself in the unique arena of pencil lead sculpture.
The 39-year-old Mandya native tested art waters in childhood. Self-taught, Nanjundaswamy has not entered an art school as a pupil, nor has been under a guru’s tutelage. Being an SSLC dropout, he managed to master the art of tattooing, eventually starting a studio, Krishna Kale Tattoo Art, in Mysuru. His tryst with miniature art involving pencil leads, however, awoke while sharpening a pencil to create a sketch in 1999. Picking up a pencil lead, Nanjundaswamy first practised with faces, then moved to letters, animals, birds, and other sculptures.
Until today, he has carved more than 1,200 pencils leads, turning them into miniatures of animals, birds, faces of celebrities – film actors, Jnanpith awardees, politicians, writers, cricketers, Gods and Goddesses, landmarks and other designs. The smallest among his artwork include the Alphabet and Lord Ganesha, both using 0.5-mm pen pencil leads.
Nanjundaswamy uses a magnifying glass to carve on 0.5 mm pencils for better detailing, while 10B and 12B pencils are frequently used for carving faces. Meanwhile, he also stresses on finer points that are relevant to a concerned person. For instance, while carving actor Darshan’s face, he includes the hand gesture of a ‘Thumbs Up’, symbolic of the star.
During the early days, it would take him at least 10 days to complete a face, but now, he finishes the job in two hours. Also, earlier, he would spend 2-3 hours studying the images of people and creatures, before embarking on carving their miniatures on lead. But, today, he can work from his own memory and creativity. “Carving on pencil leads needs a lot of concentration and patience. The material is very delicate and must be handled carefully, lest it break. But practice leads to perfection,” he says.
Interestingly, none of his art pieces are sold, while many have been gifted. Some have approached him to get their faces replicated as miniatures on lead, which he obliges free of cost.Over the years, social media, the Press and interactions with art lovers have gotten the artist recognition. Pragna, an art lover, says, “Nanjundaswamy’s work is very creative.
Carving on such tiny leads would be very difficult. One needs a magnifying glass to notice the fine detailing and workmanship.”“There are only a few artists in the country who carve sculptures on pencil lead, and I feel happy for being one among them, and honoured when people appreciate my work. As this art is not so familiar, I wish to create awareness about it,” says an elated Nanjundaswamy.
In the record books
Nanjundaswamy’s work on creating Mysuru’s Chamarajendra Wadiyar Circle using pencil leads was accepted in the India Book of Records in 2017. This isn’t all, the artist is known for testing his skills with even greater marvels, such as carving all the eight Jnanpith awardees’ faces on a single 12B pencil within six hours, the Mysuru Dasara procession, and nine Ganeshas and 54 snakes on one lead.