‘Artist’ and ‘Doodler are the two terms that describe Anagha Dandekar the best. She has sketched some beautiful doodles on her page. They are the reason for the aesthetic quality of her feed. We are delighted that she is the first person to be interviewed for our latest category – ‘5 min bit’.
Here’s how the conversation followed –
Interview
Questions and answers
Your feed on Instagram looks very aesthetic. From where does the creativity come from?
Building my Instagram page started rather accidentally. I have never really focused on the aesthetics while creating my page, I just want every image to tell a story, with my doodle being at the heart of it. I was travelling to Europe the pressure to click picturesque images was immense. Personally, I hate clicking pictures while travelling as it ruins the moment and you are never able to enjoy the place. Hence, I decided to approach this differently – I memorized my itinerary to the tee and created a doodle for every place I would want to capture a picture of. When I posted them, the response was heartening and motivated me to continue on my doodling journey. Along the way several people have helped me greatly refine my approach but at the heart of it, remains my love for story-telling and my doodles merely reflect that!
What does Doodling mean to you?
I never considered myself an artist but the creative bug had bitten me in childhood. In my early years, I was inclined towards aesthetics. I remember that during exams, apart from writing the answer, I would greatly focus on the presentation – incorporating as many diagrams and highlights as I could. It further became the foundation for my page. I am an Editor by profession and I write for a living. But there were times, when words failed me. Doodling happened by chance. I grasped the art very well and the result of it is what you see on my page!
Apart from doodling what do you do to keep yourself motivated?
I love to travel and have always believed that each journey you embark upon leaves you with many stories. My doodles were just an expression of those stories. “Raftaar. Pagalpan. Har Pal Itna Dhamakedar Ho Ki Mujhe Apni Dil K Dhadkane Apne Kaano Tak Sunae De.
“This dialogue from ‘Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani’ will be etched in my heart forever
What are the materials that you use to doodle?
Honestly you can recreate my doodles, using a simple pen and a notepad. But along the way, I have picked some favorites in my stationery – so here is my list.
Uniball Air Black Pen
Pentatonic Black Pen
A Leather Diary With handmade paper ( had this one particularly sourced)
Camlin Water Color Set – 12 colors
Fabercastle Marker Pen
PentelColor Pen set
All these (except the leather diary) are available for below 100 Rs.
From where did you adapt the art of doodling. Any memorable incident you would like to share?
I never learnt the art, I just kept drawing and getting better at it, as time passed. A particular incident I shall always carry with me was when I volunteered as an art teacher with BMC school. I was given a particularly boisterous class to manage and we had an assignment to complete. I used my doodling skills and broke down the project for them. To my surprise the entire class picked it up spectacularly and it turned out to be some of the best work, the class had done during the trimester.