Books for Penguin

The first major book project I worked on after completing The Insect Boy was Penguin's The Tenth Rasa, an anthology of nonsense -- poems, stories and songs -- from India. This was in 2005, if memory serves. This book was edited and compiled by Michael Heyman, Sumanyu Satpathy and Anushka Ravishankar. (Heyman, who has since gone onto shepherd more, bigger and exponentially frabjuous nonsense anthologies, is now considered the leading nonsense-rasika in the biz.) They came up with such hilarious and imaginative material for the book that it remains the most fun project I've worked on. Oh, and mine isn't the only artwork in the book: two of my co-illustrators, it is my distinct privilege to claim, are Sukumar Ray and Edward Lear!

My brief from the art director at Penguin was to come up with simple line drawings that could scale easily, along with a colourful cover that properly conveyed the idea of the title. This idea, as you've probably guessed, is that the navarasas are all well and good, but that the complete range of human emotions is effectively inaccessible without the tenth and most evocative rasa: nonsense. You'll see what I came up with for the cover, as well as the interior artwork, below.

Book cover illustrations and hand-done typography for The Tenth Rasa, Penguin

Pencils for 'The Buffalo Climbed a Peepal Tree', The Tenth Rasa

Final drawing for 'The Buffalo Climbed the Peepal Tree', in The Tenth Rasa

Rough pencil sketch of a dandified Amitabh Bachchan emerging from an Easter egg, for 'My Name is Anthony Gonsalves', The Tenth Rasa

Final artwork for 'My Name is Anthony Gonsalves', The Tenth Rasa

Pencils for 'Grandpa's Beard', The Tenth Rasa

Final drawing of 'Grandpa's Beard', The Tenth Rasa

Drawing for 'Grandmother's Tales', The Tenth Rasa. This poem was written by my father, Shreekumar Varma, a playwright, poet and author of several published and performed things. This was the first time I got to draw for something my father had written, which was a nice added perk of working on this book.

Artwork for 'Grandmother's Tales', The Tenth Rasa

Artwork for 'Nursery Song', The Tenth Rasa

Artwork for 'The History of the Ramasamy Lineage: The Hidden Truths', The Tenth Rasa

Little filler drawing of a bird, for The Tenth Rasa

Little filler drawing of a fly, for The Tenth Rasa

Little filler drawing of a frog catching a fly, for The Tenth Rasa

Detail of The Tenth Rasa cover artwork and hand-drawn typography

Back cover drawing and hand-drawn typography

Another Penguin book I contributed black-and-white line drawings to, a few years ago, was Anita Nair's book of essays, Goodnight and God Bless. The author wanted small, cartoony drawings to complement her humour writing. Here's a selection of what I drew for her:

Old fashioned desk and chair, Good Night and God Bless, Penguin

Some sort of argument related to a dustbin, Good Night and God Bless, Penguin

The hallway of someone's large house, Good Night and God Bless, Penguin

A Labrador snacks on bedroom slippers, Good Night and God Bless, Penguin

Strained small talk at a cocktail party, Good Night and God Bless, Penguin

Mousey alarm, Good Night and God Bless, Penguin

Skeleton in closet, Good Night and God Bless, Penguin

Snail romance, Good Night and God Bless, Penguin

Nerdy kid, Good Night and God Bless, Penguin