The Doodle Mafia
HGVOICES

Artists’ Sketchbooks 02: Tanya Singh

Homegrown Staff

Tanya’s work consists of a lot of photo illustration and digital illustration with strong composition and bold colour palettes. This aesthetic is evident in her sketchbook, full of bright neon shades and fluid line-work and gives the viewer a peek into her refreshing design approach.

Who

Tanya Singh is a 21-year-old illustrator and image-maker. She is originally from Delhi, and is currently completing her final year at the Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology, Bangalore. She goes by @thedoodlemafia on Instagram.

Tell us a little about your work and artistic practice.

As an image-maker, my aim is to recreate what I have envisioned and hence, I am not bound by medium. I like to employ a variety of tools to create a piece - photography, digital media, drawing, collage and don’t impose too many restrictions upon myself because I’m already bound by lethargy and the constant shortage of art materials. I use this to my advantage and make the best of what I have at the moment. If I have magazines lying around, I cut them up, if my rotring pens are out of ink and need cleaning, I’ll get my hands on sketch pens - I adapt my style to the mediums available. If you follow my work, you’ll notice that my aesthetic changes with the medium I employ but the themes/elements that intrigue me remain constant. Most of my work is an outcome of song lyrics stuck in my head (check out the #loopinglyrics on Instagram) or just how I feel about that particular day!

What does your sketchbook mean to you?
People often ask me about my work and artistic practice – my sketchbook is my work. Everything begins in my journal, every phase that I have had has stemmed from something I created in my journal. I wonder if I can just make journals for a living. That would be the dream ‘job’.

Could you share one piece from your sketchbook that means something to you.

This is something I made in one of my recent journals (Yes, I have a shelf full of journals which perhaps, trace the evolution of my aesthetic), its called “Cringe” - A representation of how I feel about Mondays. This piece was, in fact, made on an awful Monday morning. It was such a terrible day that I proceeded to make cynical/frustrated/almost dead characters the rest of the week.

BassFace Wants You To Stop By The Tapri For A Puneri Dose Of Jungle, Dubstep, & DnB

‘AS i AM' Invites India To Visually Document The Aspirations Of People With Disabilities

Femme Music Is Taking On An Industry That Makes It Harder For Women To Build Music Careers

Nana Patekar (1951-2026): The Life & Legacy Of Indian Cinema’s Everyman Anti-Hero

This Week In Culture: MAX URBN UNMUTE In Pune, Two Até’s Paduka, & More