#rajiv eipe

[themelodyofspring]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge

May 03, 2025 - Comic Books

A graphic novel with Indian and Greek mythology themes. And yes, that is a minotaur in a self-made maze (where he lost the TV remote).

[superheronagaraj]

Day Eins: Bear with me

This plan to have a blog started in 2006. Over the years, I have toyed around with the idea. It only strengthened after reading Austin Kleon's"Show Your Work" and "Steal Like An Artist".

Not that this is my first blog idea. I started and shut around half a dozen blogs before this. In 2006, I opened a blog to rant. And another to write lyrics for my future emo-punk band.  In 2016, I started a travel writing blog with a friend that saw some success (mainly because of the said friend's writing) and in 2019, I started a space to write short stories. But I got bored with some and hated how I sounded in others.

***

The other day, at the Animela's Opening Ceremony, I watched "Sultana's Dream" by the Spanish director Isabel Herguera. I was fascinated by the illustrations and the storytelling. And one of the illustrators turned out to be Rajiv Eipe. 

I came across Rajiv Eipe's work on Storyweaver / Pratham in 2019. In 2022, I got my hands on the Maithili and the Minotaur series (Book 1) / (Book 2) that he made with CG Salamander. Some illustrators write bios, and then there's Mr Eipe. He draws bios. The guy starts pencilling even before the book begins. He's crazy. 

And just this last week, I was blown away by his drawings in the latest Bijal Vachharajan's book "When Fairyland Lost Its Magic". 

When I saw his name in the credits of this fantabulously crafted, award-winning movie, I knew I had found another hero.

A few weeks back, Parvathy and I got on a call to bring each other up to date with life's going-ons (or whine about stuff - same, same) and throw some worldly wisdom at each other when we came up with this plan of starting a daily sketching session to get into the habit of drawing every day. (She documented our sessions in her post, here.) A day after the post, Aditi joined us. Now SketchyBunch consists of three of us, drawing together over Google Meet while discussing other illustrators, cats, true-crime shows and podcasts, ad agencies and weather (of course). 

One day, Parvathy brought up the blog of Rebecca Green and the subject of a vision board. The same day, Aditi was sketching from a photograph of a common sighting that we easily miss. Last evening, heading home from my second visit to the incredible Bombay Tilts Down screening (more on this later, I promise), I thought of starting with a blog (again) to narrate my weekly activities and/or learnings.

So this is day eins of documenting whatever is worth documenting. It helps me keep track of whatever the fuck that I'm up to and hold myself accountable.

***

Presently, my days commence with online yoga sessions with Salima. Apart from being one of the best teachers, she's an inspiration for a healthy existence. (Also, if you think it's impossible to learn Yoga on Zoom, I bet you haven't taken a class with Adyashakti yet!) And then, with SketchyBunch, I start work on a new drawing.

Preview of the latest piece:

Working title: Bear in a soup. (The title will evolve along with the progress of the drawing.)

[booksteacupandreviews]

How to Reach Mars and Other (Im)possible Things by Menaka Raman - Women in STEM book for young readers

[somsesh]

A small announcement - Sunando C, Priya Kuriyan, Rajiv Eipe, Sheena Deviah and I are part of the Sketchbook Exhibition happening at IIHS, Bengaluru this weekend (8-10 Feb, 2019). Bijal Vachharajani and Rohan Chakravarty are part of a panel discussion on Climate Change Communications, Vinayak Varma is hosting a discussion on Science Fiction, and Rohini Kejriwal is conducting a Zine Making Workshop. All in all, a promising event to attend. 

I have a packed few days ahead with going to Patna and then to Coimbatore. I also have to pack up assessment of a course I am teaching at Srishti, and then prepare for a course at DJ Academy of Design. But travel always comes with a promise of sketching, so looking forward to that. 

[tusitalabooks]

RT @PBStoryWeaver: Here's something to perk up your Thursday morning! A brand new picture book by Timira Gupta and Rajiv Eipe! Follow Chutku and his Pishi on their walk and see the treasures he collects! Art Directed by Somesh Kumar https://t.co/LFqxboFjBG https://t.co/GwzRwEEnOn

Here's something to perk up your Thursday morning! A brand new picture book by Timira Gupta and Rajiv Eipe! Follow Chutku and his Pishi on their walk and see the treasures he collects! Art Directed by Somesh Kumar https://t.co/LFqxboFjBG pic.twitter.com/GwzRwEEnOn

— StoryWeaver (@PBStoryWeaver) September 6, 2018

from Twitter https://twitter.com/tusitalabooks September 06, 2018 at 02:24PM

[neversaidenough]

Earliest memory of ...

The first graphic novel I ever saw was - “Hush” by Rajiv Eipe. Nilanjana was reading it in Pilani. From the name - “graphic novel”, I gathered that it would be like a cartoon series, only longer. Something like Tintin, or of the Superman/Spiderman comics category. I was looking forward to reading it once she finished with the book.

But when I borrowed the hardly-50 page novel, I didn’t like it at all. Back then I was much more innocent (a kid, really), and unaware of the complex realities of the world around us. It was all beautiful and rosy for me. I didn’t understand why someone would draw and write about such dark & unspeakable, adult things - depression, homosexuality, blood, power, abuse etc.

The sketches very vivid, and powerful. But the theme had me greatly dislike the book. Till a long time later, the memory of this book led me to not pick up a graphic novel.

Two years ago, though, I read “Persepolis”. It is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in war-struck Iran. I really liked the characters & the story, the consistency of the drawings. I followed it up with “Kari” by Amruta Patil, and “Maus” by Art Spiegelman. The aversion of “graphic novels” has gone and I’m looking forward to reading many more such novels.

PS - Read Nilanjana’s review of “Hush” here

[amtrips84]

When a journalist sends a gratitude card for helping her with the article...😊😍🤓 Such surprise perk for working for an organization where everyone just lives by, speaks and breathes children stories everytime. Two of the stories of @pratham.books and @pbstoryweaver (The Cat in the Ghat illustrated by Ruchi Shah and Ammachi's Amazing Machine by Rajiv Eipe) are featured in Hindustan Times. Such a colorful artsy page. 😍 Thank you Rachel for the card. This definitely made my day. 😇😍😘🤗 #whenworkisfun #lovingmyjob #amtripsphotography #smartphoneclick #smalljoysoflife #newspaperfeature #hindustantimes #prathambooks #happyme #tokenofappreciation #peopleatpb #peopleimeet #storyweaver #digitalstories #childrenbooks #childrensillustration #illustration #kidlitart #ruchishah #rajiveipe

[kokaachi]

Two years after Tina came up with the idea of comics inside matchboxes, we're finally ready with our first collection.

SO EXCITED!!

Brown box cover design by Rajiv Eipe.

[notyourrefrigeratordoor-blog]

Season's Gweetings

Directed by Aloke Shetty | Animater by Rajiv Eipe

[mantaraycomics-blog]

Sunset People

written by Annie Zaidi

illustrated by Rajiv Eipe

Read a high resolution version here.

The Small Picture is best viewed in the newspaper edition of Mint, where it first appears every Wednesday. This piece was published on 3 April 2013. 

[mantaraycomics-blog]

'Tis the season to be trolly

Written by Rahul Bhatia

Illustrated by Rajiv Eipe

Read a high resolution version here.

The Small Picture is best viewed in the newspaper edition of Mint, where it first appears every Wednesday. This piece was published on 30 May 2012. 

[mantaraycomics-blog]

Literary Pursuit

written by Rahul Bhatia

illustrated by Rajiv Eipe

The Small Picture is best viewed in the newspaper edition of Mint, where it first appears every Wednesday. Read a high resolution version here.

This piece was published on 15 Feb 2012.

[mantaraycomics-blog]

Whoa

written by Rahul Bhatia

illustrated by Rajiv Eipe

Read a high resolution version here#mce_temp_url#.

The Small Picture is best viewed in the newspaper edition of Mint, where it first appears every Wednesday. This piece was published on 30 Nov 2011.

[mantaraycomics-blog]

Yahoo

written by Rahul Bhatia

illustrated by Rajiv Eipe

Read a high resolution version here.

The Small Picture is best viewed in the newspaper edition of Mint, where it first appears every Wednesday. This piece was published on 18 April 2012.

[mantaraycomics-blog]

On the other hand

written by Rahul Bhatia

illustrated by Rajiv Eipe

The Small Picture is best viewed in the newspaper edition of Mint, where it first appears every Wednesday. Read a high resolution version here.

This piece was published on 04 Jan 2012.