Nidhi Chanani

Nidhi Chanani (1975) is an Indian-American illustrator and artist born in Kolkatta, India, and raised in California.[1] She currently works and resides in San Francisco, CA with her family. Her Every Day Love series captures small moments from every day life in a whimsical manner.

Early life

Nidhi Chanani was raised in Southern California. After receiving a degree in Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz, attended the Academy of Art in San Francisco.[2]

Career

Chanani worked at non-profit organizations before entering the comics field.[2][3] In addition to taking art classes, she briefly attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.[4] She often features local Bay area back drops, as well as images derived from her Indian heritage. She explains, "I grew up watching Bollywood films on the weekends, eating Indian breakfasts, and spending time with my Indian family. It didn’t ever feel like because I didn’t live in India, India didn’t live in me. Even if I don’t draw something Indian per se, something about my “Indian-ness” will come through whether I make the characters brown or pick a setting reminiscent of India. There is something about who I am in everything that I do. And who I am is Indian. I don’t think that is ever removable from what I do."[4]

In April 2012 she was honored at the White House as a Champion of Change.[2]

She worked as a concept artist for the 2011 Australian film, Hannah and the Hasbian.

She has also worked with Hasbro, Paramount Pictures and Disney.[2]

She is working on Pashmina, a graphic novel, about first-generation immigrants who find their place in America, due to be published in 2017.[2][5]

Technique and materials

Chanani creates her art using digital media, wood burning, and watercolors. She notes what she uses for tools, "For my illustrations I use flash and photoshop with a heavy dose of brushes and textures I've created. For my wood burnings I use raw wood and a professional wood burning pen."[6]

Awards

2012 White House Champion of Change[7]

Personal life

Chanani and her husband, Nick, live in San Francisco.[2]

References

  1. Bernstein-Wax, Jessica (June 19, 2010). "Menlo Park woman running successful online store at Zazzle.com". San Jose Mercury News.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Typewriter, Red. "Happy Medium: Five Questions for illustrator and graphic novelist Nidhi Chanani". Red Typewriter.
  3. Hepburn, Jessika. "Meeting the Makers: Nidhi Chanani". OMHG. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  4. 1 2 Thakkar, Komal. "The art of Nidhi Chanani". browngirl. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  5. Chanani, Nidhi. "Pashmina". Diversity in YA. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  6. "Artist Of The Week: Nidhi Chanani - An Inter-Cultural Multi-Talented Artist". E-Junkie. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  7. Chanani, Nidhi (April 5, 2012). "Creating Connections and Inspiring People Begins and Ends with a Story". White House

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/12/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.