Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Arrushi Chakraborty. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Arrushi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Everyone was gearing up for their Senior Thesis at the School of Visual Arts. Be it Film, Illustration, Animation, or other majors, everyone had to have something to show for the conclusion of their Bachelor’s degree. I resonated with Michael Scott from ‘The Office’ (Season 5, Episodes 14/15) when he said: “And I knew exactly what to do. But in a much more real sense, I had no idea what to do.” That was exactly me. I just wanted to do the best I could do in so-and-so style, but in reality I had no idea what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to make a book, but I didn’t quite know how to do it. As a visual artist, the images came to my head before the words did. I was almost averse to the idea of writing a script before making the visuals, and I put it off until I knew there was no other way to do it.

I did what I do best, and I looked within. I came up with the script for ‘Kari’s Colors’, a children’s book that follows the journey of a child who was ‘pink’ before but woke up ‘blue’ one day. “Yesterday, I was pink, but today I am blue. I asked the sun, “how can I be as brilliant as you?” ” She asks elements of nature how to be pretty, cool, refreshing like them—but they show her how awesome she is in her own way.

It’s a book about self-love. I have struggled with self-esteem since my childhood, and in that sense Kari is really just me. For many years of my life, I isolated myself in this quiet state of ‘feeling blue’ which often felt like a cocoon—dim and comfortable. I realized that to be an artist, to say what I had to say, I couldn’t be stuck in a rut for the rest of my life, and I decided to take certain steps to transform from this larval stage. Mental health is an integral part of my story, and without empathy and love, I wouldn’t have come this far.

I thought of what it would be like to create a world completely stripped of worldly objects to express the raw emptiness of what Kari was feeling within. There are essential objects in the first and last spreads of the book drawn with a minimal style, but the only other ‘objects’ throughout the book are nature’s gems—celestial objects, the ocean, flowers, and trees. Everything becomes alive and colorful as Kari embarks on this journey of self-love.

Kari’s story was selected to be showcased in the acclaimed Senior Thesis Show by SVA’s Illustration Department, which was a huge sign of recognition that my efforts to express honesty had certainly paid off.

Arrushi, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I proudly come from the city of Kolkata, India. As a young, hopeless literary romantic, I found endless inspiration in the sensory beauty of Kolkata—the mustard-yellow taxis, the symphony of street vendors, my mother’s vibrant sarees, my father’s early morning worship rituals, and the warmth of home-cooked meals. Today, I am inspired by my adopted home in New York: its tree-lined Brooklyn streets, bustling subways, intimate and quirky cafés, and the booming pulse of Manhattan’s galleries and museums. Kolkata was a character of its own, and if any other city could match its peculiar beauty, it would be New York.

Unlike many artists who discovered drawing early, I consider myself a late bloomer. As a child, I was not one to scribble on walls or sketch in the margins of notebooks. My early artistic training from elementary to middle school, though disciplined, felt restrictive, emphasizing imitation over imagination. So, I found an expression in words. People seemed to like my writing—and I wanted to be a writer. Writing eventually found its way into my art—across canvases, papers, wood, and screens.

My first artistic love was graphic design—not for its technical rules or typographic precision, but for its power to communicate stories with bold simplicity. My early design portfolio was primarily composed of fine art pieces. During my freshman year in college, I began merging design with storytelling. I wanted to create work that was both expressive and visually disciplined.
For the first year and a half at SVA, I was trained as a designer, but eventually found myself drawn back to the organic fluidity of illustration. I graduated this May with a BFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York, and accepted an offer to join the Summer Internship Program at Macmillan Audio as a Design Intern. A lot of changes were happening, and it was quite surreal.

I am now an illustrator and designer with an emphasis on picture books. Tell me to fit myself in a metaphorical box—and I won’t! My design training informs my approach to visual hierarchy, clarity, and composition—these qualities lend my work its color, rhythm, and boldness. I focus on creating colorful, quirky, emotionally resonant illustrations while I engage my audience in a dialogue between humor and introspection.

Whether in the pages of my picture books or the slides of my carousel comics, I believe every story is worth telling—if told in the right way. I also believe in the X-factor that makes or breaks any artwork—sure, design principles are essential to constructing a strong image, but my magic ingredient will always be my own voice. What sets me apart as a creative is having empathy and kindness as a key part of my practice. I have gained so much clarity since I’ve opened my heart to positivity and possibility. I pride myself on my organizational skills now. I also think it is extremely important to be reliable, and I like to provide a sense of stability to my clients to let them know I can and will deliver.

I’m actively looking for work and collaborations in the art world. I have a diverse background, so I have worked with a diversity of client needs. I am building my portfolio to be a picture book designer and illustrator. The idea of bringing a story to life with pictures is what got me here in the first place. My dream collaboration right now would be a mural—my style uses bold shapes and colors, so I wonder how it would look on a bigger scale and what challenges I would face while making a mural. If you are looking for a versatile illustrator with a solid knowledge of color and composition, I would love to collaborate! You can reach out to me via my professional email: [email protected]. Alternatively, feel free to view my website, which contains my contact information at www.arrushi.work

Thank you for coming with me on my journey thus far. I hope you will stay for the exciting things to come!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Certainly. In this economy, there can never be too many resources. I wish I had learned about some job boards earlier. The NYFA Job Board helped me out immensely in my search for creative opportunities to bolster my presence. I also like taking advantage of local public libraries and The Internet Archive as a resource to advance my knowledge of fields I am interested in—a good book or a film, if not an addition to your art, can be a great companion. Maintaining an optimized social media account for your business and an active LinkedIn is important. I also undervalued the importance of networking, so that is something I take seriously now—which is why I deeply appreciate the opportunity to be featured on CanvasRebel Magazine. I would also recommend reading books for creatives, such as ‘The Dark Art of Pricing’ by my favorite letterer, Jessica Hische. Seriously life-changing.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

The world needs to realize that our society’s evolution hinges upon creativity. I personally support local small businesses and creatives much more than already established organizations, not only because it is more fair and just, but also because emerging creatives like myself often have a unique and authentic voice that only adds to their pieces. Creative work is work! Pay your artists the fees that both parties have mutually agreed upon. I agree that exposure can be great for an artist, but earning a livelihood through the arts is often difficult and more urgent than that. More often than not, professionals also have sliding scales for clients with limited budgets. I also believe that everyone has a creative niche—it could be anything from culinary arts to experimental coding. The best way to appreciate the value of someone’s work is sometimes by putting yourself in their shoes. Invest in creative work to make the world a better, kinder place.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.arrushi.work
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_poetato_/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arrushichakraborty/