We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Arundhati Pethe. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Arundhati below.

Arundhati, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I have always been an artistic kid in my classes. Doodling in my sketchbook, drawing comics, and making my classmates laugh have always motivated me. Every time, I have tried to excel in capturing the lighter moments of daily life. I have gifted caricatures to my professors after long lectures, which have made them smile, and this has always felt like a small successful adventure. While growing up, I watched many animated movies that motivated me to channel my inner creativity in various ways. My liking for art inspired me to pursue architecture as a teenager. That might concur with a typical Indian thought process. During my architecture journey, I realized that my love for animation is still not entirely buried under the burden of buildings! The uniqueness of this medium drew me towards it, and I ultimately decided to be a visual development artist. I applied to SCAD as an animation major to follow my passion and ended up in the United States to fulfill my dreams. Trying to improve my skill as an artist is still a daily challenge for me!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As mentioned earlier, I was in an architecture school for my undergrad degree. The field I chose is considered very creative, but after a while, I realized how technically based it is. I used to make small comics and doodles in my class, and one day one of my professors noticed them. As much as he wanted to pursue an animation career, he couldn’t so, but he highly encouraged me to look into it. As I was posting my artwork on social media, an employee from the Ecosan service center reached out to me and offered to work as an illustrator on the books they were publishing for awareness regarding hygiene and menstrual hygiene among young kids. My confidence in my work increased and I started doing more freelancing work. Along with my architecture studies, I started practicing my art and researching graduate programs related to my interests. After discovering the profession of Vis Dev artist, I decided that I wanted to work in this field and started my journey at SCAD. My work mostly consists of character designs as well as environment designs. I am still learning a lot and trying to be better each day!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I was offered to work on a project as an illustrator for a children’s book about cricket. Since I didn’t know how much to charge, I did some research and asked for the desired amount. Because I am a student and this will be excellent exposure for me, the author agreed to pay me half of what I requested. He also promised to credit me. I did 20 full-page colored illustrations with many iterations and cover pages. I added my name as an illustrator to the cover, and the author told me not to as it is paid work. He doesn’t want my name on it. In our discussion, I pointed out that I was working for less money as he promised me exposure. I also pointed out that removing my name from the credits would be the opposite. He said that he had put it in my contract that I don’t own title rights so he won’t be doing so. I was crushed and disappointed in myself for not reading and understanding it before. My parents consoled me and told me it was a learning experience and taught me how some people are in the world. They might try to steal the credit and I should not be so trusting. I reached out to my favorite illustrator and got a response from her on what to do to avoid these situations in the future. It was a big learning experience and helped me with my future projects. I started making my contract before starting the project.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I would say the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is satisfaction! Work and assignments don’t feel like work or burdens. Creativity has no limits. Coming up with new concepts is always exciting! My parents always encouraged me to follow my passion and pursue what makes me happy. Being an artist makes me happy. I worked in an architecture firm for six months. I can easily say that those were the hardest months. I didn’t like the work I was doing. It all felt so mechanical and repetitive. I was depressed and realized that this is not what I want to do in the future which changed my career path. After finishing every project and artwork, I feel fulfilled. I consider myself lucky to pursue my dreams with my family and friends!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://arundhatipethe.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arundhatipethe/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arundhati-pethe-905a0117b/

Image Credits
Image credit: Arundhati Pethe