Hobby becomes a full-time career

Akshara Ashok (22)aB Arch graduate, is a well-known comic creator who is famous for her 'Happy Fluff Comics'. In 2017, she started making comics to cope up with the monotony of her college life. What started as a hobby, became a full time career as a freelance illustrator.

Chennai-based Akshara' comic stories are based on her real-life experiences and things that she keenly observes in every day life.

She says, "It's thesimplicity,the most important factor in the things we all go through in our everyday things we all love but most people don't realise this. 'Happy Fluff Comics' wasn't really planned else I would've chosen a better name. I just needed a username to start with comics and I thought I will change it later but by then my work blew up a bit. Now I really like the name. I am an introvert, I don't have many friends. I find it really hard to get out of my shell so 'Happy Fluff Comics' is a platform where I can voice out my opinions and act silly which I don't really do in real life."

However technology is redefining art in strange, new ways. She says, "Technology has played a major role in my growth."She found that digital art is easier as she says she is a clumsy person and when she worked with traditional art she tend to mess up and had no patience.

She says, "I usually deal with breaking taboos and talking about things people generally shy away. Making serious posts might rub people the wrong way but when you deliver it as a joke people get the message without feeling attacked. I talk about mental health, issues faced by women, LGBTQ etc."

Akshara is a self-taught artist, she never went to art school or art classes even as a child.

She says,In the beginning,it was hard on my parents to understand what I was doing because I was talking about things that were considered to be private matters. I don't understand why people shy away from talking on things like periods, sex, mental health and even pooping, there is nothing to be ashamed of. All these are a big part of our life and it's okay to discuss it."

Sarah Andersen tops her list of comics. Her comics are simple yet has a huge impact on the reader. She believes that if you're a creator on social media you will receive criticism and hate at some point and one should be ready to face it.

She says thatshe gets hate because she talks about things that people just don't think it should be talked about. Initially she used to get upset over it and she used to fight back but you can't really fight them all.

About her plans she says, "I am on a tiny break after graduating, just catching up on a few pending projects so nothing at the moment. My ultimate dream project would be to start a merch store which I have been putting off for a long time and also do some charity work in the future."