Artist Spotlight: Tahsin
In today’s world of arts and crafts, contemporary art is known to be the most fast-paced form of art, from the perspective of evolution and diversification. This non-sedentary mode is somewhat gifted by the millennials and Gen Zs, who are known to be the greatest torchbearers of this form of art. It’s quite a delight to see the young generation of our country doing their part in the “art of today”. Thanks to the magical world of Instagram, it has become way easier than before, for us to come across these artists and their magnificent creations. Tahsin is one of our most important Insta-discoveries and so is her art. She plays with different tools and on different mediums to concoct awe-inspiring artworks. Her art account Sharakkhon Art is embellished with the miscellany of her drawings, paintings, and sketches which not only induce wonder but also intrigues us to learn about the person behind all these a little bit more. This feature is our attempt to know the artist Tahsin, as well as the person Tahsin, and let her fans and our readers know too!
Content Editor: Rifah Nawar
IG handle: @parchmentstains
Q. Tell us a little about your creative journey, how and when did it spark a start?
I’ve been drawing since I could lift a pencil. My enthusiasm for art made my parents get me admitted to this art school where they made us draw mangoes and all the fruits only. (For no reason whatsoever!).
I got frustrated and left it. I was five then. And then when I was probably eight I went to another art school where they made us learn anatomy but then the teachers were rude and I left it. Then I changed art schools and I went to Charupath and I stuck around there until I changed schools in 8th grade. I was busy then and couldn’t paint.
The reason why I’m telling this whole art school journey is that despite the fact I went to so many of them, I wasn’t actively learning a lot in the first ones. At Charupath I at least felt like I was drawing. But I could say I wasn’t being creative with the tools I have or even openly expressing.
It was at 11th grade that when exam pressure, the pressure of the future and if I would make it to a public university tolled in that I would utilize that pressure to create art. When I couldn’t cram in chemical equations or finish up calculus, I would bring out the sketchbook then and drew whatever I could. It was my space to let free of my troubles. I opened my art account that is still there in 2016. But I wouldn’t upload much, not knowing what I should be doing so it was inactive until I got into my first year of university. I was creating more. At pandemic was when I started frequently uploading, and seeing people love my art more, I was trying to learn more and improve. So I ventured into more mediums and unique styles of portraying things.
So the spark that everyone talks of, I would say it was already there, dormant inside me. I didn’t know how to express it, didn’t know that if I painted for myself it would feel that good, or whether it would be liked by anyone. But I would definitely say when the pressure of getting into university was fixed, I was a lot more relaxed and I could paint more, and without any guilt. But university is another pressure, too. So I’ve learned to create more under any circumstance, cause creating art is really want I love to do.
We bet many of our readers on the creative side would be able to relate to the overall experience that Tahsin had to go through – starting from the initial stage. However, it definitely feels inspiring to see where she has reached today, and this feeling must be left with our readers reading this! “The struggle that you’re in today is developing the strength that you need tomorrow” – Tahsin’s journey is the true reflection of this quote.
Q. What are your indispensable tools and materials for painting and illustration?
I love creating with my watercolors and acrylics! Lately, I’ve been into gouache and trying to learn how to paint with them. I was into charcoal and sketching more but I’ve been painting with all colors now. Last year I bought a Wacom tablet on a whim and it was the best decision of my life. I’m greatly into digital art now and learning ways to get better at it. For a person who used to not like the idea of creating digitally, I’m creating more of it nowadays (though, in all fairness, traditional art medium is still my favorite).
Sharakkhon Art is lauded in the Instagram community for the rich variation in its arts. The florid finery that is existent in each of her posts is immensely pleasing to the eye. At the same time, the mélange of her different art modes insinuates her being an expert in this particular field.
Q. Where do you look for inspiration?
Would it be corny to say that I find inspiration everywhere? I love interpreting everyday occurrences as inspiration. Also, I’ve been living in the city where I’m currently at for the entirety of my life and have done my school, college, and now, university here too. So I really want to move as soon as my university degree is over. So I love painting different places, visiting there and at some point, drawing how I want to escape. I love drawing feelings of various kinds too. As an architecture major student, I love drawing buildings! I’ve had a fascination for drawing buildings since I even got into university, so I try to implement drawing buildings, facades, or anything related to architecture in my paintings.
No, it doesn’t sound corny at all! Rather than being minions from the world of arts and crafts as well, we truly understand how inspiration can evoke from a random object to a momentary thought.
Q. Do you have any plan on pursuing a career in this field?
As I said, I’m already majoring in Architecture and I do want to pursue my career in it. But, it’s true that I want to do something in the fields of arts too. In the case of my career, I can be quite ambitious, but my mind can be a flitting mess (due to the fact I’m super indecisive in many cases).
Tahsin is really good at whatever she does although we are a bit biased about her artsy being. So it would be a major loss on our part if she ceases this activity of hers someday. Hence, we’d wish that Tahsin’s indecisive self meets the decisive one someday through her art journey.
Q. Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years? Do you have a vision?
Honestly, the coronavirus situation has made us wary of the future, but if I’m a tad bit optimistic enough, I do want to see myself making amazing art, and working somewhere I really love. I want to have done a lot of memorable artworks, and I want to publish something with my art. And I really want to make a solid name of myself in art (or something that might placate me) and even, a small step towards working in the fields of architecture. Also, definitely not be staying where I’m currently living now. I want to be in a totally different city, living differently.
Tahsin has already started taking small steps towards her big dreams, and we are more than glad to be a part of the audience that sees every step of it. We hope that these little steps may turn into long strides someday and may she achieve everything that she wishes to!
Q. Among all the things you create, what is your most favorite piece of art?
Tough question, cause I can be a very harsh critique to myself. So I wouldn’t say I have my most favorite pieces. Though I loved painting on a pair of jeans I had, and I wish I dabbled more into painting in fabrics. Also, I loved doing this painting of wave’s right after the pandemic hit, so it helped me calm my nerves. After I started doing digital art, I did Inktober 2020 digitally with a twist. One of the prompts was music. So I incorporated a few of my favorite albums in a music shop with the backdrop of 500 days of summer scene of summer and tom there and drew it. It’s one of my favorite works ever.
We have featured quite a few artists before Tahsin and all of them stumbled at answering this question! As all of their creations are their favorite to them, it’s always hard to pick one. So when we learned Tahsin’s answer, we were caught in surprise, to be honest. But we guess this self-censoring nature of her helps to attain the expertise that she desires to, at the very end of the day. As for the piece of art she has mentioned, we’re equal fans of this particular art consisting of our favorite movie characters, Tom and Summer!
Q. Other than illustration and painting, what other hobbies do you have?
I love journaling! I wouldn’t say I’m very meticulous at it, but I love doing it. I’m currently trying to finish an art journal/scrapbook of a sort. I’m into baking and making brownies. I recently got a kalimba so I’m learning some songs there. I tried picking up the guitar but I didn’t have the patience to learn. I also love making playlists of all sorts of music and even reading a book or two (haven’t been reading a lot these days but I still try to).
After learning about all these hobbies of Tahsin, we are wondering how much of a heterogeneous lifestyle-oriented person this girl must be to have such a diversified list of hobbies and side activities!
Q. Do you have any special piece of work that holds a good memory?
Recently, I did a cover art for the Sylhet Special Issue of Shout, the youth magazine of Daily Star. It’s been amazing to see my art on a cover of an important newspaper in Bangladesh, and it has been something memorable thus far.
That’s a memorable cover for us too. The majority of the people know Sylhet only as of the land of tea. Thanks to Tahsin, people have been able to discover the other heritage of this wonderful place and learn about them visually.
Q. What is your advice to newbie artists?
Loving what you create is important. I’ve seen that if you paint something that you don’t even remotely like, it will just make your day worse. Also drawing something every day or frequently is better than not drawing anything at all. Even if your doodles look hideous, it’s still good to keep sketching up! It’s practice after all. Andohmy gosh, likes. This is still an issue that I can’t shake off, it’s that likes on Instagram/Facebook/social media can be a toxic thing to yearn for. Algorithms are always changing, so it’s better to have a steady head knowing, likes won’t be abundance, but it’s the passion for creating that’s important.
These are the best advice that any novice could get who’s thinking of starting afresh or getting back to that old hobby again! Who else would better understand the emphasis on consistency than us! But most of the time, people become late to realize this. However seeing Tahsin so well rooted about this part of art and preaching to others as well, that too at her early 20s, really makes us proud of her. Oftentimes, it becomes hard to learn about a creative mind by just going through their art. That’s why it’s more than a delight for us to have interviewed her because through this, we have not only been able to have a better understanding about the tidbits of a creative mind but also we’ve come to know the person Tahsin, who’s an absolute sweetheart. We wish her all the best in every approach that she takes to materialize her dreams.
Don’t forget to head over to Tahsin’s artworks’ social media accounts and check out her amazing arts! Show some love and support while you’re there.
