Ruwan Tharaswin's latest effort:

Swooning for cartoons

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

Not everyone has the same amount of artistic talent. It is in fact our varying levels of abilities that make us more unique. When it comes to sketching cartoons, it is a skill not everyone may have.

Ruwan Tharaswin was born with the talent. The well-known artist who is attached to ANCL's Dinamina Features section, launched his third book to the market recently.

Titled Nariyata Padamak (A Lesson for the Fox), the book is Tharaswin's second children's book. His first children's book, Ashva Biththarae (Horse Egg) was compiled a year back. The story, coupled with colourful illustrations, was done in Sinhala and English.

"I wrote the story in Sinhala while Malini Govinnage translated it into English. The illustrations in The Horse Egg won the Medal of Encouragement of the annual Noma Concours Children's Picture Book Illustration competition conducted by UNESCO, Japan, in 1990," Taraswin mused on his skills with the brush.

Taking a step further with his second children's book, Taraswin had included a Tamil translation to his latest work A Lesson for the Fox. Both books relate popular Sri Lankan folktales.

"I wished to present something of our own to the world. We come across folktales from around the world and are captivated by the amusement and wisdom intertwined into the storyline but we forget that we have equally entertaining folktales of our own. These have been verbally handed down from generation to generation but little had been done to preserve them," he noted.

Tharaswin began drawing for children since his days at popular children's magazine Mihira. That was in 1979. He notes that it is a difficult task drawing for children because they should be presented with the accurate drawings. "Children are curious about the world around them. They take note of minute details. I follow photographs to get the details right when I sketch animals and natural objects. I never dress the animals in clothes although they do perform certain tasks that humans engage in. These are done to fit the storyline," the old boy of Ananda College said.

Taraswin's first book Vismitha Cartoon Lokaya (Amazing World of Cartoons) concerns the history of cartoons. He had sketched a variety of pocket cartoons for Silumina, Tharuni, Sarasaviya, Saturday Magazine and Varamanjari while schooling.

"There was a trend for realistic art in the 1950s and 60s. Later cartoons became extremely popular. Children are more into cartoon illustrations rather than realistic art because comic art evokes amusement," he related adding that he shifts to abstract art forms when he has to do a sketch for a short story which will go in print in Dinamina.

"My techniques differ according to the age group and the genre. I do not engage in similar sketches when I do a drawing for a short story and a general feature article," he quipped.

He is currently working towards compiling his third children's book. The book will be named Monarage Anduma (Peacock's Outfit). He hopes to launch it next year.

A Lesson for the Fox had been translated into English by renowned journalist and writer Malini Govinnage while the Tamil version has been penned by Thinakaran journalist Arul Sathyanadan. A Lesson for the Fox, a Lake House Commercial Printing product, is available at all the leading bookstores in the country.

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