Narrating stories through illustrations
Allen Shaw is a Berlin based Indian artist, illustrator and a storyteller. He was born in Bihar. He spent a couple of years at St. Stephens College, Delhi before quitting and joining the National Institute of design, Ahmedabad, from where he graduated in Communication Design, specialising in Animation Filmmaking. He is The Old Drifter on Instagram.
The task of telling stories of common life around him are the subjects of his work. He narrates the stories from his lived experiences and real people. Few stories from his childhood include ‘Toffee wala Dada’, ‘Abraham’. As an illustrator, he believes that when looking for stories one does not have to look very far away but close to themselves. He enjoys telling stories from his perspective without any modifications.
In his brief time at St. At Stephen’s College in Delhi, Shaw was contacted by Aditya Pratap Dev, a scholar, a Historian and a Maharaj of Kanker to design the book cover of his book called ‘Kings, Spirits and Memory in Central India’. For Shaw his water colour box is his window to the world. He tries to strike a balance between what is available to him as technology and what he would do. His work includes many selfie paintings loaded with information. These selfies are rich in perspectives from different corners. Allen looks at sketching like fishing where one goes fishing every day and sketching every day but might catch a goldfish one day. Sketching is meditative to him. He loves people-watching in the marketplace. Painting postcards sufficiently funds his trips abroad thus recovering the money used to travel.
Sketchbooks hold a special place in Shaw’s heart as a part of one’s life is recorded there. Fishes hold a special place in Shaw’s life and use Fish-eye view in his paintings. His fascination with storytelling reflects in his paintings where he merges real experiences with fictional ones. Sculptures in Erlangen had been his friends, the only company which did not discriminate against him and provided comfort. The city mayor’s request had led Shaw to paint the sculptors as the symbol of Erlangan in New Year’s Greetings. The greeting card won him the honour along with veterans who had contributed to the construction of those sculptures. His sketchbooks are his passport to the world.
Allen has also tried his hand at painting with coffee at Bicycle Fair and his cards were sold out. He has been doing the poster illustrations for the bicycle market for the last six years in Berlin every year. Another bicycle company from an NGO called Tino in Switzerland to make posters of the same kind. Bicycle fairs have taken him to various places on his old bicycle. ‘Dilwale Chacha’, ‘Ahmedabad Chacha’ are some of his bicycle sketches from India. He had the opportunity to meet the ambassador at Indian Embassy London and demand to display his work in the embassy. Recipes by aunts and restaurant menus are other places which have been explored by Shaw as an illustrator and storyteller.
Milestones in his career include designing covers for twenty five Harper Collins books on the 25th Anniversary of HarperCollins, a poetry book with Gulzaar Saab where the background has been designed by his daughter Duniya. A big book under Iktara Publication called ‘Tigress’ which can be shared by many children together. Allen is of the view that an illustrator has to have passion and love for their work. He believes that one does not have to be an illustrator to tell their stories. Fond of sketching in a cafe, he observes many stories unfolding there. A frequent traveller, he has been to many countries and has documented them well without fail. He starts all his design work with a workbook, a plan to do the work. He loves sketching anything and everything. He enjoys imagining the thoughts of people while sketching them.