For well-known figurative artist Jayantha Silva, receiving an e-mail about a cartoon competition seemed strange – he had never drawn a cartoon. Anyway, he decided to have a go at the Amateur Cartoon Competition organized by the American Centre. “I am the happy go lucky kind,” he smiles, “Which I suppose is a prerequisite for [...]

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The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

First foray into cartoons a winner

By Shaveen Jeewandara
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For well-known figurative artist Jayantha Silva, receiving an e-mail about a cartoon competition seemed strange – he had never drawn a cartoon. Anyway, he decided to have a go at the Amateur Cartoon Competition organized by the American Centre. “I am the happy go lucky kind,” he smiles, “Which I suppose is a prerequisite for any cartoonist, but other than that I’m just an artist trying his hand at cartoons.”

Jayantha Silva

Jayantha Silva won the cartoon competition held at the American Centre on October 16 held to coincide with the visit of world famous cartoonist for ‘The Economist’ magazine – Kevin ‘Kal’ Kallaugher. “The prospect of winning the competition was magnified tenfold because Kal was the one who judged it,” Mr. Silva says with pride, showing us a certificate with Kevin Kallaugher’s unmistakable squiggle KAL.

The theme of the competition was named ‘Seeing the other side’, asking entrants to look beyond what they would usually see and take a peek into the back-story of events. It took Mr. Silva almost two full days to come up with an idea. Eventually a purely coincidental dream, where he saw a politician addressing a rally, sparked an idea. “Having to work in the day-time, I usually stay up late finishing my paintings. Ideas do actually seep into your dreams when you’re sleepy,” he says. The winning idea was that of a burly politician speaking into a plethora of microphones with their wire-ends being flushed away. Mr. Silva tells us that this is the other side – political remarks only end up being flushed away, and even the supporters at rallies are aware of this. Everybody knows it, but nobody wants things to change, he smiles.

Kevin Kallaugher was impressed at the impact of the cartoon as well as the attention to detail between the intricately woven lead strokes. Emphasis to detail through subtle pencil strokes is imperative in drawing a standout cartoon, in his view. “Cartoon art is actually easier compared to figurative art, but they have their similarities. Both portray expressions. Expressions are what hit the viewers first,” says Mr. Silva adding that he feels cartoons have a greater impact, as they can be grasped in a matter of seconds. “The thing with cartoons is that you need to have a funny bone, and you need to think on your feet.”

Press & Information Officer of the U.S. Embassy for Sri Lanka Chris Elms said it was all about freedom of expression. “We wanted to let Sri Lanka’s cartoonists know that they too have a pedestal to show their talents, but the greater motive was to infuse the freedom of expression which sadly seems to have wavered under apprehension They say back in the States, a country can be judged on how they treat their cartoonists, for they are the ones who reveal the real picture to the public eye.”

Meanwhile Jayantha Silva is currently preparing for his latest figurative and classic art exhibition to be held at Gandhara on December 14 and 15.




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