Rajiv Eipe
Rajiv Eipe makes picture books, comics, and short animation films. He collaborates frequently with the writer C. G. Salamander, and some of the series they’ve worked on together are the Maithili and the Minotaur graphic novels, the Lost Creatures Picture Books, and the Nisha Small middle grade novels. In 2020, he was awarded the Parag Big Little Book Award for illustration for his contribution to children’s literature in India. He lives in Bangalore, India, with his family consisting of two cats, one dog, and one (other) human. He likes to doodle in his sketchbook, drink more coffee than he should, maintain an untidy workspace, and gaze into vacant space at regular intervals.
What was your favorite book as a child?
Mr. Clumsy by Roger Hargreaves. And a bunch of comics—Funny World, Detective Moochwala, and Gardhab Das, in a children’s magazine called Target, published in India in the 80s and 90s. I wasn’t a very good reader as a child, and images were a way into books for me. Looking back, it’s pretty incredible that a green blob with a yellow circle for a nose and a few strands of hair sprouting out of the top of his head and from under his nose can so vividly represent a character that you feel for and laugh along with.
What do you love to do for fun?
I love the outdoors and live in a city with a temperate climate and lots of great short hikes. I’m also an amateur birder, and will find time a couple of days a week to grab a pair of binocs and walk around a park or city forest near home (while silently muttering curses at people who wear bright colours and talk loudly inside a forest).
Awards and honors:
The Big Little Book Award for Illustration 2020 by the Parag Initiative of Tata Trusts for contribution to Children’s Literature in India
Binod Kanoria Early Readers Award 2024 for Hello Sun
Mehlli Gobhai Award for Illustration 2022 for Chitty: A Dog and her Forest Farm
Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Picture Book Illustration Award 2022 for Dugga
Binod Kanoria Illustration Award 2022 for Dugga
The Hindu Young World Good Books Award for Illustration 2019 for Ammachi’s Amazing Machines
Creative Process:
Making rough drawings in sketchbooks or on loose sheets of paper is a way of thinking for me—my small brain can hold only so much. So every project or idea generally starts like this, with sketchy pencil drawings, whether I’m collaborating with a writer and responding to a manuscript, or working alone. I love the character design process and spend lots of time doodling many variations of a design till I find what feels like a good fit. I find it somewhat difficult and constricting to draw directly on a computer, so it’s usually pencil on (cheap) paper, but i often add colours digitally, especially on projects with short timelines. I’ve noticed that as images move towards completion, they lose some of the energy of initial sketches, so i’ve been making an effort to retain some of the freeness and looseness of rough drawings. I’m generally ‘drawn’ to silliness in stories and characters, and try and find inspiration for drawings from the sights and sounds of my immediate surroundings.
Location:
Bangalore, India
Mediums:
Pencil, Inks, crayons, colour pencils, mixed media, digital
Specialties:
Published books:
Dugga (Pratham Books, 2021)
Maithili and the Minotaur: Web of Woe (Puffin India, 2021)
Nisha Small: The Knot of Gold (Duckbill PRH 2022)
Maithili and the Minotaur: Forest of Forgotten Fears (Puffin India, 2022)
Hello Sun (Pratham Books, 2022)
How to Reach Mars and Other (Im)Possible Things (Puffin India, 2023)
When Fairyland Lost Its Magic (Harper Collins Children India, 2023)
Ajay of Agumbe and the Signal Snake (Pratham Books, 2024)
Nisha Small: The Strand of Silver (Duckbill PRH 2024)
Maithili and the Minotaur: Dolls of Despair (Puffin India, 2024)
The Pangolin Protectors (Pratham Books, 2025)
Song of the Asunam (Harper Collins Children India, 2025)
Forthcoming books:
Prabir’s New Flute (Duckbill PRH 2025)
Maithili and the Minotaur: Isle of Insanity (Puffin India, 2026)
Aalais like the Hills (Harper Collins Children India, 2026)
Available for School Visits:
No
Visit Rajiv at:
Published Books
