By Dimithri Wijesinghe
Sachi Ediriweera, @route345art on Twitter, has been making waves once again with his most recent work – his fan art inspired by the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2020 logos.
The artwork has since received an overwhelmingly positive response, with it getting retweeted by Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs Namal Rajapaksa, the official team accounts, and the official LPL social media accounts as well.
We reached out to Sachi about his new piece and he took us through his thinking and how he approached the artwork.
He shared: “I got the idea of creating an artwork after seeing all the team logos. The LPL team logos drew a fair amount of criticism for valid reasons and I wondered if there was a way to visually unify them in a poster-type artwork. That’s how I got started.
“Initially, I was unsure about working with so many visual elements that were inconsistent because that meant I had to balance all the colours and shapes. I spent a fair bit of time conceptualising the layout, seeing what worked and what didn’t.”
He added: “Symmetry is a running theme in my work and it was the reason I used the elephant from the Kandy Tuskers team on top and then the Gladiator and Viking against each other on the bottom. In the end, I think having a clear creative direction helped with the piece that I ended up with.”
Sachi is no stranger to his artwork gaining viral status, with his “TinTin in Sri Lanka” becoming an internet sensation, getting most Lankans excited about what’s next from Sachi.
We asked about whether he had expected his new work to go viral yet again, and he said that while he was expecting a certain level of interaction, these things are never something you can predict. “I was expecting a certain level of reaction as many of those who follow my work online were LPL fans as well. I guess no one expected to see the team logos interpreted like this and since it unified them, it was just embraced by everyone. Around an hour after uploading the artwork on my social media channels, I knew this one was going to be different and I was right. Since then, the artwork has become one of my most popular pieces this year,” he said.
He shared that as an artist, it’s a great feeling because it lets one know that what they’ve made has resonated with an audience, “which is one of the toughest aspects of being a working artist in my opinion” he said, adding also that on the other hand, it helps one reach new audiences across the country or world, depending on what they’ve made.
We also asked Sachi about his thoughts on fan art in general, and the role it plays in the cultural zeitgeist, in response to which he shared that he feels that fan art is a vital part of pop culture, as it redefines the creator-audience relationship in a unique and personal way. Unlike a review or feedback note, there’s more heart to it when an artist decides to pick their pencil up and draw a character from a TV show or movie they love. He also added: “In fact, certain fandoms have entire artistic communities dedicated to them and it has helped such shows/movies become more popular.
“Almost all major IP (intellectual property) holders in the world, may it be Disney or Warner Bros (who own Marvel and DC Comics, respectively) endorse fan art to a certain extent. They allow artists to sell fan interpretations of their characters at comic conventions and in turn, it has become a promotion tool for them. It doesn’t even need to be a piece of art that was drawn – even a cosplay or a fan-made short film would fall under this,” said Sachi, adding also that it allows these organisations to spot new talent so they could recruit them. He said that there are countless artists who got their first DC or Marvel comic book gigs after editors or a writer sees their work and decides to work with them.
There used to be a time when, if you wanted to work with these big companies, you had to go to a convention in person – mostly in the US. Nowadays, however, if you make a really good piece of fan art and it gets seen by the right people, you have a chance of getting hired no matter where in the world you are. That’s the beauty of fan art and social media.
On a closing note, we also asked Sachi about his affinity to creating pieces inspired by Sri Lanka and whether there is an element of staying connected to home, as he is a Lankan living away from his motherland, and he said while that’s a part of it for sure, there is more to it.
“I enjoy the idea of being inspired by Sri Lankan elements – to create art which can reach international audiences. Whenever I scroll through my social media feeds, I get to see art from all over the world – the US, Europe, India, Japan, and so on. So there are times I just wonder, wouldn’t it be cool to see a Sri Lankan version of this or that.
“And I must be clear, I’m not the only one in Sri Lanka who thinks like this. Unlike the rest of the world, and even compared to the rest of the countries in South Asia, the digital artist talent pool in Sri Lanka is quite small. We pretty much know each other and most of us have this drive to get our work seen by a global audience. That’s not a bad thing to have,” said Sachi.
About ‘ERIK’ – Sachi’s four-page short comic
“For those out of the loop, ERIK is a four-page fan comic I made about Magneto. There’s actually a story behind why I made that comic. Back when the pandemic had just hit the US, the primary distributor for comic books announced that they would be halting book distribution for a while. This meant that no new DC, Marvel, Image, or any monthly comic book title would be available in a store. It was the first time in decades that something like that had happened. You have to understand – purchasing monthly comic books is almost a ritual there. It’s how the superheroes we love, the Batmen and the Spider-Men, became popular in the first place.
“The first week with no new comic books went by. A lot of shops and readers were affected by this of course. It was an industry-wide disruption no one had foreseen. So, knowing that there won’t be new comics the following week either, I thought, why don’t I just make a short Marvel fan comic and upload it. So that’s what I did. I choose the X-Men character Magneto and created a four-page comic. I uploaded it on Twitter on a Wednesday, which is usually the day new comics are released in stores (also known as NCBD, New Comic Book Day). And then, it just took off. The comic got featured on Newsarama, was shared by industry professionals, it also opened a few doors, and so on. It was a fun experience for sure.
“Again, it’s a great example of doing fan art and making use of the avenues available – as a fan, you get to give back to the community. And as an artist, you get to reach new audiences. In the end, it tends to be a win-win for all,” Sachi concluded.
