Internet cheers Kerala artist Sohan VK, who sketches candid portraits of strangers he encounters in everyday life

Sohan VK
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Sohan VK’s Instagram posts are inundated with messages of love and positivity. Here’s why. Over the past seven months, the Kozhikode-based artist has been sketching portraits of strangers he encounters in daily life and gifting the art works to them. He then posts a video of their reaction on his Instagram page. His posts get hundreds of likes and shares, but Sohan’s takeaway is the joy he sees on his subject’s face when he or she gets a least-expected portrait.

The portrait of a police man by Sohan VK
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

He prefers to sketch the people who tend to go “unnoticed” — an auto driver, a tea seller, a shop attendant, a corporation worker, a security guard, a traffic cop, or a lottery-ticket seller….

“Some are so engrossed in their duty, they don’t realise that it is their portrait when I give it to them,” says Sohan. “It takes a while… but then they break into a smile… that is so heartwarming. That is my reward,” says Sohan.

The portrait of a priest by Sohan VK
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

He has sketched over 100 people so far. When asked to pick out one person whose reaction left an indelible impression, Sohan says it has to be a priest whom he sees almost every evening on the road beside his office at Eranhipalam. “He goes on an evening walk, with an umbrella in his hand. There is always an air of calmness about him,” he adds. Sohan clicked a picture of the priest and sketched it later. The next day, he waited for him to come and walked up to him to hand over the portrait. “I will never forget the way his face lit up when he saw the portrait,” Sohan says.

A portrait by Sohan
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Same with a young shop assistant at a supermarket — a migrant worker. When Sohan gave her the portrait, she seemed overwhelmed at first, but showed her colleagues the portrait, smiling all the while.

Sohan says he does not expect anything from them, but there are people who give him return gifts, like a street vendor, who quietly thrust a paper bag full of jamun fruits into his hands as a note of thanks. Some others ask him if they can keep the portraits. “People love these videos for their feel-good factor. Judging by the comments I get, there is so much negativity on the internet, a video on making a stranger smile is a welcome relief,” explains Sohan. The video of a banana chips maker he posted on Instagram garnered 21 million views.

Sohan sketches live, but at times takes a photograph and sketches it later. He prefers to use blue ink after a pencil outline. He takes videos of himself sketching and of him handing over the portrait to the subjects. He then edits it and posts it on his social media handles. The creative director of an adversting company, Sohan sketches after work hours. A Pathanamthitta native, he studied at the Calicut School of Fine Arts. Though he prefers sketching, Sohan paints using watercolour and acrylic as well. “Sketching is my passion and when it puts a smile on someone’s face, it makes me happy,” he says.

He often gets portrait requests on his social media handles. @artofsohanofficial on Instagram and YouTube.