(Top) Wasim at work; some of his illustrations. Pictures by Aranya Sen

Who: Wasim Helal, a 24-year-old artist, illustrator and graphic designer who graduated from the Indian College of Art and Draughtsmanship, Rabindra Bharati University, in 2007. Wasim is not just qualified on paper, but can back that up with a body of work remarkable for a 20-something fresh out of college.

Why: Wasim has been a freelancing illustrator with Sandesh over the past year. As a first-year student in 2004, Wasim was also art director for Satabarsher Aloke, an exhibition organised by the Rotary International District 3290, celebrating 100 years of Rotary In Action.

He has also illustrated the covers for books published by the Indo Hispanic Library, Calcutta, that were brought out for the 2006 Book Fair, which include Marife (based on the works of Maria Fernanda Santiago Bolanos, who inaugurated the event) and Cuentos de Espana by A.R. Almodovar.

How: Wasim attributes his love for the easel to an art competition held in his school Patha Bhavan when he was in Class VI. “I remember drawing my art teacher sitting at his desk in front of me, while others around me drew landscapes. I won that art competition,” he grins. Which is what taught him an important lesson in life. “It taught me that you need not always do what other people are doing just because it seems right. Do what you are doing, well,” he says.

Style: “I like bringing to life a character. For any story that I illustrate, I try to bring out the character’s mood, choices, emotions, feelings, background and history,” he says with conviction. His style depends on what the story requires. So he uses everything — watercolours, line drawings, collages — to serve his purpose.

Influences: He sticks close to home. He loves the work of Purnenda Patri, Satyajit Ray, Pratul Bandyopadhyay, Subroto Gangopadhyay and Debashis Deb, so much so that he dreams about making a documentary on them. “I think that their work is truly world-class,” he says. Christopher Shy’s art work for Pathfinder, a graphic novel by Laeta Kalogridis, is also another favourite of his.

Up next: There are dreams galore. Closest to his heart is working on a graphic novel. Or doing artwork for Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s historical romances. “Maybe I could invent a totally new art form. Not a graphic novel. Not a comic book. Something unique,” he smiles.