Anoop Bhat is an architect and a freelance illustrator currently based in Bangalore, India. Born in Mangalore, he studied at Sir J. J. College of Architecture, Bombay. He works primarily in pen and ink and creates illustrations for gig posters, album covers and t-shirts for bands. 

He is currently exhibiting some of his work across venues in the UK as a part of the ‘Self Help’ art tour, a traveling exhibition put on by Cats and Bats – an art collective from Hereford, UK.

Why are you an Illustrator?
I have been drawing since a very young age, so that’s been there. I was decent at it and I didn’t have plans as such to make anything out of it. It did get me interested in design, so I chose architecture. I thought architecture was all-inclusive in a very mother-of-all-arts sort of a way – meaning, I knew I wanted to get into design but I didn’t want to restrict myself to say, graphic design or product design. Architecture allowed me to dabble in a bit of everything, including illustration.

If I had to pin-point a particular instance, it would be when I started listening to the kind of music that I listen to – heavily distorted, guitar-based music. It introduced me to a whole bunch of stuff – art, literature, history and of course, more experimental music. That’s what set off my interest in the relationship between art and music, their inter-dependence and the sub-cultures they’ve spawned together. I just wanted to be a part of it somehow and contribute to it in whatever little way that I could. I was pretty terrible with playing any instrument (still am) but I was decent at drawing things – so I said that’s it. That’s how it began really and it is why I’m still at it – to actively contribute to this sub-culture that I identify with.
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