Interview with the artist: ish.casso
We met Ishita in London over… a card game. From there on, things sparked into an exciting gallery of pop culture icons transposed into paint by numbers art. If you’re as curious as we are about what goes on inside the mind of an artist, we’ve asked the burning questions for you. And if you’d like to borrow their brilliant mind for commissioned artwork, scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page.
Who is Ishita Mandal? The artist
Enchantia: We’re extremely excited to collaborate with such a young and passionate artist. Tell us a bit about yourself. Who is Ishita Mandal?
ish.casso: I have a very boring 9-to-5 job at a bank, but my 5-to-9 is quite interesting. I'm a classically trained Indian dancer—I’ve been dancing for 18 years and even have a bachelor's degree in it. I also love art, especially digital art. So if you were to ask who I am, I would say I’m a corporate worker, then a tech person, a dancer, and finally, an artist.
E: What exactly is the reason behind having so many creative passions? Is it a way of escaping the ordinary, the nine to five routine?
ish.casso: It's not that I hate my 9-to-5; at the end of the day, being an engineer does challenge me a lot. But at work, I use a lot of the analytical side of my brain. Outside of work, I get to explore my creative side. It gives me purpose. I’m always chasing some kind of collaboration or project to complete. A milestone to look forward to.
E: That sounds really lovely. So it's kind of like you're living a double life. You mentioned earlier being a digital artist. When did your career as an artist start?
ish.casso: Interestingly, my father was an artist. He still is, but he doesn't practice it anymore. Not properly at least. But he used to experiment a lot with oil and watercolor. As a kid I used to see his paintings around at my house and I would get very excited to try. So I started out with oil paints, then I got into acrylic painting…The hardest one was watercolor, but once I started exploring it, I got more confident and tried acrylic on canvas.
But then once that was completed, I figured: I’m in University; now is the time to try new things! So I started tutoring students and used that income to buy an iPad. Only then did I try out digital art, and I think that opened up a lot of possibilities for me. Not to say that the other art methods don't, but for me, digital art gives me a lot of freedom of not worrying about almost anything of the physical realm.
It allows me to explore every canvas, every paint, every brush. This happened when I was in college, so five years ago. I was about 18 years old.
Another reason why I got more passionate about digital art was because I had fractured my leg and I couldn't dance for eight months, so I figured I might as well do something with my free time.
Personalized faceless couple portrait created by Ishita from an original photo.
E: I’m sorry you went through that, but you found a way to still make it positive.
ish.casso: Yes, I was at university, in my third year. I couldn't go to any classes, I couldn't dance and I was just bedridden. So instead of feeling sorry for myself, I tried something new.
E: What was your initial reaction when you heard about the idea of turning your art into paint-by-numbers kits?
ish.casso: I was very excited about the idea, because I discovered Paint by numbers about a year ago. Since then, I think I have made around eight or nine big Paint by numbers canvases. And I even like diamond painting. Personally, I used to go to Amazon and order whatever I could see, but I would love to see my own art converted into Paint by numbers kits. I’ve always dreamed of that, but I never thought it was possible.
ish.casso: The Art.
E: Walk us through your creative process. What software do you use, and do you have any pre-digital habits like sketching with a pen and paper?
ish.casso: Before I got my iPad, I used to experiment with Adobe Illustrator but that was really difficult. When I got my iPad, that's when I actually grew more. I used this free app called Sketchbook, with all kinds of brushes and different layers. So let’s say I wanna sketch an artist or a person, I use a picture as the template and I get the outline done on one layer.
Then I do a very basic color base, without any detailing in it at all. Over that I create a layer where I start adding the details, but nothing too realistic, just to make it look a little more like the original picture. I keep experimenting here and there, playing around with whatever I think looks good.
I don't use physical at all, that's the best part about digital art. You can just upload a stencil of the picture on your iPad.
Ishita's custom faceless portrait art for friends.
E: There's often a debate about whether digital art is "real" art. What are your thoughts on this, and what do you think is the biggest misconception people have about digital art?
ish.casso: The reason why people say digital art is not real art is because it gives you a lot of chances to reverse mistakes, which physical art does not. I think it's also because a lot of digital art deals with simplicity, which is a big misconception.
Let's say you want to paint an intricate scenery or portrait. The amount of work and complexity needed in physical art is the same that you will need in digital art. There's no difference in that. The only difference is that with digital art you it's easier because you can erase things. But the detailing that goes into it is the same. The time that goes into it is the same.
The same principle can be applied for Paint by numbers. Depending on the amount of details, it could be VERY difficult. You can't make a mistake at all. And it’s a huge patience game, which is a very important aspect of art that people don't realize. Like, art is not just about creativity, it's a lot of patience, especially while you’re in the process of completing it. You’re not going to be satisfied with the artwork until it is completed.
E: Some people paint with others, some by themselves. Do you prefer to paint alone, or is it more of a social activity for you?
ish.casso: Oh, no. I'm a very, very solo painter. When I'm painting, everybody in my house knows not to come into my room.
Sometimes my brother will try to irritate me because he knows I get so into it, and tries to take the paint brush from me, to paint it himself.
I just scream at him and kick him out of my room.
*laughs*
E: Typical younger brother behavior… *laughing together*
Ish.casso: No, this is older brother. That's the funny part. Okay. *laughing even harder*
The message for paint-by-numbers lovers
Custom faceless portrait illustration of a group from an original photo, showcasing Ishita's personalized commission art.
E: Now your art will be once again transported from a screen to the canvas in a very different medium compared to the original. What do you hope people will feel or take away from the experience of painting one of your pieces?
ish.casso: Uh, I haven’t thought that deeply about it. When I go online and shop for paint by numbers, it just seems very… very generic work. When I make a digital portrait of an artist, I add my own style that I think shows their character more. So it's a lot more personalized. I want people to take away a unique piece converted to a paint by numbers.
E: What’s your top tip for paint by numbers lovers?
Ish.casso: Paint by numbers (and art in general) is a huge patience game. That's a very important aspect of art that people overlook. Like art is not just creativity, it's a lot of patience.
It's never going to look good while you do it. And that's my experience. Even digital art, it looks terrible while you’re working on it. So till the point where you complete it, you need to have that patience: say, okay, it's going to come out, it's going to come out, it's gonna look good. The same thing applies to paint by numbers. It looks absolutely terrible while you're painting it. It's only at the end that it comes out as a good picture. Yeah. You gotta trust the process.
A policy I use in life is fail fast, fail forward. Which basically means don't be scared to try it. If you fail, fail quickly, but you're failing forward, which means at the end of the day, you're moving forward from it.
E: So… is this a quote that exists already or did you come up with it? *giggle*
Ish.casso: Oh no, I didn't come up with it. *laughs* It was, it was someone who used to mentor me gave me this advice in general for life, but I also use it very strongly in my artistic work, even in dance, if I have to choreograph something, I instead of thinking “will this look good? Can I do it?” I just think: do it, fail at it, and then you fix it. So fail fast, fail forward.
But I don't really know who is the who to attribute this to. Probably my mentor *still giggling*.
E: I honestly think that a lot of your answers were really interesting. I think people will find a lot of value in this interview and your story.
ish.casso: Thank you. Thank you for being a good interviewer. It was fun talking to you.
Ishita’s story is a charming reminder that magic can be found in the most unexpected places—even right after your 9-to-5. Find yours in our new collection featuring her artwork:
ish.casso's Collection
Commission ish.casso’s artwork
Or if you’d like your own ish.casso design, fill the form below. Your custom artwork will be priced on a case by case basis (depending on your requirements) by the artist herself. For guidance, prices start at GBP 50.00 (USD 67.50).