Karishma Siddique Roy is no stranger to the fountain pen community. In a short time, she has carved a niche for herself that is unique and remarkable. She is someone who is painting the canvas of the fountain pen world with her vivid colours, one sketch at a time. The woman has had several articles published about her in leading English dailies. Her sketches, drawn only using fountain pens, are artwork now. To top it off, she founded a sustainable fashion brand to address the importance of minimalism in the field. My God, from a woman to a woman, she is a Rockstar!

I had the pleasure of meeting her in a women-exclusive fountain pen meet at the Sulekha Factory in Kolkata. From what I could understand, she is well-read, well-dressed, and well-equipped with stationery all the time! In one interaction, I understood that with great talent comes great humility. What I found most fascinating was the postcard that she gave me. It had some of her sketches on one side and a one-line message on the other. My point is, she is a powerhouse of creativity who can never fail to amaze you!      

This time, her artwork got selected in the 93rd & 94th Annual All India Art Exhibition, 2022. The event is to be held at the All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society, New Delhi from 31^st March to 13^th April. It is a dream come true for any art enthusiast. Though, after a short communication with Karishma, she said, “I never really expected this, a friend suggested I put my entry into the exhibition, and everything else just followed smoothly. Having started sketching only after the pandemic, I did not think my artwork would be recognized this soon.”

Interestingly, it was Karishma who introduced Kaagazi’s Kavya to the fountain pen community. Ever since she started sketching, Kaagazi notebooks have been an indispensable part of her paraphernalia.

In her earlier interviews, Karishma has expressed her delight over the fountain pen’s community response to her sketches. “It gives me immense joy to see a community engaging in my artwork and thanking me for touching the fondest of their memories.”

When Karishma started posting her artwork in fountain pen groups, people were instantly drawn to her sketches. There are very few people in the community who have such good control over their fountain pens. On one hand, where people struggle to maintain uniform handwriting while using a fountain pen, Karishma draws extremely intricate meaningful sketches with these very writing instruments! All her characters are her ode to legends and can be identified with one look. What’s even more phenomenal is the fact that she has not been doing this for decades, she has reached this stature in just 2 years.

All this brings us to her selected artwork that is the foundation of this story. In early January’22, she entered her freehand fountain pen sketch, titled, ‘The Creative Spirit’,  for the exhibition. She had entered it in the category ‘Drawing’ and her inspiration was one of her favourite things about her beloved city – Kolkata. A place that has plenty of raw artistic talent, a place that gives the people a reason to be happy – Kumortuli.

She says, “ I wanted to capture the act of creation through an act of creation as it were, and Kumortuli simply abounds and astounds in that respect.”  

Pen: Pilot (Namiki Falcon)

Ink: Iroshizuku Takesumi

Paper: Midori notepad

Just as a picture is worth a thousand words, her sketch has the power to invoke thousands of emotions in the minds of every onlooker. Let her sketch do the magic, let our hearts feel the magic.

You can follow Karishma here:

https://instagram.com/potteraits?utm_medium=copy_link