Creating portraits on a typewriter
A C Gurumurthy has exhibited ‘typortraits’ of leaders like MGR & Robert Kennedy
At a time when even in government departments, thetypewriter has given way for the computer, A C Gurumurthy, a 65-year-old banker, is keeping the legacy of the humble typewriter alive, using the machine to make “Typortraits.”
A 40-year-old Halda typewriter welcomes visitors to the residence of Gurumurthy in Ulsoor. That andportraits of famous personalities sketched not with a pencil or in oils, but made on his typewriter… while using only one letter at that.
Being professionally trained in typewriting, he can type close to 90 letters per minute, but creating art is something else, he says. He secured the third rank in Karnataka in the senior grade typewriting examination in 1968. A former employee of Bank of Baroda, he has created close to 45 works of art so far, but his favourite remains Shilabalika that took him close to one week. Other portraits that he likes include that of Rajiv Gandhi and M G Ramachandran. A portrait takes him around two-and-a-half hours to make.
“Throughout my service in the bank, I have had exhibitions of my art in the city and different places in Maharashtra. I opted for voluntary retirement in 2001 to take it up full time,” he said.
The technique he employs is to first conceptualise the portrait, then make a rough sketch of it on a white paper, making faint outlines with a pencil. This sheet is then fed into the typewriter and the portrait is typed out. He moves the typewriter character horizontally and vertically in a left-to-right movement. Light and dark shades are obtained by applying varying pressure on the key and leaving a lot of blank spaces. Special and stunning effects for eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth are achieved by retyping. As the typed strokes are non-erasable, even a slight mistake can be disastrous, he says. Until now, he has made only black-and-white portraits using Indian ink and tinted them with colours. “I want to soon make my first colour portrait of our prime minister Narendra Modi,” he added.
Gurumurthy’s love for antiques does not stop at the typewriter. Besides the Halda, a 50-year-old Remington typewriter, a pinhole camera and twin reflector camera also adorn his house. An avid wildlife photographer and artist, he has produced close to 130 paintings.
At a time when even in government departments, the
A 40-year-old Halda typewriter welcomes visitors to the residence of Gurumurthy in Ulsoor. That and
His latest masterpiece is that of late Dr A P J Abdul Kalam made while typing just the letter x. It is then that one realises the wonders this ‘obsolete’ machine can create if used skilfully. Of the skill, self-trained artist Gurumurthy who has been performing this art for the past 47 years says, “My first portrait was of Robert Kennedy on the day of his assassination. I finished it off in a span of two hours. After that, there was no looking back. I wanted to take this art form to the next level by making portraits of famous personalities using the typewriter.”
Being professionally trained in typewriting, he can type close to 90 letters per minute, but creating art is something else, he says. He secured the third rank in Karnataka in the senior grade typewriting examination in 1968. A former employee of Bank of Baroda, he has created close to 45 works of art so far, but his favourite remains Shilabalika that took him close to one week. Other portraits that he likes include that of Rajiv Gandhi and M G Ramachandran. A portrait takes him around two-and-a-half hours to make.
“Throughout my service in the bank, I have had exhibitions of my art in the city and different places in Maharashtra. I opted for voluntary retirement in 2001 to take it up full time,” he said.
The technique he employs is to first conceptualise the portrait, then make a rough sketch of it on a white paper, making faint outlines with a pencil. This sheet is then fed into the typewriter and the portrait is typed out. He moves the typewriter character horizontally and vertically in a left-to-right movement. Light and dark shades are obtained by applying varying pressure on the key and leaving a lot of blank spaces. Special and stunning effects for eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth are achieved by retyping. As the typed strokes are non-erasable, even a slight mistake can be disastrous, he says. Until now, he has made only black-and-white portraits using Indian ink and tinted them with colours. “I want to soon make my first colour portrait of our prime minister Narendra Modi,” he added.
Gurumurthy’s love for antiques does not stop at the typewriter. Besides the Halda, a 50-year-old Remington typewriter, a pinhole camera and twin reflector camera also adorn his house. An avid wildlife photographer and artist, he has produced close to 130 paintings.
