“When I told my dad that I wanted to be an artist, I was also confronted by the response ‘Even I can draw’. Our parents’ generation did not think art could be pursued as a career; they saw it as a hobby,” says the 46-year-old Harun Robert, aka Rob, POGO’s M.A.D. famed artist as he talks about his journey through years of evolving art and platforms to portray it. He was only 24 when he started working for M.A.D., though he is still often recognised as the ‘POGO guy’, or ‘M.A.D. guy’, he says it does not bother him. Why? Because he does not want to break the connection he was able to build with people through his art, this is like every artist’s dream, he says. But the journey was not easy for him. Like any other middle-class family, his parents also wanted him to be a doctor. “I come from a science background and was preparing for medical exams. I had appeared for the art school entrance exam without telling my parents,” he shares. He eventually told his mother, who then told his father. It was a hard-to-swallow pill for everyone, but his father agreed to send him to art school, as an experiment or more like a “gap year”, he says. “He told me to do whatever I want for a year, then come back and give my medical exam again.” Well, the rest is history. While he did work with media houses, animation studios, and films, his breakthrough came from M.A.D., which he eventually hosted and directed till 2014. “I couldn’t memorise the lines by scriptwriters, because it was the art I created and understood. So, I could quote someone else for my own lines. This is when I started to design my lines based on my art. I follow the steps in art. So, if I were adding colour to something, I would go into colour theory. This is what a script writer could not understand.” The Same Nostalgia With New Things Eventually, he says, the show felt like it was running on autopilot mode, and so he switched to different platforms. While the switch was important, it was not the easiest. He started his YouTube channel, Mad Stuff With Rob, and Instagram account @artguyrob with 2.7 million followers. “Here, too, I followed the same pattern. Whatever I create and post has steps. Easy, medium, hard, and then the Big Picture. So while I followed the same storyline that I did when I was hosting M.A.D., I was not able to do more, and do it for myself,” he says. Of the many new things that he did, he started a series called Stone Card. It started with him taking his bike out, going the places not so well-known. He always carries a journal and a pouch with some markers and doodles things he sees. Sometimes, he clicks a photo, uses it as a reference and doodles along. The Stone Card series, too, started with a simple doodle with a black marker, and when he came home to edit, an idea hit him. “Why don’t I use a more environmentally friendly object, paint on it, leave it there, and give people a clue to find it. It will be like a little art treasure hunt,” he says. This became a hit! He found small smooth pebbles on which he would draw the local landscape, and people loved to hunt for them. His art was interactive. He did that again when he went for a shoot in Jaisalmer. After leaving M.A.D., he has built his identity, separate from that of the children’s artist, through brand deals and more. Art, he says, must be satisfying, and cannot always be just work. This is where series like Stone Card come in. Not Afraid To Explore New Themes Rob loves doodling, and wherever he goes, he doodles it. Whether it is his trip to Denmark, Hong Kong, or even his domestic trips. From one such trip from Amsterdam, he posted a scene from the Red Light District. On being asked whether it sometimes makes him nervous to post adult themes like erotica, since he has long been associated as a children’s artist, he says, “not really”. “Like my medium has shifted, so has my audience. I now cater to adults and young adults as my audience, but one thing that didn’t change is the way I document the process before revealing the final product. Even if I explore a different theme, I ensure there is no negative impact,” he says. And, rightly so, even if he was a children’s artist, those children have grown up too. So, if you were someone who grew up watching Rob’s work as a child and are still following his work, chances are, you are well into your teens and understand such concepts. What Is Art And What Isn’t Talking about exploring new themes, he also talks about his experience with AI. While working on a sneaker project with Ranbir Kapoor, Rob wanted the logo to have an essence of all the materials, including steel, moss and wood. For this look, he used AI to create 3-D models, while the entire backdrop was hand-drawn. He says, “AI should be used as an assistant and not as the creator of art itself.” While he understands that it also takes hours for prompts to perfectly produce the art one has imagined, he, however, draws the line here. “Art is a way to connect yourself and express yourself. It is a thought-provoking process. You imagine something, and you create it. Whereas with AI, sometimes your results do not match what you initially had in your mind. Another limitation is that with AI, it is always going to operate on stored data, whereas it is your human brain that is capable of creating something new and unique.” Art As Passion Vs Art As Work While Rob agrees that if you follow your passion as work, there could be moments of stress, but he has a way to beat it. “The key is to create a balance between art for work and art for passion,” he says. This is true for anything, he emphasises. Rob shares that during his initial shift from TV to social media, he realised his long breaks are now gone between the bi-weekly shows and shoots, and social media demanded constant content production. “If I didn’t post for a few days, I would get a message asking if I am okay. Then there’s an algorithm game.” So what he does now is he plans his content ahead of time and utilises the time to do something for his own self, most of which, he does not post online. He draws a line between art for self and art for work. Sometimes, in projects like Stone Cards, this line blurs. Art Reduces Stress And Anxiety Rob is a firm believer that art is an emotional journey, and whether it is through a TV show, his own YouTube channel or Instagram posts, his aim stays the same – to help people start this journey for themselves. Even when you are not the most creative, you too can pick up a pen and start doodling. Even before you know, your hands will move swiftly on the paper. You do not even need a copy; simply take a napkin and doodle. If you feel too shy to doodle, you can always start with colouring. “Colours tell a lot about your mood and how you feel. You may notice that for three days straight you are using a particular colour more than any other colour, this might be because you are feeling a certain way and you associate that feeling with that particular colour.” This is especially helpful for those who have long work hours, as a way to release their stress. And for those wondering if we would ever see Rob back with a show, that might need to wait, but he does have something exciting and more interactive up his sleeve. Till then, keep doodling, colouring and ‘observing and absorbing’, also Rob’s mantra! And keep the artist in you alive!