Vinayak Varma
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eyefry.bsky.social
Vinayak Varma
@eyefry.bsky.social
950 followers 750 following 780 posts
Writer-illustrator, BSFA and CWSS finalist, lapsed magazine editor and craft beer branding guy, design prof., music nerd, cat wrangler, tragic anti-hero.

#createdontscrape #humanart #illustrator #kidlit #SFF #music #design

www.mixtape.in
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eyefry.bsky.social
Watch out, strange cat people.
A chonky Indian Billi cat lying upside-down inside a clawed-up cardboard box and staring meaningfully into camera, as if to say, "You're next, buster."
August 7, 2025 at 9:51 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
Cute.
Amazon product listed as "slim knife for kitchen use" with a caption that says "superior cutability." The product photo shows a butterfly knife.
July 29, 2025 at 10:53 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
It used to be vibrators re-labelled as neck and face massagers — a clever workaround to address a real need in a highly conservative market. Now they're listing deadly weapons (which are quite illegal to own here in India) as kitchen and office accessories. Who's buying this stuff, and why??
Amazon product listing for what's described as a "stainless steel bottle opener," whereas the product photo clearly shows a knuckle duster. The image includes bold text that says "Usage scenario," accompanied by three thumbnail images with captions for "Travel," "Mountain climbing," and "Camp." An Amazon listing for a "kitchen / utility knife for kitchen, home and office use." The product image, however, is of a karambit with a deadly double-edged, curved blade. An Amazon listing described as a kitchen knife, with a product photo showing a tactical Bowie knife. Amazon listing for a knife meant for "fruit cutting, vegetable prep & kitchen utility," while the accompanying image shows a hand holding what looks like a Japanese tanto knife, with an extended thumb pushing the blade out from its sheath. These knives were traditionally used both for combat and ritual suicide.
July 29, 2025 at 10:43 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
My cat might be the one thing keeping me sane in these mad times. His very existence seems wondrous and hilarious and absurd in this resolutely unfluffy world. Good and bad things have a tendency to coexist here, boss. Man-made horrors are abundant, sure, but so are cats. Let them be.
Fluffy white and brown cat curled up asleep at my feet on the couch while the TV plays in the background.
July 27, 2025 at 9:33 PM
eyefry.bsky.social
I cleared out all the crap from under him and now he's like this. I'm not sure if this stare means gratitude or accusation.

#catsky
Monkey, a brown-and-white short-haired cat, stares cutely into camera while lying on a grey couch with his chin plonked on the armrest.
July 23, 2025 at 4:57 PM
eyefry.bsky.social
Here's your weekly timeline-scrubber Monkey—

#catsky
Monkey, a moderately chonky, brown-and-white, short-haired cat with an easy smile and big eyes, lounges like the chillest of chill dudes (which he most certainly is not) atop a small hill of books and parcels piled on a grey armchair. He is leaning against a large, green cushion, and his little butt is shoved up against a white paper bag displaying the logo for "Geist Brewing Co." This scene is lit by warm light falling from a low lamp behind the armchair.
July 23, 2025 at 4:28 PM
eyefry.bsky.social
These too. I don't remember owning a lot else that was contemporary. Mostly older stuff + some random Now That's What I Call Music and MTV Unplugged compilation tapes.
The album cover for "Mezzanine" by Massive Attack The album cover for "Stunt" by Barenaked Ladies The album cover for "Garage Inc." by Metallica The album cover for "Garbage Version 2.0"
July 22, 2025 at 9:10 PM
eyefry.bsky.social
I don't know about "perfect," but I did have these on tape, and they certainly entertained me at the time.

...

What perfect albums came out when you were 16?*

*No retroactive cool, please. Albums that were in the house that you actively purchased and listened to.
The album cover for "U2: The Best of 1980 - 1990" The album cover for "Phil Collins ...Hits" The album cover for "The Masterplan" by Oasis The album cover for "Black Sabbath: Reunion"
July 22, 2025 at 9:10 PM
eyefry.bsky.social
This doesn't bode well.
A screenshot from David Cronenberg's "Crimes of the Future," showing a pale and ill-looking Viggo Mortenson suspended from the ceiling in a bed shaped like some strange tentacled deep sea creature.
July 22, 2025 at 7:26 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
You've inherited a movie theatre, what's your first double feature?

Barton Fink and Shadow of the Vampire, because movies are full of wonder and poetry, but the business of making movies is a soul-eating mindfuck.
A poster for the film Barton Fink, showing a blue-tinted John Turturro in the foreground, looking into the far distance, and a red-tinted John Goodman looking menacingly from the background, surrounded by flames. A poster for the film Shadow of the Vampire, with John Malkovich's hopeful face in the foreground and Willem Dafoe as Count Orlok looking menacingly from the background.
July 21, 2025 at 5:13 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
QRP with your wing art 🪽🪶

#art
An illustrated spread from my picture book "The Sunshower Song," showing two jackals looking up at several birds of all colours fly above them. The accompanying text is as follows: "And that," she said, "was when the birds arrived." "At last!" "Black birds, blue birds, red birds and yellow. Big birds and small. They swooped, flitted and fluttered around us, showering us with feathers. And they sang! Oh, how they sang! They sang the song of the rushing wind, the song of sunlight at dawn, and the song of rain. Then they sang all their songs at once, weaving and pressing them, one into the other, until it was a single cold-hot melody." "The sunshower song!"
July 19, 2025 at 2:37 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
Missing this little furball (and home).
A somewhat chonky brown-and-white, short-haired cat loafing on a chair and slow-blinking at me.
June 21, 2025 at 10:43 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
Tired? Nothing a few well-placed leeches can't cure.
A screenshot from "Blackadder" in which the character Edmund Blackadder is seen standing somewhat uncomfortably behind a white board that displays a drawing of a human torso with a bunch of arrows on it and the title "Principal Leech Points," while an Elizabethan-era leech doctor bends over the board and points at one of the arrows.
June 15, 2025 at 5:45 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
Monkey says hey.
A white and brown cat chilling on a lounge chair and looking coyly into the camera, with bookshelves and records in the background.
June 14, 2025 at 12:18 PM
eyefry.bsky.social
And some fishies in a driveway—
May 11, 2025 at 6:11 PM
eyefry.bsky.social
...and somehow dealing.
A red and green tonga sits next to a portrait of Ida Scudder under a tinned lean-to roof. The building abutting it has closed doors and a sign that says "Heritage Center." A beautiful tree with yellow flowers stands between an under-construction building draped in green tarpaulin and a grey hospital building. Hundreds of folded up wheelchairs stacked up under a semi-open-air shed. A sign right up front says "Vices."
May 11, 2025 at 6:11 PM
eyefry.bsky.social
Wheeling...
An abandoned wheelchair sits in front of an old building with a little enclosed garden in front of it. The arm of a big yellow digger machine — it says "ACE 12XW" on the left, and on the right is a "drishti" face that's typically drawn to ward off bad luck. This one has white facial hair and is smoking a cheroot. Part of a yellow digger machine with an aruvaal / machete painted on its arm, seen in front of a grey building. The circular garden with trees and flowering bushes in front of the main CMC hospital building (seen in the far background, topped with a cross). In the foreground is a sign that says "No Horn: Hospital Zone."
May 11, 2025 at 6:11 PM
eyefry.bsky.social
HUMAN ARTISTS, use only one piece to convince people to follow you

[ #ArtShare ]
An alternate book cover illustration for Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Seas," in which a gender-swapped Captain Nemo is shown saving a pearl diver off the lush coast of Ceylon, with the Nautilus seen in the far background. The text above says "Vingt Mille Lieues Sous Les Mers," with the author's name at the bottom of the cover.
May 9, 2025 at 11:30 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
just CMC things
An old run-down building with exposed plumbing is seen through the glass of an open window across the street. Another street full of people, reflected on the window glass, is superimposed onto the side of the building like Pepper's Ghost, making it look like both real and reflected images are on the same visual plane. Two parallel buildings with bridges connecting each of their floors, set against a clear evening sky. The bridges are covered in a framework of rusty metal scaffolding, and the top-most bridge has a large blue sign with a word cloud on it: it says "Integrity" in bold lettering right in the middle, surrounded by translations of the word in five Indian languages. The top corner of a building as seen from the street below, against a light blue sky, with the orange of the setting sun falling on the right of the building. Suspended from the top of the building is a man in dark clothing, spraying a top floor window with a high-powered water hose. A bird flies above him, away from the light. A grid of security guards, lit by street lamps, assembled in formation to sing a hymn together before starting their evening shift. They're all in blue uniforms, and are seen from an opposite window two floors above through a netted window. Behind them is an old grey building, and to their right is a yellow bus.
April 28, 2025 at 5:52 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
I'm having a hell of a morning.
Screenshot of my Bluesky profile page, with my current follower count of 666 encircled in red.
April 27, 2025 at 3:17 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
More images from the "Manvinder's Medu Vada," written by Riddhi Maniar Doda and illustrated by Vinayak Varma (me!), published by Duckbill (Penguin India). Out now wherever you get your books.
A page from "Manvinder's Medu Vada" (Duckbill Books), written by Riddhi Maniar Doda and illustrated by Vinayak Varma. The illustration shows an elderly Sikh man reading a recipe book while blurry fantasy images of vadas float around him. The text on the page is as follows: 'Dadaji loved cooking. He checked the recipe. Then he washed and soaked the urad dal. After a few hours, he ground the batter with rice powder and a pinch of salt.' An illustration of a young Sikh boy taking a bite out of a vada, while a brown dog hungrily sniffs the air. From "Manvinder's Medu Vada" (Duckbill Books), written by Riddhi Maniar Doda and illustrated by Vinayak Varma.
April 27, 2025 at 2:59 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
New book! "Manvinder's Medu Vada," written by Riddhi Maniar Doda, illustrated by me, and published by Duckbill Books (Penguin India) is out now at all stores.

I haven't illustrated for kids since before the pandemic, so this was a fun relapse. Big ups to Sayoni Basu, who commissioned this.

#kidlit
Book cover for "Manvinder's Medu Vada" (Duckbill Books), written by Riddhi Maniar Doda and illustrated by Vinayak Varma. The illustration on the front shows a young Sikh boy and a little dog with their heads sticking through the hole of a giant vada (a crispy fried doughnut-shaped south indian lentil snack). Illustrated splash page showing a young Sikh man in a yellow shirt and blue turban smiling and thinking, while lots of plates of South Indian breakfast foods swirl around his head. From "Manvinder's Medu Vada" (Duckbill Books), written by Riddhi Maniar Doda and illustrated by Vinayak Varma. Illustrations of a blue-turbaned elderly Sikh man rinsing a bowl of lentils, then blending it in a food processor. The face of a hungry dog with his drooly tongue sticking out is reflected on the side of the mixie. From "Manvinder's Medu Vada" (Duckbill Books), written by Riddhi Maniar Doda and illustrated by Vinayak Varma. An illustration of a smiling Indian woman in a green sari frying vadas in a steel kadai / cheena chatti / work, while a young Sikh boy in a red t-shirt and yellow patka watches with a happy grin. From "Manvinder's Medu Vada" (Duckbill Books), written by Riddhi Maniar Doda and illustrated by Vinayak Varma.
April 27, 2025 at 2:49 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
This is some A-grade IAS exam level bullshit
Google result explaining the meaning of the made-up saying "Life is like a mini tiffin combo." The hard truth, however, is that the only way life is like a mini tiffin combo is that there's never enough coconut chutney and the dosa is invariably soggy.
April 24, 2025 at 5:12 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
This one's true, though.
A lengthy Google search result for the made-up idiom "A vampire's breath is worse than his bite," with a complete breakdown of why the phrase is used, with subheadings like "Vampire's breath vs. bite" and "Humorous contrast."
April 24, 2025 at 5:01 AM
eyefry.bsky.social
If you see this, post a dragon!
A simple, cartoony illustration of a cute, grinning, dog-like, blue-green, fire-breathing dragon with her tongue out, flying through a cloudy night sky across a big full moon. (I sketched this one many years ago to help promote a kidlit site, and I did so under a Creative Commons license, so feel free to reuse it. Just credit me :))
April 17, 2025 at 10:28 AM