Artist Namboothiri, the master illustrator, no more

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Namboothiri, the master illustrator known for his unique line sketches, died in the early hours of Friday, family sources said. He was 98. Popularly known as Artist Namboothiri among his admirers, he had been one of the most prolific literary illustrators in the country for decades. Besides line sketches, he was also known for his amusing paintings, sculptures and art direction in movies. Namboothiri's end came at a private hospital in nearby Kottakkal at 12.20 am while undergoing treatment for age-related ailments, his family said. During his several-decades-long career, Namboothiri illustrated many popular characters for literary publications in the state. The distinctive line sketches, which he drew for the characters of doyens of Malayalam literature like Jnanpith laureates M T Vasudevan Nair, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai and S K Pottakkad and legends like Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, were as popular as their literary works. On the illustration of the characters of his well-known work 'Randamoozham' which was based on the epic Mahabharata, an impressed MT even said that the readers saw in the book not his Bhima but that of Namboothiri's.

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His illustrations left an indelible imprint in the minds of readers of renowned writers like VKN (Vadakkke Koottala Narayanankutty Nair), who had once described Namboothiri as the 'Paramashivan' of line sketches. There is even a usage in Malayalam that goes: «It is as beautiful as a Namboothiri sketch.» Born in 1925 in Kerala's Ponnani, Namboothiri entered the world of painting and sculpture in his childhood, influenced by the sculptures at a temple near his house. A disciple of renowned artist K C S