Anand Rk

Anand Radhakrishnan, known professionally as Anand RK, is an Indian illustrator, visual artist and comics artist based in Mumbai. His works include the graphic novels Grafity's Wall and Blue in Green, the comic series Radio Apocalypse and Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma, and illustrated journalism for Bloomberg News.

In 2021, Radhakrishnan and colourist John Pearson won the Eisner Award for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art) for their work on Blue in Green. He was reported as the first Indian to receive an Eisner Award. In 2026, he shared the Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary with journalists Suparna Sharma and Natalie Obiko Pearson for the Bloomberg graphic story trAPPed.

He graduated from the Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art in 2011 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in applied art. He subsequently studied illustration for two years through The Art Department, an online art school. The institution closed before he could complete the final portfolio year of the programme.

Radhakrishnan and Ram V next created Blue in Green, a psychological horror graphic novel about a musician's pursuit of artistic achievement. Radhakrishnan developed a mixed-media approach combining pencil and acrylic work, which was digitally coloured by John Pearson. Its artwork received the 2021 Eisner Award for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist, jointly awarded to Radhakrishnan and Pearson. He has also produced cover artwork for publishers including Boom! Studios, 2000 AD, Tiny Onion and Image Comics.

trAPPed and the Pulitzer Prize

In April 2025, Radhakrishnan joined a Bloomberg investigation led by journalists Suparna Sharma and Natalie Obiko Pearson into “digital arrest” scams in India. The scams involve criminals impersonating law-enforcement officials and keeping victims under continuous surveillance through video calls while coercing them into transferring money. The work recounts how a neurologist was isolated and controlled through her telephone while scammers extracted her family's savings.

Artistic approach

Radhakrishnan has said that he does not attempt to maintain a single visual style across his work. He instead adapts his drawing methods, composition and choice of media to the tone and subject of each narrative. The exaggerated and colourful artwork of Grafity's Wall, for example, was intended to reflect its youthful characters and Mumbai setting, while the darker mixed-media treatment of Blue in Green was developed for themes involving grief, ambition, depression and artistic obsession.

His work combines traditional materials, including pencil, ink, acrylic and gouache, with digital colouring and production methods. For trAPPed, he adapted from fixed printed pages to an open-ended vertical format intended primarily for reading on smartphones.

Selected works

Black Mumba – cover art Grafity's Wall – artist and colourist; with Ram V, Irma Kniivila, Jason Wordie and Aditya Bidikar; expanded edition published by Dark Horse Comics, 2020 Blue in Green – artist; with Ram V and John Pearson; Image Comics, 2020 Radio Apocalypse – artist and cover artist; with Ram V; Vault Comics Ruin of Thieves – artist and colourist Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma – artist; with Ram V and Mike Spicer; DC Black Label, 2025 trAPPed – illustrator; with Suparna Sharma and Natalie Obiko Pearson; Bloomberg, 2025

Awards In 2021, Radhakrishnan and colourist John Pearson won the Eisner Award for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior Art) for Blue in Green. In 2026, Radhakrishnan shared the Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary with Suparna Sharma and Natalie Obiko Pearson for the Bloomberg graphic report trAPPed.