Anura Wijewardena is regarded as an exceptional pictures story illustrator in Sri Lanka. In the field of journalism he has distinguished himself as one of the best picture story illustrators.
Born in Kelaniya on March 14, 1937, Anura had his education at Dharmaloka college, Kelaniya. Having completed the diploma course in Arts at the college of Fine Arts, Anura was trained under Kalasuri G.S. Fernando.
It is G. S. Fernando who introduced Anura to D. B. Dhanapala who was the Editor in Chief of the Lankadeepa Newspaper.
Dhanapala had invited Anura to do illustrations for the ' Vanitha Vitti." Anura joined Lake House in 1972 and worked uninterrupted as a brilliant illustrator until his retirement in 2005.
Significantly, it is Anura who plays the pioneering role of the Sri Lanka's flagship picture story publication titled " Sathuta" published by Lake House.
He designed the logo and the front page for the "Sathuta" publication. Many picture stories created by the legendary artist Anura Wijewardena like "Pulli", "Sena", Robin Hood and Andhakara Rathriya" had delighted fans of all ages.
Surprisingly, the film " Kele Kella" had been based on one of his series of picture stories. True that Anura paved the way for a remarkable change in the picture story art. However the era in which we enjoyed picture stories is no more. Already, we have embarked on a digital era in which we can give visual aspects to our own imaginations. Indeed it is magical!
Charith Wijewardena' s graphic novel Obviously, Anura has passed the baton to his son Charith to embellish the picture story art of Sri Lanka. Charith who hails from an artistic family has laid the foundation for graphic novel concept in Sri Lanka. Moreover, he has followed in his father's footsteps and worked for Lake House for more than two decades. Currently, he lives in Australia and has started his own graphic designing company. Significantly, Charith is the prestige member of the South Australian Illustrators Association.
A Viking adventure story
Graphic novel titled "Deshatana" created by Charith launched yesterday at Surasa Book Shop (Fast Publishers Pvt), Maradana.
Anyone can get more details by visiting the FaceBook page CW Comics. As noted by Charith, Prem Disanayake should deserve credits for organising the event.
Speaking of the graphic novel, it comes in an attractive full colour print. No doubt that the pictures and graphics will captivate your eyes so that you will not take your eyes off its pages. The graphic novel provides two stories and a separate section for anyone to learn the tips for drawing comics.
Undoubtedly, those interested in drawing comics will find the book to be precious and useful. Needless to say that readers will realise the rich potential found to be within the pages of Deshatana. Indeed, this graphic novel can be a powerful exploration of the depth of storytelling.
Charith Wijewardena's son Megha Wijewardena has brought reputation to the country by becoming the Australia’s only Junior Ambassador to National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA).
The name Megha has been derived from the most popular picture story series created by the legendary artist Anura Wijewardena