He draws, teaches and he's only 9!

Arjun Mittal is just 9 years old.
A self taught artist, he has uploaded close to 100 sketching tutorials on his YouTube channel so he can help kids like him draw their favourite characters at home!

How much time would a nine year old take to draw a dragon on paper?

5 minutes? 2 minutes? At least a minute?

Well, Arjun Mittal, who studies in Grade 4 at the Oberoi International school in Jogeshwari, north west Mumbai, showed us that he could doodle a dragon in less than 10 seconds!

"You can do it too," the self-taught artist who has posted close to 100 videos all by himself on his YouTube channel -- Drawing with Juni -- confidently tells Divya Nair/Rediff.com.

Arjun started creating these videos during the lockdown because he loves to draw and wanted to share his art with his friends.

In every video that he uploads, Arjun, who follows Mattias Adolfson (an artiste-influencer who believes that 'the more you draw from reality, the more you'll be able to draw from your imagination,') takes us step by step through the process, so he can help kids like him recreate their favourite fictional characters from scratch.

His very first video -- 'Cat in a Suit' -- uploaded in May 2020, has garnered over 200 views. And he has over 800 posts on his Instagram page 'Juni Draws'.

Although Arjun is not a professionally trained artist, his impressive collection of sketches is as unique as his creative mind.

From superheroes in the Marvel universe to mythical beasts, villains, zombies and dinosaurs, Arjun likes to challenge his imagination every day.

"I like (drawing) monsters, 'cause they are funny. I spend 20 to 30 minutes every day recording these videos. I have not thought about it (monetising the channel). I just share it (the videos) with my friends and family," says the budding artiste who dreams he could meet Jack Sparrow and show him his artwork someday, especially, the Mandalorian.

Want to know how Arjun records his own videos from home?

While most students his age are fussing over online school, Arjun, who is comfortable talking to the camera/computer screen, is in no mood to go back to those classroom days.

"Online school is more fun," he insists. "The time I save going to school, I spend playing video games. I get to read more books, play the piano. Occasionally, I also cook," he tells us.

Some of his favourite books include Bad Guys (by Aaron Babley), which he says is a "funny book about crooks who become good guys;" Tom Gates' series (by Liz Pichon) -- "about a normal boy who goes to school every day" and Dog Man -- a story about a cop who has a dog's head."

Does Arjun like superheroes who wear capes and save the town? Or does he like monsters, zombies and dinosaurs with ugly teeth?

Wait, do you think he'd know what a zombie is? Check out his response in the video below!

With his rare imagination and talent, we won't be surprised if Arjun becomes a YouTube sensation soon.

Want to watch more of Arjun's videos? You can check them out here!