Quintessential Indian Villager

After Maya, here comes the Aaya.:)   [old lady]

This reminds me of people living in remote villages in India. During peak summer, people have to really travel long distances to get some potable water. That said, it feels really good to finish this sketch after  2years.

I used 3B and 6B pencils for this sketch.

Reference:

1. Pencil Shading – Basic techniques, Ravi Raj

Light and Shade – 1st Blogversary

This day last year, I started this blog to channelize my focus on sketching. Its been quite a journey so far. To be very honest I really didnt think the blog would survive beyond 3 months. But the encouragement and support from friends  and the response from other people in general has been overwhelming.  I feel like writing a lot about the year long sketching journey …probably will do that sometime soon. .maybe dedicate an entire page for this . Grad school is keeping me on my toes.. got series of midterms in the following weeks..

A word on this sketch “Light and Shade” . I personally think the timing couldnt have been better to post this sketch today as this totally describes what my blog is all about ..Light and Shade.  A simple cup, spoon and table salt container are used for illustration.

It feels good to know there are handful of people following my work and checking it periodically. Thankyou all, people,  for your support and encouragement.

P.S: I took a photograph of my sketch instead of scanning it, hence less clarity.

Ref:

1. Pencil Shading – Basic techniques, Ravi Raj

Flowers – cheers

And here comes my 50th post. I think this is a small but a significant something achievement for me. Therefore I am giving myself couple of flowers to celebrate the occasion.:):)

Ref:

1. Pencil Shading – Basic techniques, Ravi Raj

Tanjore Big Temple

I wanted to try something different this time. Hence Architecture.  I was browsing the net in search of good temple pics to draw. All that I had in mind was to do something simple to get a feel of it and then maybe at a later point of time do a detailed sketch. To test waters, I thought this pic was the right choice. The idea of superimposing Brihadeeswarar temple on an engraved stone  from the same temple was superb. Only while doing this did I realize the importance of paper texture,  to give the feel of stone. I have did what is possible within my limitations.

Here is a neat pic on the evolution of tamil script. Check this out to find which century did the letters found on the sketch above belong to..:)

Ref:

1. Picture courtesy – Sathiyan – http://www.flickr.com/photos/yessathiyan/3832129337/

2. Tamil script evolution picture – http://www.flickr.com/photos/anoopp/3515493170/sizes/m/

Dumped..Discarded…Deserted….

Here is another quickie.  It was a lot of fun sketching this car. I didnt have to go into the details but covered just enough ground to give the feel.

Ref:

1. Pencil Drawing Techniques, David Lewis

Rose is a rose is a rose

“A Rose is a rose is a rose” -

This is a line from Gertrude Stein’s poem, Sacred Emily.

It basically means what matters is what something is and not what it is called…. With this meaning in mind, its roots go way back to shakespeare’s romeo and julliet, where he says

‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.’

Ref:

1. Pencil Shading- Basic Techniques, Raviraj

The Black Beauty

When I listened to the song “Aval appadi onrum azhagillai” from the movie, Angadi Theru I liked it instantly. I thought the song had amazing lyrics. Generally lyricists in tamil cinema when talking abt love, romance, they heap laurels on the gal. This one was an exception. The poet (Naa.Muthukumar)  talks about his lady love, her superficial beauty in the first line and then in the second , he talks about beauty from within and so goes the song. I wanted to represent the song (atleast the first few lines) in a sketch and hence this one.

The songs first line begins by saying she isnt beautiful, so I didnt want to sketch a face and say this one aint beautiful. That would be a sin of sorts . Hence just the gals background. For the simple lyrics, here is a simple rustic gal.

“Aval appadi onrum azhagillai

Avalluku yaarum ennaiyillai

aval appadi onrum colourillai

aanal adhu oru kuraiyillai

aval peridhai yedhuvum padikavillai

avallai padithey mudikavillai

aval uduthum udaigal pidikavillai

irundhum gavanika marukkavillai”

Here is the translation of the above lyrics.

“She isnt that beautiful,

But her beauty is unparallaled

She doesnt have a fair complexion

But that doesnt bother me.

She isnt that well educated [not good at studies]

But I havent finished studying her.

I dont particularly like her choice of clothes

But I dont fail to notice her though.”

Ref:

Pencil Shading- Basic techniques, RaviRaj

Shirdi Sai Baba – Shanta Rasa

This portrait of Shri Baba has been by far the most time consuming one that I have ever done.  I wanted this portrait as my 50th post but  just couldnt wait for another 7 more posts.  This is my first sketch that I did from a photo.  Personally I think this sketch has taken me to the next level, sketching from photographs. To give a personal touch,  I wrote my parents name on his ‘jeba maalai’.

For a long time now, I have been thinking how to complete my theme ‘navarasas’ with 2 more rasas to go.  With this sketch, I am checking off ‘Shanta rasa’ from my list..Karuna rasa still remains, will take care of that later.

“Shanta is serenity and peace. It represents the state of calm and unruffled repose that is marked simply by the lack of all other rasas. Because all emotions are absent in Shanta there is controversy whether it is a rasa at all.  Shanta represents complete harmony between the mind, body and the universe. Sages in India meditate for entire lifetimes to attain this state. In music it is often represented through a steady and slow tempo. Shanta is a clear and cloudless state. It is untroubled steadiness and it is the key to eternity.” —-1

I used  4H, 2B, 4B and 6B pencils in this sketch.

Ref:

1. http://www.ee.caltech.edu/~gowaikar/rand/navaras.html

The Indian wife

A young ,happy indian wife.

I began to think,in India,  just going by the type of attire n look, it is quite possible to say where the person is coming from.  In the same pic, if the pallu (not shown here, its on the other side of the shoulder) is on the right, and also covering the head, its a north indian (marathi, gujurati, ..). If on the left, its south indian. A salwar khameez, then its punjabi. A bigger bindi, could be bengali. No Bindi, could be christian or muslim.  With sari going in between legs, could be telugu or any coastal people.  Wow thats a whole lot of people we are talking about.

I guess now, a general statement could not be said. All are crossing borders and reserving their traditional clothes only for marriages and other festive occasions.

Fashion -1

Oneday while flipping through the pages of JC Penney catalog, I thought why not work on clothing , hence the theme ‘Accessories‘.  When I did a quick research on this topic, it didnt take much time to figure out the number and the variety of stuff catered for women clearly outnumbers that for men.   So here are a couple of dress for starters.  The one on left is the ‘polka dots’ design. The other one is a ‘floral design’ . With the onset of spring, floral designs are vogue.

Ref:

1. Figure drawing for dummies, Kensuke Okabayashi