Sunday, May 30, 2010

RIMC

This is a scene from my school RIMC at Dehradun. The place in this painting is no particular place as such. All building at my school were built in Tudor architecture and hence looked like this. The sylvan surroundings of the entire school campus along with the Tudor buildings make it one of the most beautiful school campus in India. Personally I was very happy with this painting, more so because of the nostalgia that is attached to it.

RIMC tudor architectureTitle - Master's house
Size - 15 x 19 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Irrigation

Some opaque colors for a change....

Irrigation - Opaque colors on tinted sheetTitle - Irrigation
Size - 14 x 11 (inch)
Medium - Opaque colors on tinted sheet

Sunday, May 23, 2010

2 Doors

Sometimes paintings just happen and the first one just happened. I just took it forward and painted the second one. But I find when things happen by themselves its always better. I have not found names for these two. Need some suggestions.


Title - Untitled: Please suggest
Size - 14 x 17.5 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - Untitled: Please suggest
Size - 14 x 18 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Gulmohar walk

Bangalore is the home to one of the best botanical gardens of India in the form of Lalbagh. This is a scene of very early morning at Lalbagh where thousands come for a morning walk or jog or simply just to catch up. I was not so happy with this painting, but my sister liked it a lot.

gulmohar walk at LalbaghTitle - Gulmohar walk
Size - 14 x 19.5 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Friday, May 14, 2010

Odissi enchantment

Here is the painting finally. This has been a great challenge for me. I had to be spot on in all the technical details of the posture (Tribhang), Mudra, costume, jewellery, expression etc. and had to capture the essence of this beautiful dance form. And being a person who does mostly landscapes it was a big ask. It took me 2 sittings to finish it.

Odissi dance is originally a devotional dance form which used to be performed for lord Jagannath. Even now whenever a Odissi performance is done a wooden statue of lord Jagannath is placed on the stage and the dancer performs only after seeking his blessings. The statue of lord Jagannath is very unique and a pair of circular eyes are enough to depict him. The circular eye in my painting gives completeness to the essence of the dance form.

watercolor painting of Odissi dancerTitle - Odissi Enchantment
Size - 18 x 12 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Odissi sketch II

odissi dancer pencil sketch
Before and while doing these sketches of Odissi dancer I actually did read up about the dance a bit, so that I would do a better job depicting the dance form. And now I want to share a little bit of the gist with you all.

Odissi is the only dance form to have another basic body position besides the centered ‘Plie’ stance. The second stance Tribhangi, literally meaning three bends. Tribhang divides the body into three parts, head, bust and torso. The postures dealing with these three elements are called Tribhangi. As this is inspired by the temple scultures, Odissi creates an illusion of sculpture coming to life. Isolated torso movements, typical to the Odissi style only, help create these curves and therefore an ‘S’ pattern is seen in the form of the dancer. Mudra is also an important component of Odissi dance. The term Mudra means "stamp" and is a hand position which suggests things. You can see a lot of Mudras here.

Odissi has its own traditional costumes and jewellery. The saree is draped in a particular fashion which creates a fan-shaped structure in the front. The saree used by dancers is the Sambalpuri sarees (local saree of Orissa) in most cases. Only white metal jewellery is worn in Odissi, including earrings that coves the whole ear and resemble the shape of a peacock’s feather. The waist belt is a must for a Odissi dancer. Other ornaments are bangles, necklace, and armlets. The headpiece (Mukut) worn by Odissi dancer is the typical symbol of Odissi dance which is made only in Orissa with special dried leaves. The costume and jewellery are considered sacred and should never be worn while performing other light dance forms.

p.s. My next post will be a watercolor painting of an Odissi dancer.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Odissi sketch


Last Friday I went to an Odissi dance concert here in Bangalore by Srajana kaikini . After a long time I was actually watching Odissi dance live. This is the oldest classical dance form of India and its roots are traced to 1st century BC. Traditional Odissi repertoire consists of 6 performances accompanied by live music. The music is set to Odissi style of Indian classical music. I was mesmerized by the combined effect of classical music and dance. It was very inspiring and this sketch is a result of that.

The dancer is depicting a woman doing 'shringaar' (basically kind of putting on makeup :)) while looking into a mirror.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Off to work

Tomorrow is Monday. And I'll have to brave the traffic to reach office. I don't mind work.. I just hate traffic.

off to workTitle - Off to work
Size - 13.5 inch x 19.5 inch
Medium - Gouache on pinkish/brownish/beigeish color tinted paper

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Rush

I just can get over my new Indian yellow tube...

RushTitle - Rush
Size - 14 inch x 12.5 inch
Medium - watercolor on paper

Saturday, May 1, 2010

The boon

The monsoons always brings happiness and more so for the farmer. That is when his prayers are answered.

The boonTitle - The boon
Size - 19.5 inch x 12.5 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper