Inspiration

About 3-4 months back I had come across this blog which looked very interesting. I did not have time back then to go through it and in due course of time I forgot about it (I am a busy person after all... LOL). Then it was a small coincidence that brought me back to the blog again and this time I started going through it. This is a travelogue which explores that part of India to which I belong. I found it so engaging that within 2 days I had read all the posts. Some of the posts were so well written that it kept taking back to my growing up days. And when you can paint such blogs do serve as inspiration.

The author of the blog Satyesh was kind enough to allow me to use some of his photos. This painting comes from this post of his. I have tried to capture the feel of a lonely little forest stream. Can you hear the water flowing down?? :)

Title - Untitled
Size - 14 x 19 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

By the way I'll be there in Mysore participating in Mysore's first Chitrasanthe (art market) on 3rd of October. The venue is Najaraja Bahaddur Choultry near Metropole circle. If you are there you can drop by. It will be nice to meet you.

Portrait V - Smruti

Finally the final portrait of my first family portrait series is here. She is my youngest sister Smruti. Though I did overwork it a quiet a bit, but still I am satisfied with it because Smruti liked it a lot.

Portrait Four and More

This is my sister Smita. I kind of screwed up this one. I think I need to concentrate more. Anyways the title of the post says Portrait Four and More. So here is the 'More' stuff.

Have you ever experienced this feeling where nothing seems to exist. Not even yourself. The only thing that exists is pure bliss (using bliss for the lack of better words to describe the experience).

Today I attended a Sitar concert by Maestro Niladri Kumar. Sitar is a beautiful instrument and its beauty was brought to life by the maestro today. It was part Hindustani classical and part fusion concert. I just cant describe the experience of attending the concert. He also played Zitar (an electric version of Sitar which is invented by him). And to give him company there were some other great musicians. There are a lot of videos available on youtube. For starters you can try one fusion one here and a classical one here.

Music is the highest form of all arts and I feel blessed when I get to hear such great music.

Detour

A little detour from portraits that I was trying out. Actually this is a second level of detour so to say. Landscapes -> Portraits -> Landscapes. LOL.

After a very long gap I met up with PC to paint. Enjoyed good food cooked by his parents and wife and painting with him. The reference picture was originally on a calendar. It was great to be painting landscapes again. It gives much more freedom you see.

Title - Escape
Size - 15 x 22 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

The event

I guess making a self portrait is quiet a event in itself for any artist. It was not so different for me. :). So here is my first official self portrait. I got a little carried away and ended up overdoing it. But perfection is overrated anyway.

What is on my head is called a phete. I had been to one of my friend's wedding at Satara, Maharashtra and everyone got one of these to wear. I was very fascinated by this and kept it on my head for the entire day.

Final cut

p.s. I worked on it a bit to remove some 'excess age' that has come into the portrait. And here is the final one.

Portrait - II

Here is the second portrait. The first one was my father and this one is my mom. I am very happy with this one. I think I'll make another portrait of my father. I am improving and that is exciting.

p.s. My sister says this one has more likeliness, but the previous portrait is better. All my excitement has vanished now. :)

p.p.s. If you do not already know Crystal Cook is giving away a free portrait. You can check out her blog here.

Portrait

I have been thinking of learning portraits for some time now. And what better way to learn than just doing it. So here is my first portrait. Its not a good portrait, but not a bad start.