Color Pencils !

Well this week we graduated to color pencils at the school. After drawing stick figures to find the human form we learnt about the Warli art form. We ended the class yesterday with a color pencil torso composition, playing with colored paper for background. A simple drawing with colored background seems more dramatic to me vs a more colorful one on white paper .. 

Cropping seems to do some good to the composition.. Do painters crop their paintings like photos..   Hmmm.

Yellow series

This is a 16x20 inches, for Amit. I found painting a large panel is quite different than painting small panels. The entire look of the composition changed. Any pointers out there?

Chitra Kala Parishath

Started a six month programme at the Art school, yesterday.
We been drawing graphite circles, squares and cones and human figures using all three shapes.
The classes are held in a little red hut and for every brick in the wall there is one missing, it does do oodles of good for imagination, I faced the wall and my figures were from the cricket match I could watch thru the missing bricks.
We get crayons next week!

Stalking Vincent Van Gogh

Vince designs a machine and travels thru time looking for his soulmate, someone whose palette he sees and says ah ha ! Exactly what I would lay down. He looks at the Marigolds and says thats exactly what I would have painted next.
He steps out of the invisible time machine and she has no doubt about who it is, she knows him intimately from his self portraits and his published letters to Theo.
He takes her hand as she grabs her brushes and palette and they disappear in time, in search of their next bunch of flowers.

Time I stopped stalking Vince, I cant keep up with this furious pace of painting .. Back to surfing the www !

Mary's Gold

Marigolds are associated with Virgin Mary and if one couldnt afford gold one would offer these flowers to her.

They are found everywhere in India and are used for decorations arounds houses as they deter some common insects.

The Marigold flowers are so simple yet have so much character to paint. This is part of the yellow series for Amit and my first painting of Marigolds. The ochre/yellow background continues to be inspired by Van Gogh.

For Amit

Siblings have an amazing gift of giving you reality check. I was on skype with my brother Amit last nite and he asked what I was busy with and he ofcoz was very honest with his views on "surfing the net fulltime". He showed me around his apartment walls and said a few paintings are awaited. I got the catalyst to get going... Yellow paintings for my brother !

For love of Malini, Tara, Lila & Vincent

When I was learning how to paint, the thought in NYK was to revere the painting of light as eptomized by Vermeer. When I started reading art history, I found myself drawn to Mr Van Gogh, who needs no introduction. I found his palette as what I would pick, I found his subjects (flowers, nature, self portraits) close to my heart and I read each of his letters written to his dear brother Theo. When Vincent was at St Remy, 1887, he heard about the birth of Theo's son, named Vincent for him. He immediately started painting "the almond blossom against the sky' for the new baby. Reading Vincent's letter to his mother about it brought tears to my eyes and as I already loved the painting I decided to do my version (copy/inspired by) of it for my nieces. It is not a patch on Vincent's but he was already a Master (10,000hrs) when he did it. For real beauty I highly recommend goggling the original "almond blossoms, night sky"