Showing posts with label India Journal Nov 2017. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India Journal Nov 2017. Show all posts

Thursday, March 1, 2018

The Best View

The Daily Commute  watercolor ink India Art Journal 2017 by Meera Rao

I distinctly remember the fear and excitement when I was a little girl looking out the open train car door as the world zipped by.  I only traveled a couple of times on train when I was young which made the trips quite memorable.  This commuter train was moving slowly past the station.  The little kid in  white uniform shirt with school backpack and the lady sitting right next caught my attention along with the many passengers crammed in! The overcrowded dusty train cars on an overcast day made an impression on me. 

This is the last sketch in my little homemade accordion watercolor journal from my short trip to India in Nov 2017.  Below is the photo of the completed open journal. There is a sketch behind the bell that I could not include in this shot. I started the sketches during my trip and used reference photos once I returned to complete them with watercolors.  




Thursday, February 22, 2018

Clear View

Window Cleaners  India Sketchbook 2017 watercolor by Meera Rao 

These three young ladies were part of the train cleaning crew. It was a bright sunny afternoon and I loved the play of light, colors and shadows as they chatted and worked. They had a assembly line of sorts going - one squirted water, one had a bunch of newspaper she was using to wipe it off with and the third lady had a long handled glass cleaner to finish the job. Once inside though, I found those windows were not clear enough capture the scenery with my camera! The trains are workhorses and it is a tough job to keep the trains clean as they chug along with barely enough time between rides. 

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Never A Dull Ride

 Autoricksha Ride India Sketchbook by Meera Rao 

Life is never dull on the streets in India.  The variety and number of modes of transportation and the  kind of loads they carry,  how many passengers they manage to cram into those vehicles is always a surprise ! Over the years I have photographed and sketched many interesting scenes - and I know I will find new ones on my next trip :) 

During my last trip, I saw this precarious looking two-wheeler -somewhat small and a cross between a bicycle and a motorcycle. The passenger was holding two sheep/lambs in his arms!  The the scene outside the autorickshaw and the view of the inside of the richly decorated brand new vehicle made for an interesting outing on that particular day. 

Saturday, January 27, 2018

For Safe Travels

Ganesha on Dashboard watercolor 7"x5" by Meera Rao 

Almost every vehicle in India has an idol of the owner's favorite deity stuck on the dashboard for blessings and safe travels for the driver and passengers.  They come in all different sizes, styles and colors tailored to individual tastes.  I came across an article recently that there is an "Unique campaign"  going on now where  "deities in car dashboards being equipped with accelerometers, lending them pre-recorded voice."  urging the drivers 'to slow down or drive safely.'  According to the company Droom that sells these pre-fitted idols, " India is the 3rd country in terms of deaths due to road accidents and stands at the 67th spot in terms of number of Vehicles per person. There is one death every four minutes due to a road accident in India. Moreover, 20 children under the age of 14 die every day due to road crashes." and ".. our idea comes from that sweet spot between technology and a razor sharp insight on the Indian driver. We thought we could make the Indian driver listen to us. After all, god was on our side!"

This particular abstract green marble sculpture is of Ganesha, the remover of obstacles though not fitted with a accelerometer! It became the first sketch in my India sketchbook from my trip last November. I used Indian handmade watercolor paper that I cut to 7x30" and folded into an Japanese style album. It was the first time I was using that paper which is heavy and rough and took a while to get used to. 

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