Seeing and Drawing

India Art Journal  Oct 6-9 2012 by Meera Rao 

"The good drawings I do are hardly mine. Only the bad ones are mine for they are the ones where I can't let go, am caught in the Me-cramp"

~Frederick Franck in 'The Zen of Seeing - seeing/drawing as meditation' ~

I came across the book "The Zen of Seeing" a few days ago in an used book shop in DC.  I sat and read it for a while at the store totally fascinated by how he saw drawing as meditation and ended up buying it so I could read it slowly and digest the philosophy.  The book  published in 1973 is handwritten "....because in a way it is a love letter, and love letters should not be typt- set by compositors  or computers. It may be a little slower to read, but there is no hurry, for what I want to share with you took a long time to experience."   I needed to hear that "A drawing is not a thing but an act."  - especially when a  sketch or two or more in my journal seem to taunt me with its misread proportions and perspective! 

India Art Journal Oct 6 2012 by Meera Rao 

There are vendors walking the streets calling and selling any number of things in the course of a day -every day.  This particular vendor definitely was special in the way he balanced a wedge of watermelon on top a whole round one ! There is a sense of zen in the scene. 

 India Art Journal Oct 7 2012 by Meera Rao 

This huge water tank is right around the corner and I passed this everyday running my errands. When I finished the sketch I realized that lopsidedness in a way shows how I saw it -looking up, my head tilted as I sketched :) Somewhere in the book Frederick Franck says : In seeing/drawing that which matters can be perceived through the senses, not denied but maximally affirmed." 

 India Art Journal Oct 8 2012 by Meera Rao 

Coral wood or Manjhati tree (Adenanthera pavonina)is spectacular whether it is laden with the yellow delicate blooms or the curved spiraly split open hanging pods with its bright beautiful shiny red bead like seeds.  Being in the presence of these magnificent trees brings to mind a line from Tagore poem : "Be still my heart, these great trees are prayers."

India Art Journal Oct 9 2012 by Meera Rao  

The last sketch in this page from my journal celebrates life! I was fortunate to participate in the joyous occasion of 'cradling ceremony' of my cousin's 10 day old grand daughter.  The cradle was decorated with gorgeous bright beautiful silk and gold brocade sarees and colorful flowers. The ladies sang melodious songs, made sure to ward off all evil eyes and everyone gathered showered blessings on the baby who slept peacefully through the noisy bustling ceremony!  

The following are sketches from the page that were done aug 7-10. As in the beginning I was posting only the full page and not individual sketches,  I am here giving them the attention they deserve :) I wrote about them  on sept 1 2012 in the post : Vibrant and Compelling. 

India Art Journal Aug 7 2012 by Meera Rao 

India Art Journal Aug 8 2012 by Meera Rao 

 India Art Journal Aug 9 2012 by Meera Rao  

To Erase Or Not To Erase?

Randompose pen by Meera Rao

I have been sketching these poses from the App Random Pose  for a few days now spending a couple of hours or more working on one pose each day.  It feels good to flip my sketchbook and see a collection of these.  But just as I was getting confident about the end results of each day, my ego got a reality check -- I was erasing so hard couple of days ago that the paper tore! I remember reading in Bert Dodson's book 'Fail and exploit the failure.'  So yesterday  I made myself sketch with pen only being more mindful of each line I put down.  I have to say it didn't take hours to complete the pose! 

Random Pose Graphite by Meera Rao





Random Pose  Graphite by Meera Rao



Bert Dodson in his book Keys to Drawing with Imagination writes: " I'm a strong believer in a quality I call 'wobble,' the less-than-perfect execution of things crafted by hand"   So I am setting aside my hesitations about using the eraser. Why unnecessarily make things harder on myself. As it is the human figure is complicated enough. I will concern myself with observation and practice and more practice alternating pen and pencil in my daily sketching and build my skills and confidence.

Inadvertently Omitted...

A Day in the Life..... page 22 Sketchbook Project color pencils 

'not intentional, not on purpose, not conscious'  -- it is the definition 'not conscious' that stings! And it is not the first time this has happened - and not just in art either. I felt so very disheartened.  It truly represented a 'Day in The Life'.  I decided to  force  myself to consider this as a set up for a new twist in my Sketchbook Project ! This time my 'inadvertent omission' had created three empty pages right in the middle of a book with a planned narrative and a challenge for me to somehow resolve it and to incorporate  new ideas into the story line.  I did not want to just tear the pages - a self imposed constraint to be a bit creative to compensate for my slip; to be grateful that it is a small mistake in the scheme of things,  a way to assuage my guilt for not being mindful....

What do you do when mistakes 'happen' in your work? Do you despair and scrap the whole project? Do you change it? Do you cover it up? Do you start over? Do you call it divine intervention and move on?  

Mini Sacred Pause

Slow Sunny Day watercolor 2.5"x6.5"

When I was in Istanbul two years ago, this scene by the square near the Blue Mosque caught my eye. I can't remember what she was selling as she sat there on that very sunny hot hot day. The square was quite crowded with pilgrims and tourists but I saw how the lady watching the child and the child joyfully chasing after the flock of birds were each in their own world.  In this miniature, I choose to paint just that. It was a challenge to paint small and only some of details but I loved the process. 

I read the other day in a article "Sacred Pause" written by Hugh Bryne and Rebecca Hines :"In the midst of daily life there are simple ways to take a “mini sacred pause,” bring awareness to what is alive here and now, and relax into presence" Doesn't it look like the lady and the child know how to integrate those mindful principles? As it is life is very fragile - we definitely need to take and appreciate these 'sacred pauses.'

Want or Need?

A Day In the Life ..in Blue Jeans with Gold Embroidery  - Page 13 (Sketchbook/fiction Project )color pencils

Do I call this co-incidence? This page done months ago was next in line to be posted. And as it happens,  I just returned from a week of retreat at the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam where the teaching is all about how to deal with desires, aversions, dispassion, work with the attitude of worship and to accept everything in the spirit of blessing.  This teaching more than anything reinforces how I should put forth my best effort, enjoy the process of painting and not get hung up on the final product. Over the years I have realized that it really frees up the creative process when I do the preparatory work,  trust my instincts and let things just be. I read and hear again and again that meditation and mindfulness will take  creativity and life to a different level - hope to be able to follow that advice consistently one of these days! 

What philosophy nourishes your artistic endeavors? 

Mindfulness and Compassion

I need to incorporate more of both mindfulness and compassion into my life.  I spent the day writing a verse from Rig Veda in calligraphy and then illustrating it.  When the project was almost finished I see a glaring mistake-  after all the planning, measuring, copying and recopying, checking and rechecking I had managed to completely omit a word in the very first line. The whole thing had to be trashed --no way to salvage any of it!  So, now I am trying to convince myself that it was a good practice session and  I can move on to painting the real thing.  

I get to dip into my collection  and post a painting I did a year ago - Coconuts in watercolor; 7 1/2 x9 1/2"