Ni Hao part 4 Tea Ceremony and Bell Tower

Tea Ceremony at Bell Tower, Beijing  watercolor and ink by Meera Rao

Bell Tower and Drum tower in Beijing's old town Hutong area were built in 13th century and were important for the citizens as they kept time and chimed twice a day - 'a morning bell and a dusk drum.' There was no other means of telling time and this continued until 1911, when the last Emperor was forced out of the Imperial City. The practice was picked up again a few years ago - a dozen times a day mainly for tourists. Our timing of the the visit was off as we were returning from a long morning of sight seeing and missed the drum and bells being played.  There weren't too many other people around and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. 

We walked around the square, check-out the drum tower from outside and went inside the Bell tower for a tea ceremony. Again we had to go through security.  Over the centuries, the towers had been rebuilt twice because of fires and I saw a prominently  placed sign that said "No Kindling" with a illustration of match box crossed out in red.   The tea ceremony was elaborate  and fun with tastings of Jasmine, Lychee Oolong, and Pu' er Teas. The place showcased antique tea sets and accessories. Of course, after the ceremony we were ushered into their shop that sold Teas and all things associated with Tea :)   

Bell Tower watercolor and Ink by Meera Rao

Sketching on the Go

Unisphere, Queens NY watercolor and pen sketch 5x7" by Meera Rao 

It was a beautiful sunny day after the snowfall from the first day of spring Nor'easter.  But it was too cold  for me to sketch outside so I resorted to taking photos with my phone and did this much later.  I plan to paint another larger one that has big vast  sky and smaller Unisphere because thats what I was attracted to in the first place. 

I recently bought Escoda Versatil #8  and a set of unknown brand #4,8,12 synthetic sable (this is a set that also came with a bamboo brush holder that was a surprise! ) watercolor travel brushes that I am very happy with.  I have ruined a couple of brushes that were in my travel kit when I lost the plastic brush protectors very early on and wanted these brushes whose caps act as long handles when screwed on :)  I still like my waterbrushes best for sketching away from home - no water containers to juggle!

Coffee Shop  Queens NY watercolor sketch 4x6"by Meera Rao 

I think this is my first sketch in a coffee shop with pen and ink and watercolor --the whole deal with no pencil sketches at all!! I realized too late the gel pen is not waterproof. It took me about 30 minutes or so to finish the sketch. I also sketched the barista on my Sketchclub app - will have to pull it out of the app one of these days :) 

Subway Commute  NY,  Gelpen 4x6" sketch by Meera Rao 

On our way to the Unisphere and the Queen's museum I sketched these two fellow passengers. This was a breakthrough for me to sketch in pen, in public and complete it before my stop came - about 15 mins or so.  I always hesitate to sketch people openly in public as I am not sure how I would feel about being sketched by someone ! But I think I am seeing the benefits of those #oneweek100people challenge - I am a bit more faster and confident in committing to mark making.  Working on more polished look of the pages is my next goal.

I have been doing more sketching these days because all the traveling means not been much studio painting time.  Hoping all this practice will show up when I take up my regular brushes again! 

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.  

Inktober Splash

Inktober day 1 #Swift by Meera Rao

I decided to participate in the Inktober challenge this month - to draw something in ink  from a list of prompts.  So far it has been fun. For Day 1 prompt 'swift' I drew a cricket - creatures I spend hours in fall chasing, cupping and ferrying out of the house! Done with micron fineliner 02 and sepia prismacolor brush tip pen. 

Inktober Day 2 #Divided  by Meera Rao

For day2, drawing magnolia pod and leaves seemed to fit the bill for #divided.  Done with micron fineliner 02 and sepia Prismacolor brush tip pen. 

Inktober Day 3 #poison  Creativesprint #Two things that don't go together   by Meera Rao

I am also participating in CreativeSprint this month - another 30 day challenge to jump start the creative juices.  Some days I feel very clever when I combine the two prompts as in this one - I am allergic to beebite so this one was easy :) Look for #creativesprint on Instagram to see the creations by participating artists.  Tools of choice : Gel writer and micron 02.

Inktober day 4 #underwater by Meera Rao

For underwater I drew pebbles and roots of my Lucky bamboo in water in Vase. 

Inktober day 5 #Long  Creative #homage to a teacher by Meera Rao

Another two in one - #Long for inktober and paying homage to a teacher for Creative Sprint.  Same with the one below #sword for inktober and #palindrome for creative sprint :)  There is such a thing as Drow Sword !!! I used calligraphy pen and gel writer on handmade paper from India for  'gratitude' and the piece measures  2x10".  And I am very happy as how this turned out. 

Inktober day 6 #Sword  Creativesprint #palindrome by Meera Rao

Inktober Day 7 #shy by Meera Rao

Touch-me-not flower was the suggestion by my husband when I was trying to come up with the idea for shy.  It belongs to the Mimosa family and the leaves fold when touched!

Inktober day 8 and Day 9 #crooked #screech by Meera Rao

This is also one of my favorites. I drew a gnarly crooked cherry blossom tree I came across in DC during cherry blossom festival in April and decided to give it the zentangle touch with a silver  Gelwriter  pen after I had inked the drawing. 

Inktober day 10 #gigANTic by Meera Rao

For the prompt gigantic - I choose to draw the biggest/largest ant. Dinpponera quadriceps is found in South America and female of the species may surpass 3-4cm (1.2-1.6") in total body length.  I used Sepia Prismacolor brush tip pen, micron 02 pen,  Prismacolor Marker and Fabercastel Pitt Artist pen. 

First ten days have been challenging and fun. I will post my responses to the CreativeSprint challenge prompts soon :) 

Sketching and Watching

Wright Brothers National Memorial,  Kitty Hawk, NC  watercolor 5.5x16.50" by Meera Rao 

Almost a month ago, we went to Kitty Hawk to Wright Brother's Memorial National Park to see the Eclipse.  It was a memorable experience. It was awe inspiring to check out the sun with the eclipse glasses. I also took along my colander and caught the eclipse through its holes.

Colander Eclipse Shadows  Photo By Meera Rao

I also made a pin hole camera with a box and poked a lot of different sized holes to look at the eclipse.  Where we were it was only 90% eclipse and we did not experience the darkness- only the temperatures dipped and it felt like cool evening !

Eclipse thru pinhole camera Photo by Meera Rao 

While I was waiting for the eclipse to start,  I sketched and painted the Wright Memorial. I also took some artistic license and moved their building and the markers closer to the Hill just so I could fit them in the paper :) If I had thought about it and really planned it right I could have sketched the memorial a bit more to the left. But adding the other buildings and  markers was an afterthought. It took me about an hour to sketch and paint. 

Wright Brothers National memorial, pen and watercolor  5.5x16.50"