Sunset Sky Photography by Meera Rao
Clouds come floating into my life,
no longer to carry rain or usher storm,
but to add color to my sunset sky.
~
Rabindranath Tagore
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Thursday, February 28, 2013
The Most Difficult Part
Blue Blooms watercolor on Yupo 7x5" by Meera Rao
I don't know the name of these flowers but when I saw them a few weeks ago in a bouquet I had bought, I pulled out my watercolors, a small sheet of yupo and just painted them free hand. It was very gratifying to just relax, trust my instincts, simplify, and concentrate on capturing the essence of what I was seeing. Painting a simple blue flower - nothing more. I liked the resulting Zen like quality of flower with white space around it.
Just this morning I was looking for one particular book in my library. I stumbled across "Complete Sumi-e Techniques" by Sadami Yamada. I had forgotten I owned it and had not opened it in years. Sidetracked from my search, I started flipping through it and read about yohaku or 'white space' the unpainted area : "the importance placed on this area in a painting is considered equal, and sometimes superior, to the actual painted area." And : ...it is the intimate relationship between the concept of 'color and 'space' that makes perfection possible" The 'painted' part is considered as 'fullness' and the blank space as 'emptiness' with both combined to bring balance and create beauty.
The author writes: " When asked what was the most difficult problem in painting, Ike-no-Taiga, a great master of the Edo period, pinpointed the importance of white space by simply answering, 'the unpainted area is the most difficult part' "
I love how an important composition element is explained in spiritual terms and that what to leave unpainted is a challenge experienced by artists all through the ages. The other thing the book emphasizes is hours of practice :)
Friday, February 22, 2013
When I Gaze at Orchids
Orchids watercolor on Yupo 8"x8" by Meera Rao
Even though the world is filled with
confusion
When I gaze at one orchid
I can forget
all my problems.
~
Song Sunam
The Orchid flowers blooming on the plant on my coffee table give a sense of floating in the air as they hang tall on a long stem! They come up to my eye-level (I am not that tall !) and I feel like they are watching my every move! Painting them on yupo was delicious fun but it took me forever to correct the colors in the photo and make them match my painting! The colors and details are much more subtle, vibrant and delicate in the painting - some day I hope there won't be such a steep learning curve with using the camera and computer. But today's achievement is that I learned how to work with layers in Photoshop. I hope I will remember how the next time I want to use it! Tomorrow I should spend as much time in the studio painting!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
Lessons From Keeping An Art Journal
India Art Journal Oct 26-Oct 28 2012
This is the last page of my India Art Journal -- four months and 124 sketches later. I am incredibly happy with the way the journal evolved through my stay in India. Now it surprises me as to how unsure and hesitant I was to commit to such a project before my trip!
I had finally gotten the courage a few days before I my trip to India in June 2012 to come to keep a journal of my stay there. It then took a few visits to the art store, going through the catalogs etc before I settled on Strathmore Mixed Media Visual Journal (5.5"x 8") 34 sheets/68 pages, 90 lbs wt. paper. I calculated that it would give me just enough space to do 124 vignettes at sketch a day, four sketches to a page and three extra pages in case I mess up :) I still have one blank sheet at the beginning and end of the journal! I shared one sheet with a young nephew.
My sketch kit consisted of Koi watercolor sketch box, two waterbrushes(one Aquaflow and one Koi), pilot G-7 pen , one graphite 4B pencil and a knead-able eraser. All this fit neatly into a plastic zippered bag ( that pillow covers that I had purchased a while ago came in. ) I added a small box of 12 oil pastels in India.
India Art Journal Oct 26 2012
By the time this last page came along, I was quite relaxed and confident about sketching. Nothing like sketching each and every day for four months straight to feel comfortable with drawing. I knew by then not to expect every sketch to be a masterpiece, not to judge but just sketch every single day. I was attempting all different subjects knowing that each only had to fill in a space of 2.5"x 4". My plan was very simple. I think keeping it small, and not worrying about size or orientation also helped me just draw. I worried and wondered only about the subject each day-That was the only decision I had to make and I didn't follow any theme.
India Art Journal Oct 27-Oct 28 2012
India Art Journal Oct 28 2012 (India) by Meera Rao
Since returning, I have tried to sketch or draw or paint something almost everyday. I don't have a compelling reason other than I should and that has not worked very well! I wondered and worried if I would be able to draw and paint in bigger sizes or even have enough patience to work on a large piece. I am happy to announce that I did complete a full sheet painting that I am very pleased with ( I will post a photo soon!)
India Art Journal Oct 28 2012 (USA) by Meera Rao
Next, I am hoping to combine my blog posts on the sketches with the vignettes from the art journal and put a book together. Meanwhile I can't wait to dream up another project to work on! The finished journal is a big boost to my confidence and a wonderful memento of my four months in India.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Beautiful Sounds and Sights!
India Art Journal Oct 22 2012 by Meera Rao
Almost every morning I woke up to various birds singing their hearts out. I really enjoyed just laying on the bed listening to the songs -- I didn't need the alarm at all! It took me a while to locate the Indian cuckoo or koyal in the tree by the bedroom window and catch a glimpse of him with my camera's zoom lens! I didn't know till then how striking the red eye was! Waking up to the birds is one thing I miss here in the US during the winter months. Here is a link to the cuckoo singing I found on You Tube - enjoy the music! and one more
India Art Journal Oct 24 2012 by Meera Rao
India Art Journal Oct 23 2012 by Meera Rao
We celebrated 'navaratri' the festival of goddesses for nine days during the last few days of my stay in India. On one of the days, 'aayudha puja' day all equipment, vehicles, musical instruments, tools, writing/painting implements, gas station pumps, even computers, are all decorated, honored and thanked for their service to us during the rest of the year. I loved how this ambulance was all decorated with banana leaves and yet ready to take off at a minute's notice.
India Art Journal Oct 25 2012 by Meera Rao
There is a swing in the balcony that is a favorite place to sit, read, chat or just watch the world go by :) Swinging slows down the time, and makes one appreciate the beauty of the bottle brush, the birds and squirrels on its branches etc and meditate about life.
India Art Journal Oct 22-25 2012 by Meera Rao
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Daily Excitement
India Art Journal Oct 18-21 2012 by Meera Rao
The last ten days of my four month stay was really hectic and it was rather difficult to make time for the daily sketches. I became adept at quickly sketching something for the day and postpone the coloring with watercolors to when I had more time. I think my Mother-in-law was as pleased as I was that I had maintained a sketch a day habit throughout my stay!
India Art Journal oct 18 2012 by Meera Rao
The yellow flower laden Acacia trees always brightened my day -especially when overcast skies stretched for days! The petals leave a carpet of yellow underneath the trees and brings a sense of sunshine on such days :)
India Art Journal oct 19 2012 by Meera Rao
Overcast or not, there is always work to be done. These two road construction ladies were filling pot holes. It was easier to capture their movements as they were working manually and very slowly with hot tar/damar.
India Art Journal oct 20 2012 by Meera Rao
The small house lizard stakes out its victims in the corner of a wall coming out at dusk. It has pink and blue translucent skin. The big toes with suckers hold on to the wall as it waits to unfurl its tongue at the unsuspecting little insects. The lizards are left alone as long as they don't hang out in or near the kitchen!
India Art Journal oct 18 2012 by Meera Rao
I spent the last week with my parents and my brother. Their dog Rowdie is a 'rescued' street dog - it has claimed my brother's family as his own. He loves to watch the street activity from the second floor balcony and alerts everyone to the comings and goings of the street vendors and of course other dogs :)
Below are the last of the sketches that need individual spotlight. I wrote about them in my earlier post Playing, Working, Dreaming, Playing.
India Art Journal Aug 20 2012 by Meera Rao
India Art Journal Aug 19 2012 by Meera Rao
India Art Journal Aug 21 2012 by Meera Rao
India Art Journal Aug 22 2012 by Meera Rao
Monday, January 14, 2013
Mixed Messages
India Art Journal Oct 14-17 by Meera Rao
I just realized the 'unintended/not conscious of it until now' connection between the top two sketches -pigeon or a mail box to send your messages ? May be neither in the internet age!
India Art Journal Oct 14 2012 by Meera Rao
I often saw the pigeons getting in and out of these windows and loved watching their movements! They were free wild birds and definitely not used as messengers :)
India Art Journal Oct 15 2013 by Meera Rao
The Indian red mailboxes scattered around the city are quaint and charming. I saw some mind boggling numbers and dates connected with Indian postal system: as of March 2011 there were some 1,55,866 post offices in India and the East India Company opened the very first post office 'Company Mail' in 'Bombay' in 1688!
India Art Journal Oct 16 2012 by Meera Rao
I did a double take when I saw this scene beyond the gates of an office building and quickly snatched a photograph before the guard shooed me away. I was amused to see the shadow cast by the scooter resembling the all too familiar silhouette of resting cow that one can find everywhere -especially quite often right in the middle of the road! I guess it is a great way to show the two 'breeds' that most occupy the busy roads :)
India Art Journal Oct 17 2012 by Meera Rao
I was impressed by this enterprising boy. He would fill up the green plastic pots with water from the public water faucet, tie them up to his bicycle to supply the roadside vendors whose cooking and cleaning required water. I saw him busy most evenings as the vendors' business picked up.
The following once again are four sketches shown individually. I wrote about them earlier in the post Stacks and Rows
India Art Journal Aug 15 2012 by Meera Rao
India Art Journal Aug 16 2012 by Meera Rao
India Art Journal Aug 17 2012 by Meera Rao
India Art Journal Aug 18 2012 by Meera Rao
Monday, January 7, 2013
Serendipity
India Art Journal Oct 10 2012 by Meera Rao
The only way to have a friend is be one.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~
There are couple of schools in our neighborhood and I saw everyday groups of girls and boys walking or biking to and from school chatting up a storm, laughing and giggling and exchanging notes. I enjoyed watching them and noticing the dynamics among friends and strangers. The four girls in uniform went to one school and the other lone girl passing them was from a different school as the different school colors proclaim.
India Art Journal Oct 11 2012 by Meera Rao
I just had to sketch the three forms of coconut - oil in a bottle, the shell that has fresh white meat for cooking and coconut water from tender young coconut to quench the thirst. These were used almost everyday especially since I claim my heritage from the coastal Karnataka in India! That particular day all three were side by side on the shiny black granite kitchen counter with the pink tiles on the wall.
India Art Journal Oct 12 2012 by Meera Rao
I passed by this house everyday and saw the colorful laundry hanging on the second floor balcony without fail :) I wonder if they ever lost any pieces to gusts of wind as I never saw the clothes secured in any way.
India Art Journal Oct 13 2013 by Meera Rao
My friend Suniti took me on surprise excursions every so often to special places around Mysuru and I loved spending time with her and away from the daily chores. These cattle were all either old or invalid in some way and were being taken care of in a huge 'Goshale' - old folks home for the cattle run as a charity. The place had a serenity and beauty that was very calming.
Below is all four vignettes together on the page:
India Art Journal Oct 10-13 2012 by Meera Rao
The following four sketches are from the sept 5 2011 post "the Whole Life lies in the verb-seeing" enjoying individual limelight :)
India Art Journal Aug 11 2012 by Meera Rao
India Art Journal Aug 12 2012 by Meera Rao
India Art Journal Aug 13 2012 by Meera Rao
India Art Journal Aug 14 2012 by Meera Rao
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
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