What color is a happy cat?

Purr Ball  watercolor on Yupo By Meera Rao 6x8.5"

I have many photographs of cats but actually have never painted one until now :) Past couple of months I have been reading "Cats -Drawing and Painting in Watercolor"  by Lesley Fotherby.  Since I don't have a real live cat in the house, I practiced by sketching the cats from her book, learning their curves and their anatomy as I recovered from my encounter with shingles.  Most interesting was studying and sketching their head from various angles, learning how their pupils behaved. I now know that in bright sunlight the pupil will be a narrow slit, in the dark or when a cat is concentrating on its prey or if it is excited or angry, it can open to a circle! I decided I wanted to concentrate on the eyes and the head, not worry much about the body or the legs.  I lightly sketched the eyes, and the rest of the head.  Yupo is wonderful to play around to bring out the softness and texture when painting wet on wet with loaded brushes and then when the surface is dry go with the script brush to define the eyes, nose and mouth. I used a very limited palette and loved patterns the colors brought about. 

So what color is a happy cat? Purrple of  course :) 

Have a purrfect day! 

Emotional Connections

Curious watercolor by Meera Rao 10x14"

I painted this earlier in the year, about a year after her first birthday. It took me that long to get the courage to draw and then paint. I used several photographs as reference but one photograph that my daughter took of her niece became the basis of this painting. Her days are packed with play and curiosity and I am pretty pleased that I captured that sparkle in her eyes   I painted her eyes first and once I was satisfied with it, painting the rest of her became easier and pleasurable. 

Now I have to get busy and paint her 2nd year portrait as well as her newborn sister :) I hope to have at least one painting for each every year. It definitely  has been most satisfying to paint my grand daughter.  Arne Westerman in his book 'Paint Watercolors filled with Life and Energy' says "the artist must know that his emotional connection is only the starting point for a meaningful piece of work. There must be passion that drives the painting, followed by the creation of a solid composition. Thus the final rectangle will not simply be a statement of feeling or mood or a picture of something. It will be a complete painting with shapes, values, rhythm, color and balance, as well as subject matter. "  And I hope in the end my grand daughter will like it too ! 

Unrealistic Desire

Wilting Daffodil  Photography by Meera Rao 

Wilting flowers do not cause suffering;

It is the unrealistic desire 

that flowers not wilt

that causes suffering

~Thich Nhat Hahn~

Extensions of the Heart

Journal Page March 23-30 2014 by Meera Rao

Last week was filled with days that I wanted to remember and mull over. It started when we returned from the Flamenco Vivo, Carlota Santana - The Soul of Flamenco show at the American Theater in Hampton. I just wanted to capture the feelings, attitudes and expressions of the dancers and the singers before it faded away. Then there was the blue bird visiting the new feeder for the first time this spring, colorful Clivia blooming indoors and the yellow orange daffodils bursting outside.  Four days of rainy weather ended with a brilliant rainbow. I could not forget how reluctantly my grand daughter wore her raincoat and went out but then fully enjoyed playing in the rain and the puddles :)  And there is a special story about that can of Vodka from Russia! 

I am playing with  size, format for my sketches and have not found the right one yet. But I know I want to try bigger full page sketches soon.  I am reading Qu Lei Lei's "The Tao of Sketching" and like what he has to stay about drawing and sketching: 

"The brush or pen is the extension of the heart: We see everything in the world through the eye, feel it through the heart, and think about it through the brain. All of these are combined and transferred to the paper through our hand and brush. Therefore, every stroke of the brush is actually an extension of the soul." 

Eyes Wide Open

Street Cricket watercolor by Meera Rao

I am excited that my painting Street Cricket was chosen for the Tidewater Artists Alliance Juried Exhibition "Eyes Wide Open" Portsmouth Art and Cultural center, Portsmouth VA.  The show was juried by Professor Brian Kreydatus of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA and will be up till April 20th. The center also has an outdoor sculpture exhibition that is pretty neat too. 

On the topic of play, Here is a link for a really fun and fantastic TED talk on the importance/interactivity of play and creativity by Tim Brown. 

It is a happy talent to know how to play.

~Raplph Waldo Emerson~

Tangled Shadows

Tangled shadows Photography by Meera Rao 

“Art does not in fact prove anything. What it does do is record one of those brief times, such as we each have and then each forget, when we are allowed to understand that the Creation is whole.”

Robert Adams

Making Art and Viewing Art

Art Institute of Chicago -watercolor sketch on Arches postcard by Meera Rao

"Making art and viewing art are different at their core. The sane human being is satisfied that the best he/she can do at any given moment is the best he/she can do at any given moment........Making art provides uncomfortably accurate feedback about the gap that inevitably exists between what you intended to do, and what you did. In fact, if artmaking did not tell you(the maker) so enormously much about yourself, then making art that matters to you would be impossible. To all viewers but yourself, what matters is the product: the finished art work. to you, and you alone, what matters is the process: the experience of shaping that artwork. The viewer's concerns are not your concerns (although it's dangerously easy to adopt their attitudes.) Their job is whatever it is: to be moved by art, to be entertained by it, to make a killing off it, whatever. Your job is to learn to work on your work "

~Davie Bayles & Ted Orland in "Art and Fear" 

"Art & Fear - Observations On The Perils (and Rewards) of ARTMAKING"  is a book I read often. Today as I am trying to get comfortable and not let the shingles that showed up on my abdomen consume me, I am reading it again. The book always inspires me and motivates me to keep on working. I am convinced in the end to give my best shot -as the very last sentences in the book declares: "It becomes a choice between certainty and uncertainty. And curiously, uncertainty is the comforting choice. "

Co-incidentally, I sketched the Art Institute of Chicago building while waiting for the exhibits to open one cold morning in Dec, looking out the glass window of a coffee-shop right across the road.  I was hesitant to take out my sketch kit in the crowded shop but the desire to sketch to kill time till the doors opened won over my fear.  And I am glad I gave in to the urge to draw. 

"Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgement difficult" - Hippocrates (460-400B.C) 

Pecking Away A Painting

Woodpecker, watercolor on Yupo By Meera Rao

Woodpecker 2, watercolor on Yupo By Meera Rao

I heard and then saw the woodpecker rat-tat-tating away a few days ago while on my walk at the trail. I needed to sketch a woodpecker for a personal project and was pleased with my luck!  I watched him for a while trying to notice all the details and then took a picture with my phone as I had forgotten to carry my camera. Two days later we saw him again on our walk and managed a couple more photographs. 

For the top painting I lightly sketched the outline and did controlled painting. I layered wet paint, let it dry and the added more layers! I liberally used the spray bottle with just water and a tooth brush to splatter paint to  get the texture of the tree. 

No sketching for Woodpecker 2 - just free flowing watercolors on Yupo :) For texture I sprinkled some salt, sprayed a hint of rubbing alcohol and splattered with toothbrush.

As the quote by Coleman Cox states,  "Even the woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head and keeps pecking away until he finishes the job he starts,”  I played with the paints trying not to overwork yet pecking away till I was satisfied! Now to decide which one I prefer! Or I may yet paint one more ;)

Everyday is a Celebration

2013 India Sketch Journal page 39 by Meera Rao 

"There are exactly as many special occasions in life as we choose to celebrate"

~ Robert Brault~ 

A small celebration as I post the last page of my 2013 India sketch journal. It was my second year of  doing the sketch book. I am amazed and tickled to see over 200 sketches of everyday scenes and incidences in the two years.  I hope some of them will end up as full paintings soon. The biggest lesson I learned is to just plunge in and draw rather than try for that perfect sketch. As I have mentioned before, the best thing I discovered is looking at everyday things with new sketching eyes as I look for ideas. I became adept at squeezing sketching time when I was in India.  Now to make that happen everyday the rest of the year ! 

2013 India Sketch Journal Aug 23 by Meera Rao

The wedding venues are usually a riot of colors elaborately decorated with fresh flowers and foliage. The creative and labor intensive designs are often awe inspiring - sometimes bordering on gaudy. I definitely did not do justice in design or perspective when I sketched this one and as I was finishing it by memory, my skills lagged behind :) 

2013 India Sketch Journal Aug 24 by Meera Rao

Basava - decorated bullocks and his master go house to house asking for alms in -between farming seasons. The bullock's bells and the woodwind instrument the master uses signals their arrival at the doorsteps.  Rice, money or old silk sarees are donated by most the householders.  Sometimes I think this has become a way of taking advantage of the sentiments towards holy cattle and make quick bucks - especially when I see the master curse when he is asked to just move on! The animals though, are decorated beautifully and it is a pleasure to look at the peaceful majestic beasts. 

Reading and Riding

India Sketch Journal 2013 Aug 20 by Meera Rao 

Drivers, maids, and gardeners are still somewhat affordable as household help by most middle class families in India.  Other than drivers, 'the help' usually work for multiple families. Drivers though chauffeur only one employer and end up spending a lot of time in the car waiting for instructions on the next pick up or drop off. They can be seen either chatting with other drivers, napping or most often reading in the cars while also making sure the car is safe and well guarded. I saw this driver whiling away his time reading in a car parked in the shade on a balmy afternoon making the most of the circumstance.  Reading the paper is still the most favorite activity even though smart phones are slowly displacing it! 

India Sketch Journal 2013 Aug 21 by Meera Rao 

When that ladder just has to be transported -- this pair found a creative way to handle the job :) During my outings, I delighted in noting all the things people would ferry around in a motorcycle, auto rickshaw, a bicycle or any other vehicle and was always surprised by the variety !

India Sketch Journal 2013 Page 38 by Meera Rao