The Old and The New

India Art Journal Aug 26 By Meera Rao 2.5x4"

 

According to WikiHow, 'Herding cattle is an art and science that requires patience, knowledge of flight-zone, and a bit of bovine psychology'   But I bet  herding on a motorcycle is pretty unique to urban India :) I have seen this often since my stay in India the past three months - mostly around sundown.  I am not even sure how the cow and the herder find each other in the urban jungle!!! The cows are still seen on the streets in Maisuru and unfortunately they suffer through living in the urban area - dealing with traffic, and eating plastic bags and garbage that is strewn in the streets. Sadly, not much is being done about it and somehow the owners think its perfectly fine to let the cows out as if the cityscape is countryside pasture :(



 

India Art Journal Aug 25 2012, by Meera Rao. 2.5x4" 

 

Maisuru city has many ruins of old bungalows and houses waiting to be either renovated or swapped for shiny new multistory buildings that are sweeping the landscape.  Soon after the rains though, in and around the falling bricks and crumbling buildings are jewel like blooms and lush greenery! The combination of fresh foliage, flowers and tired old remnants of building has its own special charm.  

 

Once again, I am posting a sketch from the earliest lot giving it indiviual spot :)  You may read more about it here. 

 

 

India Art Journal July 1 2012 by Meera Rao

 

P.S :It is sheer coincidence, but is there an irony here that I have sketches relating to herding and airports in the  post! :)

 

Have You Read the Paper Today?

India Art Journal Aug 24 2012 by Meera Rao

 

The Indian Express noted in an article in jan 2012 that 'Circulation of newspapers in the country grew by 8.23 percent in 2010-11 as per the 55th Annual report of Registrar of Newspapers for India(RNI)."  This is significant especially in light of the decline faced by the print media in the West.  The article points out that out of the 14,508 newspapers published in all the different Indian languages as many as 11,775 are owned by individuals. Circulation runs into crores of copies and number of readers even more!   Further in the article: "With a combined readership claim of its 12 editions reaching 37,46,929 copies, Times of India was the leader among multi edition dailies the RNI report said. "  What astonishing numbers!!!!

 

It is a common sight to see people engrossed in reading on the steps,  on the park benches, crowded into the tiny branch libraries, waiting in the bank.... Ricksha, taxi drivers waiting for the customers; Store keepers, vendors can be seen reading the paper whenever they get a few minutes. I was curious to know what the literacy rate is in India and discovered that as per the Population Census of India 2011, the literacy rate in India is 74.04% up from 65.38% in 2001. With it, the people's hunger for information has also gone up!

 

I love watching people reading and have sketched a couple of pieces so far - like the old man I saw early one morning on my walk, sitting on a bench by the road, his bicycle by his side completely engrossed in the paper.

 

And here is sketch from June 30, 2012 getting its due : ) 

India Art Journal June 30 (Sketch 2) by Meera Rao

Please check here for more information on it.



Jewel of the Tropics

India Art Journal Aug 23 by Meera Rao 2.5x4"

I drink the water from tender coconut, the natural energy drink,  almost every day.  I stop by a streetside vendor who now starts hacking at the tender coconut as soon as he sees me walking down the street. I like to drink it right out of the coconut and don't like to use a straw :) While I am relishing my drink the vendor fills a bottle for my Mother-in-Law. 

The water is absolutely refreshing - especially after I have been out marketing and running errands under the tropical sun! The coconuts on the sidewalk are a sight to see -- piled precariously high, with touches of yellow, green, red and oranges. The vendor skillfully removes one just right for the customer as per request - with lots of water or with some water as well as some white jelly like tender coconut flesh.  The list of health benefits of tender coconut is long and ancient but I don't need any convincing! In Sanskrit, coconut tree is named "kalpa Vriksha" -  the tree that gives all that is necessary for life ! Check here if you need proof :)

He who plants a coconut tree plants food and drink, vessels and clothing, a home for himself and a heritage for his children."

- South Seas saying

I have been told by those who have seen my journal that I am not doing justice by just posting the page with four sketches all together! So at the urging of my well wishers, I have decided to post individual sketches as well as a photo of the page after I post them singlely.   I am going back in time too. So here is my very first sketch from the journal all on its own :) You may check here to read more about it.  Please do let me know if you think this works!



India art Journal July 30 Sketch 1 by Meera Rao

Playing, Working, Dreaming, Praying!

India Art Journal Aug 19,20,21,22 by Meera Rao

"My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between I occupy myself as best as I can."

~Cary Grant.

Playing, working, dreaming and praying seems to occupy most of the people as they go about their daily lives here - not in any particular order though.  There is a school near by and  I see children in their crisp white and Khaki uniforms happily playing, talking and gigling as they walk or bike. On most evenings though the alley behind our building becomes the cricket field with a stone or two standing in for wickets. The boys only need a ball and a bat to play and I love watching them from my balcony.

A big gypsy family has taken over the sidewalk in a street close by. They have set up three or four tents where they live, sleep and make plaster casts of various masks and statues.  Every day I see them working, cooking, playing or sleeping as I walk by on my daily errands.  They display and sell their wares right on the sidewalk too so we have to walk down on the road in that section of the street! But the bright blue tents, the ladies in their colorful sarees and the statues in bright paints with gold accents have definetely changed the look of the street!

Around the corner from our building is a big compound with a grand old palatial house in ruins (word is that it belongs to the royal family that once ruled the state) that seems to be undergoing some renovations recently.  There is a colorful 'lorry' in a corner that definetely can't rule the roads anymore.  But that doesn't seem to matter to a young boy whom I often see sitting in the driver's seat and turning the steering wheel vigorously dreaming surely of roaring down a highway :)

Roadside shrines are everywhere.  Soon after nagapanchami festival of the serpents, the neighbourhood beautiful black stones shrine for the serpent god under a huge tree was drenched in red kumkum and yellow turmeric. Every day devotees leave flowers and lit lamps, incence.  Walking past it somehow always reminds me of the ancient wisdom of respecting  all life and infuses me  a with sense of spirituality





Stacks and Rows!

India Art journal aug 15, 16,17,18 by Meera Rao

 

" Arrange whatever pieces comes your way" - Virginia Wolf

I noticed while waiting for today's photograph of my sketches to load that all the four sketches had things in them that were quite neatly arranged :) Aug 15 is India's Independence Day and of course this particular shop selling Indian flags in all sizes was doing brisk business :) Since then I have noticed the displays keeps changing in the shop but the orange, white and green of the Indian flags was the best display yet!

 

Government of India has helped the community of people who have traditionally been the shoe-makers(working with animal skins) set up little shops on sidewalks in various neighbourhoods and make a living selling simple shoes and mostly doing repair work. I stopped by this shop to get the strap of my handbag fixed. Later, I returned and gave her  copies of the photographs of her and her shop. It was heart warming to see her joy when she laid her eyes on them. I was touched when she told me that she had never had her picture taken until then.

 

Remeber the gas stove and cylinder in the kitchen? Well, just about every month or month and a half, the cylinder does get empty and has to be replaced.  The demand for it is high and the system somewhat inefficient that when the time came, I was left without the use of the gas stove to cook with for about two days!!! The very next day  I had guests visiting (fortunately I knew ahead of time) and  had to happily resort to the services of a caterer :)  The leftovers came in handy the day after! These little 'tempo' s can be seen around town with the neatly stacked full and empty gas cylinders making the deliveries.

 

By about mid august, the mango season was at the tail end and I bought the last of the mangoes from a vendor. They sat in my balcony between layers of newspaper slowly ripening. We had varieties of mangoes in various stages of readiness throughout the past few months on that table in the balcony. It was a sad  day indeed when we consumed the last of them. Now to savor the memory till the next season.  

"The Whole life lies in the verb - seeing"

 

India Art Journal Aug 11,12, 13, 14 by Meera Rao.

 

The title of this post is a quote by De Chardin Teilhard.  And during my stay in India the past two months I am seeing the country with new sketching eyes, finding beauty and charm everywhere and in most all things. Some things are just beautiful anyway, like the flower garland door decorations (real or real looking plastic!) that I see on the doorways of most homes- different colors, different designs but they are all meant to welcome the family and visitors alike.

 

 I am growing fond of those fierce looking face masks on buildings and liking the sentiment of keeping evil away --somehow it makes sense as I read about nothing but conflicts all over the world.

 

The resourcefullness that I notice seems to extend to dogs as well - like the one I caught napping by the side of a turned over street-seller's cart.  I don't know if he was guarding the cart for the owner!

 

No bland oatmeal for breakfast either here - its curry and pepper or masala and coriander - that is if you are unlucky to be not feasting on the traditional  Idli or dosa or upma ;)  In a pinch though they do satisfy  the need for something fast and spicy!









Vibrant and Compelling

 

India Art Journal Aug 7,8,9,10 By Meera Rao

I find that brilliant vibrant hues and patterns  come my way in unexpected places and times. I know I am in India and shouldn't be surprised !  I notice a lot of reddish orange these days - from bunches of 'flame of the forest' on trees and now only a few on the ground since they have just started blooming, to the orange on the guy riding with the cargo on the produce 'lorry' as well as the tribal woman weaving at the folk art festival of India that I was able to  attend. 

 

At the festival I was introduced to 'Gond'  paintings of a tribe from central India. The Gond people believe that looking at beautiful images brings good luck and decorate their huts and houses, all walls and floors with beautiful stylized paintings/ motiffs and designs. Now they paint on canvases or paper with acrylic or tempera paints for the collectors and museums. I was also intoduced to many other tribes and their art -Weaving from Manipura tribes (sketch for Aug 9, when I was at the Folk art Festival) Toda embroidery from Tamil nadu,  warli paintings from Maharastra , Saora paintings from Orissa and Andra Pradesh, paddy work form Orissa, Madna paintings from Rajasthan to name a few.

 

I was so inspired by the Gond paintings that I decided to paint the cow I came upon that was being groomed by two crows, in that style. It was difficult to do intricate designs in the small size I was sketching but I loved creating that way. I hope to paint a few more bigger versions with all the details soon :) I am thinking about a children's book in that style :)

 

 

Cow being groomed by two crows in gond style painting by Meera Rao



Bases for a Sketch

India Art Journal Aug 3,4,5,6 by Meera Rao

"Events at home, at work, in the street - these are the bases for a story"  - said  Naguib Mahfouz about his writing. That is not too far from what I do as I look for ideas now to sketch the daily vignette :) 

 

The satellite dishes on the roof of a neighbourhood building tells the story of India leaping into the advanced age of technology even while struggling at street level with the day to day to life which sometimes looks like  has not changed in ages. I find  quite a few cows still share living space with their human family; there is still very personal service in the market by the small Mom and Pop shops as seen with the guy selling fish, and unfortunately quite a few youth are working for a living rather than studying/attending school despite the govenment passing laws for universal literacy for its citizens. The boy ironing clothes was using a old fashioned coal iron and a small cart for his ironing space and moves from neighbourhood to neighbourhood on a rotating basis on different days of the week to bring laundry services to the door.  

 

I wrestle with what to sketch, what do I want to show the world  of the my birth country. But it is always easy to see the beauty in most everything whether its the mess of satellite dishes on top of a building or simple living of the majority of its citizens. And I just sketch.

A Slice of Life

 

India Art Journal July 30,31, Aug 1, 2 by Meera Rao
 

"Then India, everyone has his own idea of India" - J Milton Hayes.

 

Tata Nano car is considered the cheapest car in the world and I see quite a few of them on the road. I have not ridden or checked out one but they definetely have the 'cute factor'!

 

Most of the pots in India don't have handles and these chimtas or tongs are a must in the kitchen to handle the hot pots and covers.

 

The parrots cause a ruckus at dawn and dusk with their chirping and swooping about. They love to perch on the coconut palm fonds. I have not figured out what is it about the coconut tree that these birds love.  I do like waking up to hearing them noisily flying around from tree to tree.

 

Rakhee celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters. Sisters tie the 'rakhee' on to brothers's wrists and each assure the other to protect and love forever.  Its an ancient custom performed once a year. Until recently the custom  was prevalent mainly in Northern India but now it is celebrated throughout the country. Born and brought up in the south, growing up, I was not familiar with the custom other than having watched it in a Hindi movie or two. Days and weeks before the special day shops were filled with variety of bracelets for purchase. I was amazed at the beauty and abundance of the bracelets for sale everywhere!  This year Rakhee day was celebrated on Aug 2.





Honest work and Steadfast Faith

India Art Journal July 26, 27, 28, 29 by Meera Rao

Street vendors are an essential and unofficial part of the economy in India. Most of them just stake out a space on the sidewalk or street corners and set up shop. Just a few streets from our house there is a full scale market on the streets occupying several blocks and parellel streets where the street vendors sell (and make as in the case of the bamboo shop) ladders, baskets, garlands, fruits, vegetables, meat(ready to cook or butcher live a  one just for you right there!), furniture, food, wood, cosmetics, statues, pots, clothes, keys - and whatever else you may need :) They hang their wares on the street light poles, and some even live right there with a make shift tent and take over the sidewalk. Some sell their stuff from carts, others display them on cloth or plastic sheets, benches, baskets etc.

By googling I discovered that there is even a National Association of Street Vendors of India! Women vendors are a huge part of this and I read that recently in this city, Mysuru,  there`was a Women Street Vendors training program to help them organize for collective bargaining and negotiation with the government at various levels, to strengthen women's social security and livelihood rights.  

There is always some festival or other and the ladies all dress themselves in beautiful colorful sarees and jewelry. They perform 'puja' in their homes or in temples. On July 27 there was a festival for the Goddess that was celebrated especially in a grand scale by all.

As seen by the notices around town nailed to the tree trunks by the street side, there are more women coming to the city for work, and homes and hostels that cater to them.



Sketching The Spirit of A Place

India Art Journal July 22,23,24,25 by Meera Rao



Nagasampige belongs to the magnolia family. It is an unusal and rare flower and I was thrilled to find a tree on one of my walks around the neighbourhood. The flowers were all high up on a huge tree and I barely managed a close up of one. The seed pod looks like a huge cantaloupe! I was able to collect one inner part of the flower - the part that looks like a hood of a snake(naga) and hence the name. It is a very fragrant and beautiful flower. The biodiversity in India is mind boggling!

On July 22nd Indian parliament selected a new President, Pranab Mukherjee and I had to document the event. The reference photo was in the front page of a leading newspaper The Hindu. Its democracy at work in the  world's most populous country :)

It is quite a common site to see people double and triple riding on bicycles and motorcycles in India :) And the kid in the back was really very skinny!

 I was surprised to find the public phone box in an alley with a bench and pole tied to it securely and a make shift cover to protect it from rain(barely)!! These days just about everyone owns a cell phone but since noticing this particular one, surprisingly, I have spotted a couple more phone boxes in the neighbourhood. 

Its totally by accident that there is so much orange in this page :) I don't plan the pages and decide at the last minute what to sketch each day and it is whatever catches my fancy at that point :)

The Subtle Joys

 

India Art Jornal July 18,18,20,21 by Meera Rao

 Our flat is in the middle of the old  part of the city and the area has a mix of old dilapitated but once grand buildings and very narrow roads as well as  modern apartment and office buidings and "double roads."  I never go out without my tiny little camera and try to capture the neighbourhood as obscurely as possible.  But people notice anyway and sometimes oblige by posing even though I much prefer candid shots!

There are beautifully painted horse drawn carriages for hire in a corner of the neighbourhood. I am yet to hire a carriage for my daily errands but I have fond and vague  memories of my childhood days when my grandmother would hire one isntead of taking the bus on the return trip from market in my own hometown. These days the three wheel 'auto riksha' is the prefered mode of transportation for most people when they have packages to carry.  

My kitchen balcony always had the towels hanging on the grill to airdry. It also has hooks for the brooms and mops :) It gets the Sun all day long and I love the play of lights on the towels, dust pan, brooms etc... Now we have a few lines and the towels hang neat and tidy! 

From the balcony is also where I see the lady sweeping every morning. She not only sweeps her doorway but also the road in front :) Then she pours water on the ground and draws a rangoli in front of her door.

An Eclectic Mix

India Art journal July 14,15,16,17 By Meera Rao

While India is steeped in tradions over 5000 years old, the new, the modern and the latest techology is conveniently adopted by all in surprising new ways - like the lady in traditional saree scootering away to her job, a tubelight right by the side of lemon, chilies hanging to ward off evil spirits in a tiny little tailor shop or a water pump on the front stoop by the traditional 'tulasi katte'.  No one bats an eyelid as an eclectic mix of the old and the new intermingle and thrive side by side. 

watercolors, pilot G-2 pen





The Kitchen Is A Country

India Art Journal, July 10,11,12,13

Soon after I arrived my MIL gave me a tube of 'odomus' as a weapon against mosquitos, this being the monsoon season! But I have not had to use it at all.  Sadly, the monsoons are very late this year and reports of draught, spoiled crops fills the newspapers :(  

 

Since most of my time is spent in the kitchen, I think its no wonder rest of the sketches in this page are all about the most important room in the house :)  The kitchen in the house has the bare minimum essestials but fresh ingredients and vegetables from daily marketing means very tasty meals!  It has given me a new perspective of minimalism. As a quote from Grimod de la Reynière says so eloquently,  “The kitchen is a country in which there are always discoveries to be made. 

 

watercolors and Pilot G-2 Pen

Consuming Passions

India art Journal July 6,7,8,& 9  By Meera Rao 

"Food to a large extent is what holds a society together and eating is closely linked to deep spiritual experiences." Peter Farb and George Armelagos
'Consuming Passions: The Anthropology of Eating'

The first few days (and actually throughout the stay!) in India are always about eating and enjoying the delicasies. The food seems to taste different and of course better - especially when my family cooks special dishes for me :)

My Uncle and his family came to visit me soon after I left my parents' place and went to stay with my M-I-L.  Being very generous and extremely considerate, he came with catered food for all ! The food was even served traditional style- on banana leaves - again environmentally friendly with no dishes to wash! And let me tell you, everything tastes superb when served that way :) The next day I had to sketch the tiffin carriers and pails as they sat empty and shiny in the hallway waiting for the caterer. So much variety and leftovers that suffice it to say I did not have to cook for almost a week! The Jackfruit was also one of the many things he brought from his farm :)

Sketches in watercolor and Pilot G-2 pen

Blessing A Day

India Art Journal July3,4,5 By Meera Rao

One of the first things I always do when I get to India is to visit the Ganesha Temple right across from my parents' house and give my thanks for  having had a safe journey over seas and continents :)  At the temple there is always tasty 'prasada' that is distributed to the devotees. In most of the temples, leaf bowls are used to make it easier for all to either consume it right there or take it home while also being environmental fiendly- a practice that is actually very ancient.

Most all Hindu household yards have a little special 'pot' where 'tulasi' plant is grown. Tulasi is considered as sacred, used in religious services and worshipped every day. It also is proven to have potent medicinal qualities and used in traditional treatments.

The lady in the last skectch is decorating the temple entrance with rangoli - elaborate designs that are drawn free hand with rice powder. While chatting with her I found out that she does this almost every morning as a volunteer 'seva' to the Lord. I definitely did not do justice to her beautiful 'rangoli' design.

I would like to end with a quote by Mark Twain from an account of his trip to India:

"In religion, India is the only millionaire....the One land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for all the shows of all the rest of the globe combined."

~Mark Twain.  

Daily Vignettes

India Art Journal June 30-July 2 by Meera Rao

"Do not fail, as you go on, to draw something every day,  for no matter how little it is, it will be well worthwhile, and it will do you a world of good."

~ Cennini

I am in India for next several months to take care of my M-I-L. I have decided to keep an art journal of sorts doing a vignette a day of my impressions/experience/observation etc during my time in India to force myself to set aside some painting/sketching time every day.

I have a Stathmore mixed media 5.5x8"  34 page 90 lb spiral bound visual journal. I am using Koi water color pocket field sketch box with a waterbrush, prismacolor fine line 8 marker set, pilot G-2 07 black pen and a #2 pencil for my sketching.  Dividing the paper into 4 sections and using a section a day (painting on one side only) has worked well for the past fifteen days. This way, if I keep up with my sketching I should have atleast one hundred little sketches  :)  I already feel a sense of freedom in my sketching. I am not going for perection, finished compositions, nor worry much about values.  The idea is to have a simple record of my time here, get some sketching practice and develop some discipline to sketch, draw and paint each day atleast for fifteen minutes! I hope to be able to do a few larger pieces too --please, wish me luck :)

The first page documents our dinner at the airport - vegetarian sushi, different documents used, an air line employee and finally our first happy purchase soon after reaching our destination - Fresh divine Mangoes :) I have to relearn the PC here and hope to post better photographs soon!

Surprising Beauty

Digital Photography by Meera Rao

Digitial Photography by Meera Rao

Everything is transformed in the loveliness of glorious sunrise!  

Awesome Light

Window Light watercolor 2.5x3.5" by Meera Rao

The buzz over 'Higgs boson' god particle in the past few days has been exciting. And to discover that in 1924, Satyendra Nath Bose from India sent a paper to Einstein which lead to Bose-Einstein statistics, Bose-Einstein condensate, Bose-Fermi mixtures and then to the much talked about 'god particle' was pretty amazing! I have been poring over stuff from all over the web trying to understand how physics and god particle came to be talked about in the same breath!

Turns out, the light that we artists so love to paint is also behind these amazing discoveries. It's awe inspiring to realize the mystery that is all around us!

Moment of Miracle

Light Dance watercolor 2.5x3.5" by Meera Rao

Painting miniatures is a challenge for me. I was attracted by the lines and curves of the bird, the perch the beautiful light and the shadows. It reminded me of Walt Witman's words : "Every moment of light and dark is a miracle "

Patterned View Point

Looking out from Library of Congress digital photography by Meera Rao

Textured Story

Reverie  mixed media 15x13" by Meera Rao

"Only this: if you are writing without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun, you are only half a writer. It means you are so busy keeping one eye on the commercial market, or one ear peeled for the avant-garde coterie, that you are not being yourself. You don't even know yourself. For the first thing a writer should be is—excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches; God knows it'd be better for his health."  These words are by one of my favorite authors, Ray Bradbury from his :"Zen in the Art of Writing"   'Writer', I think, can be easily substituted by 'painter.'    

One way for me to be excited is by experimenting. I played with watercolors, gesso, stencils and collage and the resulting painting is Reverie - conjuring up the image of a serene lady I remembered from many years ago on a rainy day at the foot of a hill near what seemed like a thousand steps leading to a temple at the very top. She was making garlands for the devotees to buy and offer it as a prayer when they get to the temple but was really lost in her own world.  I added textures with gesso, stencils, and collaging torn bits of rangoli designs, tissue and handmade paper.  

As Ray Bradbury said in his essay, "And the stories began to burst, to explode from those memories, hidden in the nouns, lost in the lists." Not as eloquent as his stories, nonetheless, one all my own. 

Transcending Chaos

Transcending Chaos mixed media by Meera Rao 30x22"

"I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration."

Frida Kahlo (1907 - 1954)

Even though it looks like a perfect match for Kahlo's quote, I had started this painting almost 18 years ago at a workshop given by Doug Walton. The shapes and various elements were drawn to cues given. The steps also included 'spiritcard' shapes and underpainting. Unfortunately my choices somehow never jelled into a decent composition.  Over the years, I tried to unify and pull something out of the chaos that was on the paper. At one point I added a unifying background color. Most recently, it got a bit of gesso on it in places and some collage as I tried out what I had picked up in Myrna Wacknov's workshop. All I can say is that I learned a lot as I brainstormed and tried out various options.  

Here is a Doug Walton gem from my notes from that first workshop which perhaps sums up my efforts? : "Wrong is right and right is wrong. Allow your 'how' to show- not the 'what.'  Your wrongness is your difference; your difference is your significance. Be consistent. Be decisive even your wrongness. " 

Try And Try Again Differently

Lunch Break again mixed media by Meera Rao

This painting was the result of playing with an abandoned piece.  When I painted Lunch Break  (check out that post for variation1) about two years ago it was my second attempt.  Earlier this year I pulled out the first discarded try.  I like to have something to keep my hands and brushes busy while I am waiting for washes or paints on a piece I am working is drying.  This, I hope, keeps me from muddying the work but that does not always happen! I have been trying to remember to take photos of my playing around to see where it takes me. Below is the piece when I first abandoned it. 

w-i-p

 I used a black Prismacolor pen to outline the various shapes. May be I should have stopped long before I outlined every shape!!! 

w-i-p 

I went on to darken some parts and then cropped the painting( - see the top most photo).  I had always underestimated what a tremendous learning experience it is to paint variations. I see now how very interesting it is to see the two paintings side by side now.  

And as this quote by Bob Brendle says so eloquently, "There can be no failure in an art experiment excepting that of vision."

Figures in Color

Figure in watercolor on Yupo by Meera Rao

Figure in watercolor on YUPO by Meera Rao

For almost three weeks now I have been practicing drawing the human figure.  Painting on Yupo was perfect for practicing with watercolors since I could easily rectify any mistakes by wiping off! I drew with watercolor pencils for the top one and graphite pencil for the bottom one before picking up transparent watercolors and had fun with it. It has been very exciting and challenging.  

Last year I volunteered to be a model for a portrait painting demo at our watercolor society meeting.  The one thing I noticed was that the artist constantly looked at me --as much or more than looking down at the paper.  Her rapid fire glances, constant measuring and checking the angles was my takeaway from the session --since I couldn't see what she was drawing only how she was looking at the model! 

I came across this quote by Leonardo da Vinci : "Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works."  So off to more practice :) 

Sacred Design

Sacred Design  Photography 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.

Habit Forming

Sketches from 'Random Pose'  5x7 graphite by Meera Rao

This past week, I started to sketch atleast 30 secs early in the morning as I sipped my coffee instead of reading the paper or checking the e-mail. I want to be disciplined enough to sketch every morning - so I signed up at http://tinyhabits.com/ to participate in 3Tiny Habits. Dr. BJ Fogg from Stanford has created 'a way to tap the power of context and baby steps.'

I started the tiny habit last friday (even though official start date was to be on Monday this week.) So far I have enjoyed sketching everyday. I keep sketching for a little longer or go back and finish them later in the day but I really like the 30 second option :) Rather than try to think of what to sketch, I have been selecting poses from an App "Random Pose" in my phone.  I downloaded the app from the iTunes store more than a year or two ago but was apprehensive until now about using it. 

While it is not anywhere  close to drawing from life, I am getting practice in drawing the human figure on my own terms. The poses show major muscle groups and I am learning with every sketch.  So far I have not pushed to finish a figure in 30 secs but at the website http://www.posemaniacs.com/thirtysecond a timer can be started to practice gesture drawing.  May be in a few days :) -- right now I am getting familiar with the body shapes, proportions etc.. I hope to add colors and washes sometime soon. Do you have any practices to help you be disciplined about your daily sketching or painting?  

I have added a page to my blog for my Sketch Book project "A Day in the Life."  Now you can see the book from cover to cover in the right order! Please do check it out  and leave me your feed back :)

Play of Light

Play of light  digital photography by Meera Rao 

Art has a double face, of expression and illusion, just like science has a double face: the reality of error and the phantom of truth.

Publilius Syrus

Food For Thought

Jam jar watercolor on yupo 6x4 " by Meera Rao

Presimmons watercolor on Yupo 4x6" by Meera Rao

I painted these two small paintings on YUPO  two weeks ago. They were both donated to a fundraiser for Akshaya Patra a non-profit organization in India that aims to make sure "no child shall be deprived of education because of hunger."  Their website www.foodforeducation.org explains: "A public-private partnership, Akshaya Patra combines good management, innovative technology and smart engineering to deliver school lunch at a fraction of the cost of similar programs in other parts of the world. The program started in 2000 by feeding 1,500 children from a temporary kitchen in Bangalore, India. Currently, we distribute freshly cooked, healthy meals daily to 1.3 million underprivileged children in 8,000 government schools through 19 kitchens in eight states in India." Recently, the organization's wonderful work was highlighted by PBS, NPR in their news programs.   

Speaking of education, I came across an article in Huffington Post: Drawing Ability Has Psychological Basis In Perception And Memory, Researchers Say  by Natalie Wolchover.  She highlights research on 'What separates the drawers from the drawer-nots?'  Of course, lots of practice is way up there along with some very interesting observations : Based on their research, the psychologists recommended the following techniques for getting better at drawing: Focus on scaling a drawing to fit the size of the paper; anchor an object in its surroundings by showing how it sits in space; focus on the distance between elements of the object and on their relative sizes; and focus on the size and shape of "negative space," or the empty space between parts of the object. Lastly, they recommend thinking of "lines" as what they really are -- boundaries between light and dark areas. I would love to read the original study in detail but then I should just go and practice sketching :) 

PS : If you have time to kill go on and watch the videos on creativity in the same link under "Also on Huffpost."  

Order From Chaos

A Day in the Life Sketchbook project 2011 page 26  G-2 pen

I realized that I had forgotten to post the last few pages of my sketchbook project for Art House Co-op from 2011- A Day in the Life -In Blue Jeans with Gold Embroidery.    One thing that came to be clear during the writing/illustrating of that project was that as in painting I found myself wrestling with wrapping up the narrative  - ending that neither stops short of a resolution or overdone :)  Eventually I followed  Frank Herbert's advice : “There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.”  

A Day in the Life Sketchbook project 2011 page 27  color pencils & G-2 pen

I hope to make a page in this blog for  the book so it can be read from front to back. Now clicking on this link gives all the posts on the sketchbook that I have posted - from most recent to the oldest making you read it backwards :) - unless you go the oldest post first and scroll up! Meanwhile, let me know what you think of my project - the illustrations, the writings.

Miracle of Life

digital photography by Meera Rao 

“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”

– Buddha

Textured Variations

textures and colors by Meera Rao

The last day of the "Variations" workshop was all about textures. We saw the possibilities with Myrna Wacknov's collection reference photos, her paintings, and use of gesso, stencils, stamps, patterns, tissue for collage, etc and  unlimited imagination :) The day's task was to bring color, texture, value and other design elements together. 

After the van Gogh like textures of my day 3 painting, I decided to tone down go for subtler texture :) and I like my final piece. 

gesso covering old painting

After watching the demo about applying stencils, tissues, and stamping, I proceeded to gesso -not too thickly or carefully- a painting I didn't care for. Applying the textures subtly with stamps and even fingers, and lifting some color with the stencils, I prepared the paper.  When the paper was dry I knew where and how I wanted my drawing to go. It did not really take much time to paint after that and I had to be especially be wary of not overworking it since it was so much fun to paint on the gesso prepped textured paper! Rest of the day I played with experimenting with preparing  paper in all different ways. 

Here is the photo with all my paintings of the week together:

variations by Meera Rao

Color Harmony and Variations

Color Harmony exercise  by Meera Rao

Using Faber-Birren color triangle, we explored color harmony on day 4 of the 'Variations' workshop with Myrna Wacknov.  The roll of dice said my combination for color harmony was Tint-Tone-Shade-Grey and to use intermediate hues.

I mixed the tints, shades, tone and grays for the two colors on  cards as reference as I painted the figure combining a shape drawing, value pattern and used the colors to create  mood.  This was the hardest exercise for me but well worth the effort. Once I had the colors down on the cards, the painting went very smoothly. Best part of the day was to see all the combinations and how they worked out in everyone's paintings during the critique session.

Fifteen years ago I had done a similar exercise with one color only in a Doug Walton workshop (only other workshop I have attended!) and suddenly color harmony theory became much clearer - I guess nothing like accumulating years of experience for an ah-ha moment!!! It also became clear to me that there is great value in methodically trying the color harmony combinations to get a better grasp of all the possibilities  and the mood they create.

Do you have tested and true color theory that you use? Do you use color wheels when you paint? I would love to know how you go about choosing colors and mood.  Or are you a 'fly by the seat of my pants artist' as I seem to be most of the time!!!! 

Lines Coloring Variations

Day 3 Line and color by Meera Rao

Day 3 of Myrna Wacknov's workshop 'Variations' focused on line and texture as line.  She did a demo of texturizing paper by gesso-ing not up-to par painting : gesso alone, gesso on stencil, gesso a with  roller, smoothing out with credit card, stamping on gesso, laying wax paper, plastic wrap etc for texture.  She explained that when the gesso is dry, she makes her drawing on the textured paper with any of the various tools - droppers with ink, sticks, clay tool, wide markers, tree sticks, bamboo pens and anything else that will make a line :) 

The limitations and constraints from roll of dice on day 3 gave me split complement colors Red/yellowgreen/bluegreen and color as the second design element with line as the  dominant feature. 

An accidental discovery on my part as to how color from my old painting that I was covering up with gesso showed up when I tried to use a stencil on too thin, too wet gesso led me to use a wooden coffee stick to gouge out the still wet gesso to sketch freehand my drawing -- I am very pleased how drawing like that satisfied the requirements of line, color and texture. I used a delicate/fine stamp on the bandana area. The painting I had chosen to gesso over by chance had the colors I had rolled and I loved how they showed through.  I did minimal painting with yellow green, blue green on the background and red on the bandana. I used Blue and red also for value and that intensified the color showing thru. Gesso also enabled me to wipe off paint when I did not like my choices.  It was uncanny how colors from the old waterscape painting underneath worked for  this particular portrait variation! 

closeup of line, color and texture 

The whole process was so much fun that I had to force myself to stop :)  I continued the fun by texturing two or three more papers and can't wait to paint on them. I also loved how Myrna used red gesso in one of her demos to sketch her drawing. Sketching the variations and plotting the values numerous times definitely made me familiar with the subject and gave me easy spontaneity when it came to painting.