Elephants walking in my shoes!

Got a pair of cheap sneakers and sketched or doodled some designs and then painted over it with acrylics! All in a day's work. I personally liked the vibrant colors and the design but then I am biased ;) To tell you the truth, I was "inspired" by Viggy's friend Karen who had painted on Van's shoes and is now 'On the Wall' so to say. I wanted to prove I can do it and well, this one could be on my facebook wall ;) but with more patience and planning, shoes will be my next canvass!

Playful sketches..on AUM

 

Krishna on my mind! and in my sketch-pad!!

He lounges in the Aum Mantra and plays His flute frolicking through the pages.....The sketches are with regular pencils on a sketch-pad.

Hide and seek with Krishna.. how He plays with me..

Krishna made me do this!                    I started on this project for Ram and Suma as they had wanted a Zentangled Ganesha but the flute just landed in His hands and the peacock feather just settled to crown His head! It was like Krishna wanted to be part of the art and wanted me to find Him in those lines. The paper was spray painted with blues and yellows - a leftover from an earlier project ;) I used black paint pens to fill in the details of this flute playing Ganesha..or a modak eating Krishna... Oh I Love Him so - the games He plays and the way He makes me smile.. no.. i am not losing it.. just gaining it ;)

Ramayan in Warli

Last week was our Jnana Yagna on Sri Rama Swaroopam in Fremont by our Acharya. Saint Tulsidas's love for Lord Rama pours out in his verses. The chanting is melodious, the stories are enchanting and the philosophy behind is profound. How blessed we are indeed to be able to listen to this scripture.

As part of the decor and to create an ambiance,  Roopa suggested that we paint Warli on scenes from Ramayan. Roopa worked on return to Ayodhya and Aranya Kaandam which was awesome. I worked on Yuddha Kaandam (above) and Rama Rajyam (below). I spray painted the paper 4 ft by 3 ft with brown paint and used a white paint-pen to draw the scenes.This is a super simple project and the effect is brilliant!

Psychedelic Ganesha

Sometimes I just draw things without a plan and I dont know if that is a good thing or bad! This one started off with a rough sketch of Ganesha, then the designs added in black sharpies and then the colors from Viggy's highlighters. I finally stopped because I ran out of patience! It is one of my pyschedelics!

Oh! to be the rock He sits on!!

I worked on this charcoal sketch (left) of Krishna for Murali - under pressure.. in a day! I sketched 3 other Krishnas in various other poses but chose this one to complete for him. Something about the peacock in the background was captivating and the feathers framed the Lord! The original that inspired me is quite different with Krishna sitting with a stick and multiple peacocks around him. I added the deer and the flute to add some other interest. The Krishna on the right is one of the others which is now complete with Radha resting on His shoulder.

It is such a blessing to be the flute, or the deer, or atleast the peacock, or the flowers at His feet or even the rock he is perched on!! Oh to be one of them!!  

An unfinished painting

I started this painting with great gusto but it remains in the easel yet to be completed. Though it is not exactly the replica of our bookshelves, it has semblance.. Eragon/Eldest series, Viggy's trophies..

Someday.. i will have to take the oils again and complete the painting.

Spot the avatars or not

This was one of my experiments with zentangle and somehow it fizzled out :( I challenge you to spot the 10 avatars and other details. If you spot atleast 2, I would be redeemed in some way! I warn you - it is abstract!

Originally intended as a gift for a friend, I scrapped the idea as it did not turn out the way I planned. I have to try another and this time, my thoughts are more organized! I think...

A stampede

Relay for life is around the corner. I had written in my testimonial that whoever donated to the cause would get a hand-drawn sketch. One wonders as to who actually read it  ;)  but true to my promise, I went on a spree of sketching elephants and giving them away.








How many wrinkles on a elephants face! An 8B pencil is ideal as you can go crazy zig-zagging across the face with it. As the sharpened point softens, the blurry shades adds to the effect!

Elephants at Trichur-puram! Viggy thought this sketch had some kind of fishes!! When I explained that they were elephants, he was like.. what are those things on its head!! I could only roll my eyes :)

It is sad that he (and many kids like him) never got an opportunity to see such a sight - decorated elephants, conches blowing and people parading on this occasion..This sketch is entirely in charcoal - the ones Appa gave.

Seeing Him in 2 mediums

Charcoal or Oil? I got mixed reviews. Wonder if it has anything to do with color and B&W or with my own skills :)

Personally both are my favorites. Though I wish I was first in line when He was distributing patience; knowing the time I spent on both of them, I am secretly happy. As He reclines with the background seemingly blurring and the baskets of flowers (or kumkum if you want!); life is good!

Vernacular memories - a Chembarathy and a Raandhal

Some childhood memories....
Call it shoe-flower or hibiscus, somehow it does not sound as beautiful as "Chembarathy". Where I grew up, our home had red hibiscus, yellow hibiscus and pink ones too and we would pluck them to decorate our temple and still leave most of it in the trees to offer it as "Krishnarpanamastu". Today in California, my face brightens up when I see it rarely, blooming in someone's home. But indeed I see it more often these days in other forms like hibiscus tea and then the other day one of our cousins had made tamales with dried hibiscus! I attempted the above oil painting as a tribute to the beautiful flower that will never dry in my memory and I watch it to relive my childhood :)

Raandhal - thats what we used to call this lantern. When we visited our grandparents, and whether there was a powercut or not, we would light these lanterns to take us through the dark nights in the patio. Memories of stories told in this light, of the bugs that would come buzzing to the light, of the smell of the kerosene, of thatha and paati watching us with knowing smiles...

I painted this as an experiment to get the effect of the light and shadow and even got the "EVERYDAY" brand at the base. After painting it, I switched off the lights in the study and could see the glow of the light :) and smell the kerosene and hear the stories  - ah how the mind plays tricks!

Gita Upadesh

When Uma and Srini asked me to complete this painting on a 4ft by 3ft wooden plank depicting the Gita Upadesh, it was a conflict inside of me - it was a seemingly daunting project but... The Painting was the brainchild of Srini's cousin who had painted the wheels of the chariot and penciled in the details of the chariot, Arjuna and the Lord. She had used some kind of 3d paints to border the heavy lines and the effect was stunning. It took me some hunting in Michaels to finally discover the fabric dimensional paints that worked perfect. I used acrylics for filling in colors and paint-pens for the minute details of the avatars on the chariot and ofcourse Hanumanji on the flag. I changed Krishna from what the original was penciled in to my Krishna and fell in love with His smile. The horses and the Sun was an after-thought and hope it fits it without overcrowding.

This painting was a humbling journey... the original artist had a beautiful vision that was hopefully carried forward, Uma and Srini trusted me to complete it, the painting will soon go where it belongs, I was just an instrument in Krishna's hands....
"You have a right to perform your prescribed action, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities and never be attached to not doing your duty" Ch. 2, 47 Bhagavad Gita

Roar or mew!

When I saw the original painting, I fell in love with it and my hands (or brushes) itched to try it. Armed with a photo from a friend's iphone (ofcourse with the original artist permission) my friend (yes...Roopa!) and I decided to paint the subject together. While mine started looking more like a kitten, hers looked older and mean. I tried hard to make it look older - narrowed the eyes, shortened the forehead, gave more 'beard' and what not but I guess thats how my heart is - young ;)

So roar or mew, this is one of my favorite oil.