Day 7 of 10 - My experiments in Art...

Pooja Bedi - 1991
Poster colors on Paper (11" x 14")    

Experiment leads to discovery, and discovery leads to invention. An Artist goes through this process of natural phenomena if continued to experiment with Art for a longer period of time. I had gone through this process in my own way for many years. Now, when I go back and look into my early years of drawings and paintings, I do discover my experiments in many of those.

Back to 1991...

Change is always good. With change comes new energy, new ways to experiment, new opportunities to explore, new experiences to go through, and new knowledge to gain. There is no better place than "A Home" on earth. That statement holds good even for experiments. Home is where we live and our life is deeply connected into.

After my college, we moved to our new home in Janata Pet; Kavali, leaving away all my childhood Art memories at that rented home we lived in for 10 years, of course I did carry with mr in my (he)art. Till then, I used to come home 2 or 3 times a year, for every school/college vacations. Soon after I finished my Engineering, I got into my first job and used to come to my home in my home-town, Kavali for only Sankranthi festival or for any special occasions. All through those years, our home was my Art place for many of my Art works, and my vacation was my full-time art period.

My experiments...

This painting of "Pooja Bedi" was done during my short Sankranthi vacation at our new home in Kavali. It was based on a picture I found in a 12 page picture-wall-calendar, I think it had 12 different poses of "Pooja Bedi" exclusively done for McDowells Ad. This one inspired me to experiment with the same opaque "poster colors" that I used to.

Till then I used to leave all the space around a portrait untouched. I started experimenting by adding different kinds of backgrounds. This one was first-of-its-kind with horizontal lines. Later I extended my experiment to few more paintings by adding a similar background of stripes, in different angles, with different widths and spaces in between. Interestingly some came out very nicely and helped the subject to stand out.

I didn't know any of art vocabulary like composition, value, subject, stand-out etc, and knew nothing about standard sizes. Unknowingly, I was trying to make my subjects stand out in this by adding some kind of background. Also interestingly, the size of this Painting was done in a standard size of 11" x 14", my own cut-size for this particular painting. I used my then favorite "Ivory Board", a wedding card thick paper for this. That paper used to come in large standard watercolor paper of size 22" x 30", called "full-size" (learned this standard word used in watercolor painting, few years ago). I used to cut paper into the size I'd like to, no standards. I still remember, sometimes when I did not have a scale/ruler handy, I used to make my own by folding a newspaper, several folds, and used to use that to cut the paper or even for drawing any straight lines.

I also started to get some of my Paintings framed around that time. I remember my search for a good framing shop in Hyderabad. After enquiring and searching a lot, found a framing shop in Abids along the road of CHERMAS, and one more in Kachiguda near the railway station. I got this painting laminated in a thick plastic paper at Sangareddy, my first-job-place. This was the only painting I went for lamination. Don't know why, I guess I was experimenting with ways to protect and hang my paintings onto walls. Also, I guess, I could afford as I started working. ;)

Change leads to experiment, experiment leads to discovery, discovery lead to invention and invention leads to innovation.

Be changing, experimenting, discovering, inventing and innovating...

Day 6 of 10 - Every art-work has a story to tell...

Portrait of Prime Minister of India - Indira Gandhi
Ballpoint Pen on Paper (8" x 10")     

It was only two years I went to this college for my Intermediate (+2) with Maths, Physics, Chemistry as core subjects, English and Sanskrit as language subjects. There was another subject that no school or college was offering, but I was enrolling myself into it wherever I went, Art. ;)

Back to 1985...

Andhra Loyola Collge, Vijayawada

A beautiful campus just beneath Gunadala Mary Matha hills, with greenery everywhere, the best college buildings with best class rooms, best labs, playgrounds, library and best hostels with single rooms for every hostler who could get admission. Getting admission in the college was hard, believe me, getting admission into hostel was even harder, at least for me. Even colleges in USA as on today do not have this kind of dormitory rooms for undergraduate students. The oval shaped 3-story hostel buildings had all kinds of facilities, with center gardens, best dining halls with the best Andhra meals and breakfast. You name anything required for a college student, Andhra Loyola College provided the best of it in there.

With best lecturers, in fact, many of them were the authors of prescribed English medium text books of Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Zoology, the college offered the best campus experience for the students. Of course, it was expensive to afford for middle class families. But my Mom supported me with her little salary she was making by working as a clerk in Girls High School, Kavali. More than half of her salary was going just for my monthly hostel bill.

Along with all the best academics and facilities, the discipline there was also the best. All Christian Fathers were in the management with some in teaching as well. No Christian Father or Brother would speak Telugu in there. Half of the students were coming in from Hindi and English speaking families. Getting in there coming from one of the two best schools in the state, the pressure to get perfect scores in Maths, Physics and Chemistry was there always on three of us from our school who made into the college. Coming from 10 years of Telugu medium into English medium was an added pressure. One can easily imagine the pressure on a 15 year old kid in there ;)

My new friend easing off all that pressure - Ballpoint Pen

My Art has memories in Andhra Loyola College campus. My drawings got matured with my age, the accuracy of lines, and their sharpness improved a lot as I kept doing it in my Gogineni hostel room number 34 (first year) and 210 (second year).

I took one step further in drawing, moving up from pencil to work with my new friend - Ballpoint pen. Drawing with Ballpoint pen was more challenging for the obvious fact that nothing could be erased. So, I had to be more accurate with every line of details. I started to get better at it attempt after attempt.

Smt. Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi, Prime Minister of India

The drawing I share today was done a couple of months after Prime Minister of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi got assassinated. I was in the hostel when it happened. Vijayawada went on a high alert as the city had considerable number of Sikhs living in. We had one Sikh student in our hostel and he was safely put in an unknown place for few days by our college management. The situation was that bad.

After that unfortunate incident Indira Gandhi's picture was on every India's magazine cover page for few months. I did this when came home in Kavali for Sankranthi vacation. "News Week" weekly magazine's cover page was my reference. While I recollect my memories of this Art work, I must also recollect a memory that is very hard to detach from this portrait in my mind.

Teared into pieces

I was very happy with the outcome of this portrait. First time I experimented with two colors of ballpoint pens. For Artists it is very hard to repeat the same art work once done up to self-satisfaction. But, I did repeat this portrait of Indira Gandhi, the very next day. The reason to do again, my uncle Praja (Prabhakar Jaladanki) was so impressed looking at it and asked me to give it away to "Pendem Soda Factory" shop owner who owned a family business in Kavali and was a strong follower of Nehru's family. He said, if I give it away to him he would frame and hang it in his shop, and my Art work would get exposure to the whole town of people. I was actually very thrilled by that idea, imagining myArt work would become talk-of-the-town. But, I did not want to give it away. So, I started a new one, bigger, better, and on a better paper.

I finished outline with pencil and started doing ballpoint pen work. It was coming out 100% more better than this. It was halfway done and was on my way to finish. Then my brother came home, along with him came one of his friends. He was a guy who would say he could do anything under the Sun. After few minutes of chatting with them, I stepped inside into another room to grab something. I came back in 2 minutes and was shocked to see what my half-finished Art work went through. నాకు ఏడుపొక్కటే తక్కువ. He finished the remaining lower half of the face in that 2 minutes while I was away from it, and showed me saying- "ఏం గిరీ ఎట్టేశా చూడు, నీ అంత టైం పట్టదులే నాకు బొమ్మెయటానికి". I went into a sudden depression looking at it, several hours of my hard but joyful efforts went in vain. It took few days for me recover from that.

Then I never bothered myself to make another attempt. I did not even want to be talk-of-the-town. That short-lived little dream in myself to become talk-of-the-town simply vanished. Later, with tears in my eyes, I had torn the paper into pieces. My special new friend, the Ballpoint pen was lying down as it did not know how to speak up or express its own feelings.

"...because every picture has a story to tell."

~~ ~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Day 5 of 10 - I do have my own Art Guru...

A mere copy of Uttam's original painting
Poster colors on Paper (8" x 10").   

Back to 1988...

After a couple of years exploration of watercolor painting for the material and resources, I finally found a resource and met my Guru as well.

Andhra Bhoomi Telugu weekly magazine - My best resource at that time

Seriously, Andhra Bhoomi Telugu weekly magazine was my best and primary reference and resource for learning Watercolor Painting. Those were the years that Telugu weekly magazines enjoyed the best weekly circulation numbers and market share of all time. A new generation of young male story tellers and writers changed the world of "Telugu novels". They brought in new wave, taking away readers' minds from imaginary world into a new world of thinking. పాఠకుల్ని ఊహా లోకం నుంచి ఆలోచనా లోకం వైపుకి మళ్ళించారు.

The new interestingly innovative way they narrated stories by making readers to think clearly put an end to an era, and started a new era. "Andhra Bhoomi" weekly magazine was the front runner in the new era. It was so popular, and would get sold-out by the same-day-evening after hitting the market. This was the case every single week in every single town in AP state. Some of the writers' names I still remember are: యండమూరి వీరేంద్రనాథ్ గారు, కొమ్మనాపల్లి గణపతి రావు గారు, సూర్యదేవర రామ్మోహన రావు గారు. With the new thinking wave, came in the new illustrators and artists. "Andhra Bhoomi" also had the best-in-class artists and finest illustrators of all-time.

Back then, I wanted to paint like those artists, and I had no reason to give up...

Found my Art Guru - Uttam Kumar (ఉత్తమ్ కుమార్) 

పేరుకి తగ్గట్టే ఉత్తమ "పెయింటింగ్ ఇలస్ట్రేషన్స్" వేస్తూ తెలుగు పత్రికా లోకంలో కొత్త ఒరవడి సృష్టించిన ఆర్టిస్ట్. His mesmerizing and beautiful paintings printed mostly in black and white every week, and occasionally in color in Andhra Bhoomi weekly became my weekly Art lessons. The magazine became my study guide and Uttam was my teacher in there. I was his sincere student observing, studying and practicing every little detail, every single painting, and every single week for a couple of years.

His paintings pulled me into watercolor painting in my second-year of four-year Engineering College. I first started learning painting by copying his paintings. I copied and reproduced quite a few of his works that looked exactly like his originals. Copying is in fact the best way to do a deeper study of masters in Art, especially when you are learning, you must at least try to copy some masters' works. It helps a lot in the initial period before you find out and meet with your own style. I would say, never be afraid to imitate the style of an Artist you admire, that is the way you learn the best.

I continued learning from Uttam's paintings rest of my college years. After that suddenly his illustrations and cartoons started to slow down and disappeared from the magazine. I was wondering "why" for quite sometime. One day I cam e to know when I went to meet సికరాజు గారు (సి. కనకాంబర రాజు) Editor of Andhra Bhoomi in Secunderabad Deccan Chronicle office (will share those details on some other time) that he went to USA to work in Hollywood. After 2 years or so, I read a 3-page article about him in Andhra Bhoomi weekly. I came to know little more details that he settled in Hollywood working as an Art Director for Steven Spielberg, and was the only Indian artist working among 70,000 employees. I felt both happy and sad, happy that his talent took him all the way there, sad I didn't get a chance to meet him. Then after I came to USA, I searched internet (before Google era) a lot to find any details about him and found nothing. Even now if you google, you will you will not find much.

Mighty Hanuman (a comic book series)

I am not sure how many Indians had seen this comic series that Uttam painted for and released  probably only one in the series before he left for USA to work in Hollywood. That was one of the best I had seen in my life. I bought a copy and I still have it. It has hundreds of his wonderful Hanuman paintings.

I was fortunate

I was happy one day to see Uttam's comment on a drawing that my son Bhuvan did which I posted on his little blog. Here is the link: http://bhuvan-arts.blogspot.com/search/label/Uttam. That was one of the happiest moments in my life. I sent him an email and got a reply. I was going on vacation to India and shared my contact number in India with him. He did call me and even talked with Bhuvan. It was a very precious few-minutes-of-time in my life for me. I was very fortunate.

For many years his paintings remained the main source of reference for me.  Later on, I continued to draw and paint once in a while, but slowed down a lot as life put me on the fast-track to keep running for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I completely stopped doing any Art in between several years, in that phase for almost 20 years.

Testing abilities

Having the fire-of-desire inside to learn anything is only a thing, but letting it out and taking it for a ride to test is's abilities is something and the main thing. One needs right kind of resources and opportunities to test one's own abilities.

ఉత్తమ్ గారి ప్రభావం నా బొమ్మలపై చాలా ఉంది. ఆయన పెయింటింగ్స్ చాలా అందంగా ఉండేవి, ముఖ్యంగా ఆయన పెయింటింగ్స్ లో తెలుగు అమ్మాయిలు ప్రత్యేకమైన అందంతో కనిపించేవారు. ఆ ప్రభావమేనేమో, పెయింటింగ్ అంటే "అందం" గానే ఉండాలన్న భావన నాలో బలంగా నాటుకుపోయింది. అందంగా లేని పెయింటింగ్స్ నన్ను అంతగా ఇంప్రెస్ చెయ్యలేవు, ఎక్కువగా ప్రభావితం చెయ్యలేవు.

In Art, I always look for one word: "Beautiful",  before I look for anything else. 

The Painting I shared in this post is merely a copy of Uttam's original painting. This one went on for display on our college literary-club-news-board just for a couple of days.

I have been a self-learner in Art. But I do have my own Art Guru and I am his Ekalavya sishya!

~ ~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ ~

Day 4 of 10 - Still, I wanted to paint and I never gave up...(cont'd)

Kamal Hassan - 1987
Camel Poster Colors mixed with Acrylic on Paper (12" x 16").   

Continuing my exploration of Painting from yesterday's post...

Portrait of Kamal Hassan done in 1987. A small portion of a light pole leaning against can also be seen. I had this painting pasted on the wall in my Engineering hostel room, and thus it got damaged. So, I had to cut the paper around it losing the date below my signature.

Going back 2 more years, 1987...

As I was progressing, my signature was also undergoing some changes ;) This was one of my very early paintings of that time. The thickness of the paint on paper is clearly visible. One reason for that was, I was happily mixing white fabric color unknowingly with every color, and that was also causing patches. I was that ignorant. I did know that fabric color was for cloth painting, but didn't know that it was not good for mixing with poster color.

Resources - Art material

There were no resources available to get any details about art material and where to buy if available. I spent too much of my time going around almost to every single bookshop in Vijayawada including some on the unknown streets in one-town (the whole-sale business area) with very narrow roads. A bookshop guy in Patamata told me to check one-town area, and that's how I ended up searching for shops even in an area that was full of whole-sale warehouses where in they wouldn't sell anything in small numbers/quantities.

Vijayawada one-town was a big area and was known for it's whole-sale business.It was also very difficult to navigate in and out. Once you enter, you won't be able to come out, back to the place where you entered. One had to walk and would only get lost somewhere deep inside.

After making a couple of trips, all the way from one end of the city to another, by taking infamous Vijayawada city buses, I somehow managed to find a whole-sale business stationery warehouse with a small shutter room at the front which was open. The person I met there at least did not put a puzzling face when I asked for art material like watercolors, paper, palettes and brushes. He went inside and brought a box of Camel Poster Colors and said that's all he had. I already had a few colors that I bought in my hometown Kavali. I bought a few more just because I went all the way over there and that guy at least showed me something. I returned to my hostel very disappointed with my mind clearly set, I was done with my exploration of watercolor painting material. Whatever I got by then, I had to just explore my watercolor painting with.

Still, I wanted to paint and I never gave up...

Resources - Artists

I tried my best to find an artist or a watercolor painter. The only media available was newspapers. I still remember, one Sunday morning I took bus to the other end of the city after I saw some details about an Art exhibition in a newspaper. I did meet the Artist there who displayed her beautiful European paintings done on china (పింగాణి) plates. They were absolutely beautiful and stunning. She copied many European masters' paintings and painted those on china plates. But, she did not help me in giving any details that I wanted to know about painting in general.

Another instance I met an Artist was, few days before a new year eve, a poor Artist came to our hostel to sell greeting cards he painted. They were all original post-card size paintings done in a unique style. I was very impressed with his works and bought a bunch, about a dozen or so. I think each one costed Rs 5 /-. He felt so happy that at least one bought some of his cards. I showed him some of my paintings and asked him few questions about the material he used and how he did his paintings. He did not reveal any details at all, and said- he was from a poor family, learned some techniques from his father and hence would not tell anyone as he was making a living by selling his cards. He made a point not to share any details about his works. I didn't know at that time Artists' world was bit secret and they wouldn't reveal their techniques. I never came across any other Artist in my college life, other than the same one coming in for a couple of years in a row, and I became his customer.

Still, I wanted to paint and I never gave up...

Resources - Books

When finding Computer Science text books itself was hard, how could one expect to find Art books? Our college library had a couple of foreign art books and magazines. I did refer to those many times to learn on "how to paint watercolors". The funniest thing was, those all were on oil-painting. ;) But those books planted a seed of desire in me for Oil Painting.

Also, I used to go to buy old books and magazines on the footpaths near Alankar theatre on Sunday evenings. Found a bunch of foreign magazines, but all were on oil-painting. So, I had no luck in finding any books/magazines on watercolor painting.

Still, I wanted to paint and I never gave up...

To be continued in tomorrow's post when I share how I found my watercolor painting "Guru"...

Day 3 of 10 - Still, I wanted to paint and I never gave up...

Based on a Painting by Uttam - a Telugu Artist and Illustrator - 1989
Poster colors on Paper (6" x 8")    

Back to 1989...

I did this Painting in my Engineering college-days when I was exploring watercolor painting without knowing any basics of it. This was a mere copy of a painting by a wonderful Telugu Artist Uttam who was an illustrator in "Andhra Bhoomi" Telugu weekly magazine back then. If I have to say the name of my Guru in Painting, I say it was Uttam. I was his Ekalavya student.

It was a couple of years of my own exploration already by then, but I would still say that I did not know any basics even then. All I knew was, "I want to do Painting" kind of zeal in me. That made me figure out my own way of interestingly dealing with colors and paper that never co-operated.

Colors

Believe me, I did not know anything about color chart. With just a set of 4 colors (excluding black and white), and not 3 primary colors, I was able to get any color I wanted by mixing those 4 colors in different proportions. I had no clue how I was getting that done, something in my mind was automatically driving me, never failed to get an exact color or a shade of color I wanted to get to.

The colors I was using were not true watercolors that are supposed to be transparent . They were Camel (the popular Indian art brand at that time) poster colors. All I knew about those colors was they can be mixed with water and that made me think they were just watercolors. Due to the nature of highly opaque (non transparent), once the color goes on paper it covers the paper like a thick quote of paint applied. So I was struggling a lot to get the right natural blending of colors on the paper. Also, I was using white color a lot. Without mixing at least some amount of white color, my brush wouldn't touch the paper. I was doing all wrong things with colors but the results were quite amazing, not because of any magic, but just because of more efforts and extended labor put into each painting to get the best possible results that I could.

Still, I wanted to paint and I never gave up...

Paper

I did not even know that watercolor painting needed a special kind of paper. All that I tried was just a thick paper that was typically used for wedding cards. One of my favorites at that time was called "Ivory board" (not even sure of that was any official name for that paper, but I got this name from the owner of Chelva Pilla bookshop in Kavali who first told me the name). So, it was just a thick paper with regular smooth surface like the paper used for regular books that was unsuitable for painting.

Still, I wanted to paint and I never gave up...

Brushes

I just had very few small brushes (by the number printed on the brush like 0,1,2 and so on) that I bought in Kavali and I was using those for many years. I had few brushes of size 0, 1 and 2. They were that tiny, not a good quality, and wouldn't even hold enough color or water.

Still, I wanted to paint and I never gave up...

Techniques

I knew absolutely no techniques back then in Painting. The only technique I figured out after awhile was- watercolor painting needs to go from light to dark. Once a dark color is put on that kind of paper, it is just impossible to change it by any means. I learned this fact very hard-way by spoiling many paintings that I started. In fact, I tried many times to cover a dark color with white and then started painting over it, I failed during that process every single time, anyway :)

Still, I wanted to paint and I never gave up...

To be continued tomorrow when I post another painting of that time...

Day 2 of 10 - The beautiful portrait of Divya Bharati...

The beautiful "Divya Bharati" - 1993
Ballpoint Pen on Paper (8.5" x 11")    

How many still remember the very short-lived and very beautiful Bollywood actress, Divya Bharati who became so popular in no time? I guess, everyone who lived in 1990s or born after 1990 remembers her. It was a shock for many including me to know from the news that she was no more on the day she left the world.

Back to 1993...

I still remember, in Hyderabad, a day after that sad news, when I returned from office in the evening, my roommates were all talking about her, reading an article published in "Deccan Chronicle" daily news paper, evening edition. The article had a beautiful black and white picture of her published. This portrait was based on that specific picture published in Deccan Chronicle.

It was an instant, very casually done portrait, straight with a ball-point pen on a used computer printout I found on my books. In fact, it was a dot matrix printer paper with holes on both sides for the printer to hold the paper. The front side of the paper had my one-page resume printed and the back side was all blank. I was not prepared to do a drawing, actually, to even find a good paper for it. The instinct was that instant.

I can probably attribute this work to very few instances at which I did an Art work while both my skill and concentration levels were working at their best. I myself say "beautiful" whenever I look at this work of mine. Sometimes, an art work looks more beautiful than the actual photograph. This one is surely and truly an example of such.

At that time, we had no media for individuals, and social media was not even an imaginable technology to wish the soul with a personal rest and peace kid of messages. Now, while I recollect those moments when a write this post on "The beautiful portrait of Divya Bharati", I don't want to use the traditional three letter acronym. I would rather say- 

You will be "Remembered In Peace" forever, Long live in the hearts of your fans!!

"Be so good they can’t ignore you." ~ Steve Martin

Day 1 of 10...

"Dark and Light"
Indian Ink on Paper (8" x 10")    

Day 1 of 10

Accepting the 10-day challenge on Facebook, I am just sharing on my blog whatever I shared on Facebook. After all, my blog is my first place for my Art.

I will be posting my Art works that I never posted on Facebook. Also, to keep it interesting, I will be posting my early Art works during and immediately after my college days. My Art is only incomplete if I do not add my soul to it in my own words.

Back to 1992...

Today's painting was done in 1992 in Indian Ink with brush. OMG, it was like yesterday for me. The busiest period in my life in Hyderabad, I was a bachelor working full-time and doing my part-time M.Tech at JNTU, Masabtank. Also, I was trying my best to get into Art, by not missing any Art exhibition in and around Ravindra Bharathi, trying to meet various Artists and Illustrators and keeping sometime aside to draw and paint.

Share your valuable feelings and thoughts in comment. As usual, I will not let a single comment go un-acknowledged. ;) Enjoy!

My friend goes with me wherever I go...

Piccadilly Circus - LONDON, Sep 25, 1994
Sketch pens on Paper (6" x 8")    

గుండె లోతుల్లోకి తొంగి చూసుకుంటే కొన్ని జ్ఞాపకాలెంతో మధురంగా అనిపిస్తాయి. మది వినీలాకాశంలో తేలిపోతూ, సన్నని జల్లులు కురిపించి, ఆ జల్లుల్లో మదిని తడిపి ముద్దచేసి, వెళ్తూ వెళ్తూ జ్ఞాపకాల తెమ్మెరలు  అలా వీచి మదిని సేదతీర్చి మరీ వెళ్ళిపోతుంటాయి.

Aug 15 1994, London, my first step outside India.

స్వతంత్ర రాజ్యాలుగా వెలుగొందుతూ విలసిల్లుతున్న భారత సామ్రాజ్యాన్ని దాదాపు 200 సంవత్సరాలు తమ గుప్పిట్లో పట్టిపెట్టి గిలగిలలాడించి, ఆ గుప్పిట ఒక్కటై ప్రజలంతా ఏకమై జరిపిన పోరాటాల్లో గడగడలాడి, చివరికి భరతభూమిని రెండు ముక్కలు చేసి విడిచి వెళ్ళిన బ్రిటీష్ గడ్డపై మనకి స్వాతంత్ర్యం వచ్చిన రోజే అడుగుపెడుతున్నానని భావోద్వేగాల్లో, I boarded my first plane in my life from Bombay to Londan, on a 3 month project trip for TCS, Bombay.

కానీ లండన్ లో అడుగుపెట్టాక  అణువణువూ సుందర అందాలకు క్షణక్షణమూ మది పులకరించిపోయింది. అక్కడ గడచిన, గడిపిన 3 నెలల్లో ప్రతి శని,ఆదివారం తిరిగి చూసిన ప్రదేశాలూ, ఆర్ట్ గ్యాలరీలూ నాలోని ఆర్టిస్ట్ ని మళ్ళీ తట్టిలేపాయి. బొమ్మలని నేనెప్పుడూ వీడలేదు, ఎంత బిజీగా ఉన్నా ఎప్పుడో ఒకప్పుడు కనీసం ఒక పెన్సిలో, పెన్నో పట్టుకుని గీసుకోవటం నాలో నా జీవితంలో ఆర్ట్ కి నేనిచ్చుకున్న ప్రాధాన్యం. ఏ కొత్త ప్రదేశం అయినా, అక్కడ మన మనసుకి నచ్చిన కొన్ని గురుతులతో, గడిపిన క్షణాలతో మనతో మనలో ఎప్పటికీ ఉండిపోతాయి. 

London has a special corner in my Art and in my Heart. Some of the world's finest Art galleries I visited, Art books, cards and Art material I bought in London are very special to me. Though I had no time left for my Art during those 10 to 12 weekends of my stay in London, I did few sketches including the one of Dianna, Princess of Whales which I gifted to my project-mate Deepti who joined me from TCS, Calcutta to work with me on the same project. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of it.

This is a sketch done when I was in London based on my own photograph that I took at Piccadilly Circus, London. An Artist is connected with every small Art work of his/her own. I am no exception.

Art is my friend, goes with me wherever I go and wherever I stay...

"Connect, collect and re-collect good memories in anything and everything you do; 

anywhere and everywhere you go!"

~ Giridhar Pottepalem

Happy Painting!

Happy Memories!!

Be Stylish...

"Be Stylish" - Portrait of Karronya Katrynn
Ballpoint Pen on Paper 8.5" x 11"

Be traditional, and stylish. Add your own style to everything you do. You are unique in the universe, and your style is also unique. Add a bit of it to everything you do and create your own signature.

"Being stylish is about enjoying your life and expressing yourself and your inner light."

~ Tori Amos

Happy Painting!

Add your style to anything you do!!

Details 
Title: Be Stylish...
Inspiration: Talented Dancer, Multi-talented Artist & Telugu Actress Karronya Katrynn
Mediums: Ballpoint Pen on Paper
Size: 8.5" x 11" (21.5 cm x 27.9 cm)

Surface: Artist's Loft Sketchbook 75 LB

Happy Father's Day!

"సీతారాములు - బంగరు జింక" - by నాన్న (P.Ramachandraiah)
1953, దామరమడుగు, నెల్లూరు

నాన్న - నాకు తెలిసిన మొట్టమొదటి ఆర్టిస్ట్

ఊహతెలిశాక నాన్న వేసిన కొద్ది బొమ్మలు దగ్గరగా చూసే అదృష్టం ఒకటిరెండుసార్లు మాత్రమే కలిగినా, అందంగా బ్లూ, రెడ్ ఇంక్ తో నాన్న రాసుకున్న టీచింగ్ నోట్స్, మా రెండు మూడు తరగతుల క్లాస్ పుస్తకాలపై అందంగా నాన్న రాసిన మా పేర్లు, నన్ను ఐదవ తరగతి లో రెసిడెన్షియల్  స్కూల్ కి పంపుతూ సర్దిన డార్క్ బ్రౌన్ లెదర్ సూట్కేస్ లోపల బ్రౌన్ లైనింగ్ క్లాత్ పై నల్లని ఇంక్ తో ఎంతో అందంగా రాసిన నా అడ్రస్ P.Giridhar, 4-12-14, Old Town, Kavali, Nellore Dist. PIN- 524 201, A.P., తర్వాత ఒక యేడాది పాటు వారం వారం క్రమం తప్పకుండా నాకు రాసిన ఉత్తరాలు ఇవే నాకు మిగిలిన అందమైన నాన్న జ్ఞాపకాలు.

"దామరమడుగు" - నెల్లూరు కి దగ్గర్లో, చుట్టూ పచ్చని వరి పొలాల్తో, అప్పట్లోనే ఆధునిక కమ్యూనిస్ట్ భావాల్తో కళకళలాడే మాడ్రన్ రిచ్ అందమైన పల్లెటూరు. అక్కడున్న రెండేళ్ళలో ఆడుతూ పాడుతూ గడిపిన బాల్యం. నాన్న పుట్టిపెరిగిన రెండంతస్తుల మిద్దింట్లో పైన పెద్ద గదిలో నున్నని సున్నపు గోడపై రెండు శ్రీరాముని పెయింటింగ్స్. ఒకటి బంగారు జింక ని చూపిస్తూ పట్టితెమ్మని అడుగుతున్న సీత పక్కన రాముడూ ఎదురుగా బంగరుజింక.  ఇంకొకటేమో పక్కనే కిరీటం పెట్టుకుని, బాణం పట్టుకుని నిలబడ్డ శ్రీరాముడు.

ఆ రెండేళ్ళలో మిద్దెపై ఆడుతూ పాడుతూ గడిపిన రోజుల్లో నాన్న చిన్నప్పుడు అంత అందని అందమైన పెయింటింగ్స్ వేశాడు అని తప్ప ఆ బొమ్మల గురించి నాన్నని అడిగి తెలుసుకోవాలి అన్న ఊహ కూడా ఇంకా రాని వయసు. తెలుసుకోవాలన్న ఊహా, వయసూ, కుతూహలం కలిగేసరికి పక్కన లేని నాన్న. బహుశా నాన్న హైస్కూల్ చదివేరోజుల్లో వేసినవి అని, కింద P.Ramachandraiah, 1953 అని ఉన్న సంతకం, అప్పుడు నాన్నకి పదీ పదకొండేళ్ళ వయసు. ఏ రంగుల్తో వేశాడు, ఎలా అంత ఎత్తున వేశాడూ తెలుసుకోవాలన్న కోరిక ఎప్పటికీ కోరికగానే మిగిలిపోయింది. ఏ బల్లపైనో, కుర్చీపైనో ఎక్కి వేస్తే తప్ప అంత ఎత్తున గోడపై అంత పెద్ద సైజ్ లో పెయింటింగ్స్ సాధ్యం కావు.

తర్వాత చాలాకాలం ఆ గోడకి సున్నం వేసినప్పుడల్లా ఆ పెయింటింగ్స్ మాత్రం టచ్ చెయ్యకుండా వదలిన నాన్న చిన్న తమ్ముడు మా "సుధబాబు" (సుధాకర్ పొట్టేపాళెం), నేను పెరిగి పద్దయ్యి ఒకసారి నా కెమెరాతో ఊరెళ్తే "గిరీ ఇంతకాలం కాపాడుకుంటూ వచ్చాను, ఇల్లు రీమోడలింగ్ చెయ్యిస్తే గోడ తీసేయాల్సి రావచ్చు, ఫొటో తీసి పెట్టుకో గుర్తుగా ఉంటుంది ఎప్పటికీ" అంటే ఫొటోలు తీసి పెట్టుకున్నాను. ఇప్పుడా ఇల్లు రూపురేఖలు మారిపోయాయి, ఆగోడా లేదు. మిగిలింది ఆ ఫొటోలే. 

బాల్యం మిగిల్చిన జ్ఞాపకాలు  ఎంతో మధురం.

ఆ జ్ఞాపకాల్లో నాన్న బొమ్మలు ఇంకెంతో అపురూపం.

నాన్న ద్వారా బొమ్మల హాబీ నాకు కలిగిన అదృష్టం.

ఆ హాబీ కొనసాగిస్తున్నానన్న భావన సంతృప్తికరం.

నేనేసిన ఒక్కచిన్నబొమ్మైనా నాన్న చూడలేదన్న బాధ ఎంతున్నా, నా బొమ్మల్లో నాన్నని చూసుకుంటూ ఆ స్మృతుల్లో ముందుకి కదిలే కాలం... ఈ ఫాదర్స్ డే నాడు నాన్ననీ, నాన్న వేసిన బొమ్మల్నీ గుర్తుచేసుకుంటూ...

Happy Father's Day!

Carry the heritage you inherited from your Father!!

Beautiful...

"Beautiful" - Portrait of Karronya Katrynn

Ballpoint Pen on paper 8.5" x 11"

You are the Artist of your life. Paint it beautiful.

I have been trying to be more accurate lately with portraits I do. Portraits are challenging to do. In order to get it right, every minute detail needs to be done so accurately. A small inaccurate detail changes it to look very different than the actual person. Doing a portrait of a beautiful girl challenges even further. To get it as beautiful as the girl, every detail needs to be not just accurate but also beautiful.

This is again the portrait of multi-talented Telugu upcoming actress, the beautiful Karronya Katrynn. I picked Ballpoint Pen this time for doing this. I truly believe that to be a well-rounded artist one should not stick to one media.

"Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art."

~ Don Miguel Ruiz

Happy Painting!

You are the Artist of your life!

Details 
Title: Beautiful...
Inspiration: Talented Dancer, Multi-talented Artist & Telugu Actress Karronya Katrynn
Mediums: Ballpoint Pen on Paper
Size: 8.5" x 11" (21.5 cm x 27.9 cm)

Surface: Artist's Loft Sketchbook 75 LB

Peacock...

Watercolors on Paper 10" x 12"   

Sometimes, Painting is very frustrating and painful. I am trying to convince and compromise myself with this Paper Arches that I bought in bulk. It's not my friendly paper. I put this back in my todo list for an Oil Painting. :(

"Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success."

~ Bo Bennett

Details 

Inspiration: My Todo list

Mediums: Watercolors

Size: 10" x 12" (25 cm x 30 cm)

Surface: Arches Watercolor Paper, Cold Press, 140 LB