Nature's ho-NEST-y...

There is no wonder greater than Nature in the universe. It's always pure, honest and beautiful! Art is nothing but a creation of natural things around us in some form or other with Artist's ideas added to it.

Birds are such an innocent creatures on the earth and their feelings always symbolize honesty and innocence. A beautiful landscape painting is never complete without having birds in it. Birds naturally belong in nature.

Weaver Bird's Nest has been one of the things in my wish-list of sketches/paintings. In my childhood, I used to very closely observe the nests that these birds weave and build on the Toddy palm trees seen all over the rice fields in my village Damaramadugu in Nellore, AP, India. Every nest that I could touch with my hands was a wonder to me, wondering how nicely and patiently those birds would go around in search of a little grass strip and bring it back to weave it into the nest. Some nests used to have multiple chambers ranging from one to four. I used to think the nests that have more chambers have more children. Also, by noticing the progress of those nests day after day, I always used to wonder- if a human ever had to weave such a nest, how long would it take.

I tried to recall and recollect my childhood memories from my Heart into my Art through this "Nest of a Weaver Bird" sketch.

Now, honestly- I can say, I have experienced the patience of Building a Nest in my (He)art. ;)

Title: Nest of a Weaver Bird
Media: Pen (Uni-ball Deluxe Micro Pen), Ink and Watercolors
Surface: Strathmore Smooth Bristol Paper 11" x 17" (27.9 cm x 43.2 cm)

Logo for a Lego League...

It's this year's Robotics season with Kids again. Once again, we decided to have our own group T-Shirts with our own Logo for this years Kids' First lego League (FLL) Challenge. This year's FLL challenge is Nature's Fury. The idea that I depicted in this logo is a Robot protecting a house during a storm. Initially, I did another idea very similar to this but with Robot arms around the house. But, with kids suggestion I changed it to a Robot holding a sword and a shield, indicating that it is ready to fight any force that tries to destroy the house. Kids always have innovative ideas ;)

Of course, Category 6 is our Team's name and Masters of Disasters is the tag line chosen by kids.

I also did one for our team at last year's FLL Senior Solutions Challenge. Check it out in the Gallery.

Media: Ink Pen on paper (8" x 11")

Keep Sharpening your Skills...

Everyone has some skill or other. Some recognize it early and take it as their profession; they are the ones who truly enjoy their profession and take their skill to new levels to put themselves on the top. Others keep it as a hobby, using once in a while, dreaming in their little hobby world, and using their skill when they feel like or when some kind of inspiration suddenly strikes them. Knowingly or unknowingly these are the people who don't know how to sharpen their skills like professionals do.

Like in life- there is no substitute for hard work, in Arts- there is no substitute for practice. I have been trying to follow lately "The Best Ever Advice" for hobbyists by the most admired Telugu Artist Sri Bapu. When asked for an advice, he always says...keep drawing everything you see around you, make paper cuttings of pictures you come across in newspapers, keep those cuttings and make an album of  your reference for drawings and illustrations, and more than anything practice, practice and practice. What more one can do other than this to sharpen skills?

Life never gives what we want. It only gives what it had already decided to give. "I don't have time for doing it", we all hear this everyday from many. That's very true, we don't have time for doing anything that we truly want to do. That's how life always goes on. But, if we won't do it, we don't know what we are capable of doing. Even if we do it once in a while, we don't know if we need to improve it any further, and we end up there thinking- that's all I can do. No...one can always do more and can always do even better. One should keep on doing it, practicing it more and more and more. Take practice as a never-ending journey. One day when we look back where and how we started, sure- we get surprised with how sharp our skills have become.

Lately, I have started sharpening my drawing skills by putting them into a constant practice-- an essential foundation in Art. I started to use my daily morning and evening commute time for doing it. With this I don't need to keep any special time aside, it is already set aside for me.

Now, I can say, I found what I wanted, within what life had decided and had given me. No more complaints and no more saying "I don't have time for sharpening my skills" ;) I would rather prefer saying to myself, " I should always find time..."

It's your skill. Keep sharpening it!
Happy sketching ;)

Media: Pen (Uni-ball Deluxe Micro Pen), Ink and Watercolors on paper (8" x 11")

Just shake those off...

Each day takes us through many moods: good and bad, happy and sad, best and worst, bright and gloomy... Good, best, happy and bright moods don't need any special care. They are just so special and they take care of themselves. The other face of the moods are those that need some special care. If we get stuck with those that need a special care, with giving no care, the day gets ruined. Any day gone bad is mere waste of precious time of a short-life.

One should shake those off when caught up in such bad moods. I am glad that I have my sketch book and a pen as my best companions and meditation tools; that go with me and are with me all the time. A 25 minute heads-down soul-meditation in my sketch book certainly turns my any given gloomy day into a bright one.

A day gone with not letting one to do what one wants to do is like a day never given at all.

Media: Pen (Uni-ball Deluxe Micro Pen), Ink and Watercolors on paper (8" x 11")

Making Deers with Palm Tree Leaves...

I am glad that I took a walk around the Santa Clara Convention Center after a 3 long days of SpringOne 2GX Conference. It was so beautiful, the weather was so nice and I couldn't lock myself boringly indoors in my Hotel room doing nothing but watching TV.

As I was walking, enjoying the nice sunny beautiful afternoon, there were couple of short palm trees close to the side walk. I had a Ha-Ha moment reaching those trees. I plucked few leaves.

It's been several years since I made a deer with leaves like this. What a perfect afternoon to relax!

I came back to the hotel room with a bunch of leaves and went back to my childhood days thinking of my Dad from whom I learned this art of "Making Deer". Actually, I only had observed him making this many times for me but never actually learnt how to make it. One fine evening he started showing me how to make it and I only learned the back legs portion of it. Then I had to run to play as my friends started calling me from outside.

Palm Tree 

I never got a chance to complete the remaining of my learning. I only attempted to do it after my Dad passed away. To my surprise, I could do it in my first attempt and then made it several times.

In India we used to make it with the leaves of Dates trees.

It's been so many years since I made one and first time in U.S, I found a leaf that is similar to Date Tree leaf and my Ha-Ha moment came in for me.

You just need 2 leaves to change those into a deer.

Stage-1
Two leaves (peeled into half)

 Stage-1 

  Make the leaves into half vertically; it's easy using the thumb nail.

Stage 2

 Stage-2 

 Again vertically, make each into half, keeping the bottom part connected.

Stage

 Stage-3 

Stage 4

 Connect them as shown.

 Stage-4 

 Start weaving both.

Stage 5

 Stage-5

 Continue as shown.

All Done

Done

My New Pal(ette)...

I have a new Pal now that I am going to spend my holy hours with; My brand new Palette for Watercolors.

I never knew anything about setting up a palette, or even color wheel that (m)any Art Book explains in the very first chapter itself. I always used to squeeze some paints from the tubes that I wanted to use for my Painting and then used to mix them here and there on the Palette and start Painting. Lately, I learned that many professional Artists have their Palettes setup and loaded with colors in a particular order that they prefer.

I organized and loaded my Palette with colors, ordered in some way; at least, all warms together and cools together, if not the perfect order.

The following is the order I preferred:

TOP - Left to Right 

Grumbacher Academy Artist's - Light Red (English Red)
Rowney Georgian - Burnt Sienna
Winsor & Newton Series 1 - Raw Sienna
Grumbacher Academy - Cadmium Red
Winsor & Newton Cotman Series 1 - Cadmium Orange Hue
Grumbacher Academy - Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue
Winsor & Newton Cotman Series 1 - Sap Green
Winsor & Newton Cotman Series 1A - 654 (no name of this color on the tube; surprising ...)

BOTTOM - Left to Right 

Grumbacher Academy - Violet (Thalo purple)
Grumbacher Academy - Cobalt Blue Hue
Rowney Georgian - Prussian Blue
Rowney Georgian - Ultra Marine Blue

MIDDLE 

Grumbacher Academy - Chinese White

I had no place for white, I stopped using white anyway after learning that the paper itself gives natural and better white for watercolors. Of course, also learned that there is no need for Black and hence Black has no place at all and I am not going to use it anyway.

So, is it right if I call it now - My perfect Palette?
Ha has...I don't know ;)
We will see what Beautiful Paintings my new Pal takes me into ;)

Speed Test...

Some times, I do put my skills and abilities to a speed test and Art is no exception ;)
Yesterday, I was on the train commuting to work. Half way through my commute, I was flipping through a Newspaper and an advertisement page caught my eye. I immediately opened my back pack, pulled my sketch pad & pen, and said to myself: "I should finish off a quick sketch of this beauty by the time I get off the train."

I hardly had about 15 minutes or so to do so. My heads were down and my (he)art was up running right into it. Finished a rapid sketch before the train reached the station. Came home in the evening and gave it a colorful touch. Not many sketches in my sketchbook get that touch, only few lucky ones do ;) 

Little bit of daily practice of anything is good in life and makes us better and better at it as we keep doing. My sketching has been improved a lot and the confidence levels have even gone up. Earlier, I used to open my sketch book, thinking "I don't know how it is going to end up like". Now, as I open my sketch book, "I know how anything is going to end up like."

Media: Pen (Uni-ball Deluxe Micro Pen), Ink and Watercolors on paper (8" x 11")

The Making of Lord Ganesha...

Sculpture is one another Art that I am very fascinated about. In the past, I tried some sculptures on the soap. I have been doing Ganesh Idol with natural clay since 2010 and this is my fourth year in a row. I think each year, I find myself improving at it and taking less time than previous year. This year, it took about 5 hours from start to finish. I captured the images of it at various stages.

Sculpture is a three dimensional Art. Doing it with clay is fun and challenging too. It is fun as it is easy to blend it into any shape easily just by hands. You almost need no tools to do a clay sculpture. Little tools help making some fine and accurate marks at the very end.

The following are the different stages of this year's Ganesh. One can see it taking the shape through these images:

 Stage-1 

It's a 10 pound (~ 5kg) block of Natural Clay just out of the box. I usually buy it at Michaels. It comes in Red and Natural colors. I prefer Natural. It's a heavy and compressed block of Natural clay. Once opened, I usually put it on a tray covered with Wax Paper. That is my platform I work on until I finish it. Next to it can be seen is my little tool set that I kept handy.

 Stage-2 

I usually change the square block into the very abstract shape that I wanted in the first stage; all done just by using my two thumbs and nothing else.

 Stage-3 

Next, I give the very rough shape of the final shape. It looks like an abstract model of the the end shape.

 Stage-4 

The fun stars from now. Also, it is from here the challenge starts and is bit time consuming, at least for me.  I start working on the final shape. I also start adding little things around the main shape. Things like additional hands, back-drop for the crown etc.

 Stage-5 

The additional things added can be seen here. You don't need to have these things planned as part of the main shape as carving these is not easy. They can always be added later. But they should blend and be attached to the main piece like it is carved. Otherwise they come apart very easily once it is dry. 

 Stage-6 

I added the Mushikam (mouse) here on the little stool which I already planned for it to place. From here on, it's just as many fine details as you can add to it. This is when I start using the tools, Until this point, my tools are my fingers. It's really fun using fingers and blending the clay. It easily blends as you want it to.

Sculpture is fun. I wish my passion for sculpture goes from clay to other material like wood, stone, plaster of paris, and even marble in future ;)

Believe me, you don't need to have any artistic skills to make a sculpture, especially with clay. It's just Fun and all need o have is willing to spend time and the desire to do it. It's just that simple ;)

Happy Sculpturing and have fun with it ;)

Daily Exercise...

Daily physical exercise is good for Health and keeps the Body in shape; Daily Art exercise is good for Soul and sharpens the Art skills. It's not easy to pick a brush to paint everyday, but it's not that hard at least to start some sketches which make you pick the brush to go into Painting. Unlike Painting, Sketching doesn't need mood, setup and inspiration. But it helps to improve Painting skills in many ways.

Media: Pen (Uni-ball Deluxe Micro Pen), Ink and Watercolors on paper (8" x 11")

Gone with the City - My (he)art...

I still have my Heart left in New York City, even after a week of returning home. I only captured pictures as references for my Art, but preserved many moments for memories in my Heart. Though I have been many times to this city, it's only this time I saw the real side and much beauty of it.

Visiting The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art  was an unforgettable experience. I lost myself many times in front of the original paintings of many great artists; Jackson Pollock, Monet's Lillis, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Picasso, John Constable, Sargent...just to name a few.

Watching this great City from the Hudson River was the most memorable experience. The lights and illumination at the Times Square (The Crossroads of the World) with dark skies was the most colorful experience of life. I truly fell in love with the dynamism, beauty and colors of this city.

I chose Times Square as my first subject for the series of my Paintings on this City. It is my first watercolor painting of New York City. With all the vibrant colors done in a subtle way, left to viewers imagination are some details of this ever changing colorful place.

I learned and practiced few techniques along the path of my experiment with vibrant colors in this painting. Following are some techniques that I tried:

• No prior sketching
• Free flow of colors
• Natural flow of water on the paper
• Not many details
• Mixture of one color with it's adjacent colors to add some Drama
• No black and brown colors used at all

 Painting  - Taking the shape

 Materials 

Surface: Bienfang 140lb/207gsm Water Color paper; Stretched

Paints: Grumbacher - Cadmium Yellow, Violet, Winsor & Newton - Cotman Turquoise Aquarelle, Cobalt blue, Cadmium Orange Hue, Speedball Professional Water Colors Red

Brushes: 10 round sable, 00 synthetic Winsor & Newton, and 000 Sable synthetic blend

Mediums: water

Size: 9" x 12"

Every Attempt...

In Painting, every attempt is an opportunity for learning. I love flowers. Though I did few drawings and sketches of flowers in the past, I can almost say, I never attempted flowers in watercolor.

In this first attempt, along the way, I learned few techniques and noted some points:

• Let the color freely flow on the paper and mix with adjacent colors to give a smooth and subtle effect
• Be prepared to do mistakes, after all this is the best way to learn ;)
• Show contrasting in adjacent colors
• Tried to show water drops on the leaves, but felt like I am not there yet ;(

This painting is based on a photograph that I took from my front yard, the first yellow rose of the season. First, I did a quick sketch with the ballpoint pen as part of my study before this attempt.

 The Sketch 

 Painting  - Taking the shape

 Materials 

Surface: Winsor & Newton Cotman 140lb/300gsm water Color paper

Paints: Grumbacher - Cadmium Yellow, Winsor & Newton - Cotman Turquoise Aquarelle, Sap Green, Cobalt blue, Cadmium Orange Hue

Brushes: 10 round sable, 00 synthetic Winsor & Newton, and 000 Sable synthetic blend

Mediums: water

Size: 7" x 10"

The stage is always set…

I believe in saying that “whenever a book is opened, something is learned”. But, whenever a sketchbook is opened, something is not only learned but also drawn.

Performing Arts and other type of Arts may require a big stage to be setup for actually performing. Sketching doesn’t require any setup. You simply open your Sketchbook and pickup a pencil or pen; the stage is all set for you to perform. It’s that simple ;)

I finished my second sketch book in just one year and opened a new one for my daily sketching. The first page is filled with sketches of many people. I always love sketching people. It’s bigger in size than my previous sketchbooks. After all, one can only go bigger and bigger in practice, isn’t it? ;)

Media: Pen (Uni-ball Deluxe Micro Pen), Ink and Watercolors on paper (8" x 11")

Telugu Version

వేదిక ఎప్పుడూ సిద్ధమే...

పుస్తకం తెరిచిన ప్రతిసారీ ఎంతో కొంత నేర్చుకోవటం నిజం అన్నది నేను గట్టిగా నమ్ముతాను. కానీ స్కెచ్ బుక్ తెరిచిన ప్రతిసారీ అందులో నేర్చుకోవటమే కాక బొమ్మలూ వచ్చి చేరుతాయి.

చాలా కళలకి ఓ పెద్ద వేదిక అంటూ కావాలి. కానీ స్కెచింగ్ కి ఒక బుక్, పెన్సిలో, పెన్నో తప్ప మరేమీ అవసరమే లేదు. పుస్తకం తెరిచినంత సునాయాసంగా వేదిక సిద్ధ్యం అయిపోతుంది. అంత సులభం అన్నమాట ;) 

ఒక సంవత్సరంలోనే రెండు స్కెచ్ బుక్కులు పూర్తి చేసి మూడవది మొదలు పెట్టాను. ఇందులో మొదటి పేజీ ఇలా చాలా మంది మనుషులతో నిండి పోయింది. నేను మనుషుల స్కెచెస్ నే ఎక్కువగా వేస్తూ ఉంటాను. ఈ బుక్ ముందు వాటికన్నా మరింత పెద్ద సైజ్. మరి నిత్య సాధనలో ఏదైనా పెరగక తప్పదుగదా? కాదంటారా? ;)