Art always gives Energy...

I always enjoy doing Portraits. I did many portraits, but most of them are done with pencil, ink, ballpoint pen or watercolors in a more traditional way. Of course when I say traditional way, it's my own way of it. I really don't know what a traditional way of doing Art is.

Sketching portraits is something that I haven't attempted seriously. Lately, I have been making it a daily habit of doing at least one sketch a day, unless it is really a busy day.
Sorry...did I say busy?
Actually, I meant to say lazy, really... ;)

I challenged myself with the following two portraits by doing straight with ink and pen. At the end they boosted my energy to such a high level that I did a non-stop snow shovel for 3 hours cleaning my driveway wherein we had almost 3 feet of snow last night.

Art always gives energy :)

Media: Pen (Uni-ball Deluxe Micro Pen), Ink and Watercolors on paper (8" x 6")

Sources of Inspiration...

Inspiration for Artists can be found anywhere. A beautiful thing, a striking picture, a joyful event, an interesting news...anything can inspire the creativity of an Artist.

Newspapers contain not only interesting news, but also beautiful and interesting pictures. It is one of the best sources of my daily sketching.

Take a look at the following sketch page. The beautiful Shen Yun Performing Arts ad in the newspaper inspired me instantly to pull out my sketchbook.

Do you wonder- when there is this beautiful and colorful performance going on, who is that guy sitting at one corner of this page and taking a nap? Ha haa...that is one of the interesting secrets reveled on the internet and got into the news. Well, as he made into this sketch page, I just thought "let me give him a colorful nap for revealing his secret..." ;)

Media: Pen (Uni-ball Deluxe Micro Pen), Ink and Watercolors on paper (6" x 8")

Simply Rich…

Many times, sketching is a simple drawing. But it can go as simple as just an outline or as rich as more detailed one. Few of my sketches came out with really rich looks though I started those to be rough sketches for my future paintings.

The following is my typical fast sketch done on my commute to work today anyway, but as it has somewhat details went into it, I thought I would touch it with colors. The result added a bit of richness to it.

I believe there is Richness in every Simplicity ;)

Media: Pen (Uni-ball Deluxe Micro Pen), Ink and Watercolors on Paper (6" x 8")

Artist’s Reference...

Often times, Artists need some kind of a reference for their illustrations or paintings. If you organize all your sketches, the first and best reference to reach out is your own sketchbook. As the sketchbook contains your drawings with ideas added in your own way, most of the times you will find what you are looking for.

Here are some sketches that newly made into my sketchbook. I am sure, at some point in future I will refer to this page.

Till next post…Happy Sketching. ;)

Media: Pen (Uni-ball Deluxe Micro Pen) and Ink on Paper (6" x 8")

Sketching - Animals and Birds...

Sketching Animals and Birds is somewhat easier than sketching human beings as there is more room for errors. Some errors can easily be corrected or adjusted without any noticeable differences on the overall sketch.

As they can't show many feelings in their faces like humans, their gesture and action show their feelings instead. The Bird in the middle looks more relaxed than the Zebra or Monkey. Flamingos in flight, the walking Dog and the hanging Tree Frog, Swan...all their actions show their feelings.

Here is today's page in my sketchbook, I tried to capture some of their feelings.

Media: Pen (Pilot PRECISE V5 Rolling Ball - extra fine) and Ink on Paper (6" x 8")

Any given Morning...

Morning is the best time of the day for doing anything that the heart feels like doing. As the body is relaxed, mind is so fresh and energy levels running at so high, anything taken to do for the heart will come out good and gives more satisfaction. Guess what...the rest of the day just flies in high spirits.

As daily exercise is good for the body, daily sketching is good for the inner soul. When it is hard to set aside sometime for drawing in a busy life, setting little time aside early in the day makes the rest of the day go better.

Here is what my Saturday's morning made me feel better for the remaining day. ;)

Media: Pen (Pilot PRECISE V5 Rolling Ball - extra fine) and Ink on Paper (6" x 8")

Sketching- A starting point…

Any great Painting always starts with sketching. A sketch gives a chance to tryout different ideas and experiment with what go into the final painting. Typically, a sketch is always a fast experimental drawing done to study the subject, light, mood and various aspects of it while sketching. Study of a subject by sketching also makes the subject go into memory that lasts longer than just a visual study.

It's fun sketching and of course it's always refreshing ;)

Here is what went into my sketchbook today.

Media: Pen (Pilot PRECISE V5 Rolling Ball - extra fine) and Ink on Paper (6" x 8")

My sketchbook page today…

Here is what made into my sketchbook page today. A girl, a business man and a water front multi-storey complex with a motor boat in the water.

As always, a rapid and focused sketching like this makes my day. It gives me energy and refreshes my soul.

Media: Pen (Pilot PRECISE V5 Rolling Ball - extra fine) and Ink on Paper (6" x 8")

Today’s sketches...

Lately, daily sketching has become a part of my daily life. There are hardly any days that go by without some sketching. On any given working day, a half hour train commute gives me my own time back to me completely. Mostly, I will be sketching sitting with my head down on the train.

Here is a yesterday’s blank page filled with today’s sketches.

Media: Pen (Pilot PRECISE V5 Rolling Ball - extra fine) and Ink on Paper (6" x 8")

Peacock - for a good cause

Recently, we, a group of local Indian Artists decided to reach out to the Indian community at an annual celebration of Big Help, a non-profit organization that adopts kids and schools in India and provides educational needs. We chose to do coffee coasters as one of the three Art Items with our Paintings to sell and raise funds for Big Help at that event. The response exceeded our expectations. This Painting is specially done for that cause.

Media: Watercolor and ink on Paper (5" x 5")