Linisha's Lines, Scribbles and Dots..

Rajma Chawal

2012-02-02T13:55:00.001-05:00

Rajma (Kidney Beans), a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I had to come home and journal this one! So tasty!

We have kind of semi-closed our kitchen since the past couple weeks.. So our meals are not co-ordinated well.. We would have an Italian and a South Indian side for a North Indian entree! Or we would have porridge with a small bowl of chickpeas, or whatever! So it was indeed natural to develop a craving for some good home made wholesome complete meal! And I felt like having some Rajma Chawal... When I told that to Kamini, she made the loveliest Rajma! Simple homemade types.. You don't get those in Restaurants! Wow! Yummy it was!!

Tanush and Tikta

2012-01-31T18:05:00.001-05:00

Tanush and Tikta, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

...sometime last year.. Tanush wasn't well that day, I remember. Manu had stayed up for most part of the night, taking care of him. I had been up off and on, but better rested than Manu. Afternoon they both fell asleep with Tanush on Manu's lap. When I finished cooking and cleaning, they were still in the same position - I decided not to wake them up and sketched them instead.

Faces

2012-01-30T21:45:00.001-05:00

10 Faces, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Some faces that came to mind, when I was sketching a age for The Sketchbook Project. I took 20 secs on each face. I can recognize each of them - I am not sure you would be able to though LOL.

For I Remember You

New Delhi

2012-01-27T00:54:00.001-05:00

New Delhi, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

My memory of my birthplace is like a fresh early morning breeze.. with the majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan against a foggy haze standing strong against the pink twilight hues...

As majestic as New Delhi is with its strong history and lovely architecture, there was always this softness and innocence in its air like the crape jasmine that grew outside almost all the houses I knew!
I used to treat it with just as much importance as the fragrant white jasmine. I couldn't understand why mom wouldn't want to place that in front of God, or why the phoolwalas wouldn't sell this flower..

Maybe it was my childhood, but I loved the city and all the small and big things it had with all my heart!

For I Remember You..

Briti - Pre Sketch

2012-01-23T14:04:00.001-05:00

Briti, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

HB and 2B Pencil on sketchbook.

This was my Pencil presketch for Briti's final watercolor portrait.. I made it for a value study before I got to painting it.. The face doesn't really match up with the little girl's, but the shades helped me place the colors the way I did..

I recorded the next few steps too..

I decided to submit this one for the Sketchbook Project.

I Remember You as Tanush's First Friend

Ruskin Bond

2012-01-21T13:45:00.001-05:00

Ruskin Bond, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

.. I Remember You..

I remember the day Amma and Appa took Pras and me to one of Ruskin Bond's Book Signing functions. I had started reading his books since a few months ago.. and I had been talking about it all the while..

I love the way he wrote a scene. It used to feel very real; the scenes were more modern.. Ruskin Bond is of Anglo Indian descent and his stories were set around the post independence India in places where he had grown up.. I still love to think about his stories...

This was from a photograph that appeared in the Indian national daily, The Hindu

This is for the Sketchbook Project

Dwarakesh

2012-01-19T12:51:00.001-05:00

Dwarakesh, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I Remember You as Tanush's Friend..

We would be heading to India, and we would definitely miss you, little guy! I hope we are able to meet up sometime.. Tanush and Dwarakesh were always a treat to watch when they were together.. He'll call Tanush as Tan-anna!

.. for Sketchbook Project

Briti

2012-01-17T14:44:00.001-05:00

Briti, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Watercolor on 9 X 12, Cold Press 140 lb.

Briti is Tanush's first friend! And I'll always remember her that way! First friends are always special right!?
They both have been friends from even before they could walk! Maybe even stand!! And thanks to them, we met some real lovely people who'll always stay warm in our thoughts!

Panera Bread

2012-01-14T13:45:00.001-05:00

Panera Bread, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Watercolor pencils on Hand.book Journal

Plein Air..

.. Sketched it sitting in my car, for a little more than an hour..
.. Got hungry..
.. Got out of the car, walked across the road, and into Panera..
.. Enjoyed a delicious hot bowl of soup and a sandwich..

Gray

2012-01-13T20:33:00.001-05:00

Gray, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I drew this page sometime in Jan last year..
But it matched the exact scene today.. white snow, pale white roofs, and pale white sky..
But I am glad it snowed finally.. Fresh snow floating and flying in the wind.. I like the night scenery when it snows. Everything looks bright and festive, thanks to the snow, which reflects any light around it!

Snowman

2012-01-13T11:36:00.001-05:00

Snowman, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Watercolor inktense pencils in daily journal.

Sometimes moments turn into pleasant memories too soon...

I don't want to give this gift away! I don't want to sell my bed.. I don't want to sell my car.. I don't want to go anywhere! This is my home! This is where I made lot of memories..!

(I also dedicated the above statement to a dear friend of mine, who just lost her most loved one! May God be with her in all her moments.. Give her strength)

Cars on the road

2012-01-11T19:18:00.001-05:00

Cars on the road, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

One day I decided that I am going to make use of the 45 min drive to our destination, as time for sketching.. I am glad I did, because we had a traffic jam too and we were stuck on the freeway for about 30 extra mins.. Didn't get a chance to trail different cars, as they hardly moved, but had enough time to sketch a few of them... Hubby was sad that he was behind the wheel!

The Flag

2012-01-09T11:08:00.001-05:00

The Flag, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Watercolor pencils on Handbook sketchbook

This flag was majestically flying near a diner.. It was, but, torn on the top stripe.. and it looked like the storm was being harsh on it.. I drove by it to drop Tanush at his school, but on my way back, the flag against all those nasty gray growling clouds seemed to be asking for a picture! It made me park opposite and capture it in my sketchbook...

A lousy plein air sketch - I had only 5 watercolor pencils.. No amount of touch ups with a bit of watercolor could rescue it...

BTW, they still haven't changed that flag :(

Tanush's Pediatrician

2012-01-07T21:23:00.001-05:00

Tanush's Pediatrician, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

An old sketch today.. I have quite a collection of old sketches that I am yet to scan/photograph and upload..

I loved how the raindrops had settled on the windows of the car here.. I was so happy about the 10 mins that we had before the appointment. Tanush didn't mind; he was also happy listening to a favorite song on the radio.. I asked him if I could take some time to draw, and he answered like a grown up - "Go on Amma!"

I (am forced to) Remember You

2012-01-06T15:50:00.001-05:00

I (am forced to) Remember You, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Yes, though I would rather just forget that you exist, I am forced to remember you every day because of the latest sensation that you have stirred up with 'Why This Kolaveri'..

But I decided that I will pay my respects for the other song that you created history in Tamil Film industry with.. Manmatha Rasa! That started a whole string of electrifying dance sequences without which, now, no Tamil movie is complete! This started it all!

Now, the songs are sometimes faster than the dancers can handle! So they wear their costumes and dance their usual speeds and the post production fast forwards the scene so that it matches with the tempo of the song...

But Salute you for this one!

Here is adding ONE more for my sketchbook project!! Isn't it a wonderful study of Black and White composition!? Each frame was a 20 sec sketch! :)

Auburn hills Library - Completed

2012-01-05T20:13:00.001-05:00

Auburn hills Library - Completed, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Plein air, Cold Press 140lb, WN Watercolors

Happy New Year!!!

Today, finally the sun came out.. and I could take a good picture of the painting, which I had completed some time ago.. I had taken a few photographs in good light previously too, but they had all come out slightly shaken.

This time, there was not much bright sunlight this Summer, in Michigan. I had been sketching other places in gloomy settings while this painting remained a work-in-progress for quite some time. I finally got a good sunny day and went to the library for finishing the painting. What was surprising was that, for the entire one hour that I sat there finishing the last session of the painting, there was beautiful bright sunlight. Then I left the painting on the car passenger seat and went to the library to pick up some holds. By the time I checked them out and came out, the weather had turned gloomy and we had our first Winter snow flurries! I was amazed! It was such a beauty! Now, some beautiful things, can NOT be captured by camera or sketch! It has to be felt and enjoyed!

If you were following, the WIP link is here.

Barb

2011-12-19T11:28:00.001-05:00

Barb, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

When you are new to a place, the first person who welcomes you decides whether you will be Family or remain a Stranger..

It was overwhelming when I was packing to come to the US for my assignment. I was glad that Manu was already here, and I was joining him at the same location.

When I joined work that first Monday, Barb introduced herself to me as my Team Lead. She was was the first American I got to interact and work with as soon as I landed here. Right from the first day, she made me feel right at home here.. The rest of my team was as friendly as well... I will always remember them as wonderful people..

I Remember You Barb... and thank you!

Mani Thatha

2011-12-15T23:17:00.001-05:00

Grandpa, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

This is my Thatha..

.. My first one for 'I remember you'..

I lost Thatha to cancer, when I was still in school. But I still think of him and seek his grace, with the other elders of my family, whenever there is an important day and whenever I say thanks for my life..

Prasanna and I used to think that he resembled Ashok Kumar of Bollywood., but with his sense of humor he would sometimes say that we call him Amzad Khan instead (he was a villain..)!

I remember hot summer days star gazing up on thatha's terrace, with Amma, Appa, Sridhar Mama and Gomathy Chithi, when we had a current failure..! He used to be the stylish grandpa - loved to dress himself up in a blazer, tie, shirt and trousers. His English was lovely though his Hindi was better not spoken about. When he traveled to Russia, I was one proud granddaughter!

I remember you, Thatha... You know I always do...!

Figure drawing

2011-12-03T13:16:00.001-05:00

..from a figure drawing class that I attended, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I learnt so much from that workshop, I am glad I joined that..

Moonlight

2011-11-09T23:41:00.001-05:00

Moonlight, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Tomorrow is a Full Moon night..

Last month, on full moon, the view from my window was so pretty, I had to capture it in my journal.

A month now and the tree doesn't have a single leaf on it! I think it will look spooky with just those dry branches reaching into the moon's aura!

Buddy's Pizza

2011-11-08T13:49:00.001-05:00

Buddy's, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

To continue with my Library Sketch, I had stepped out packing in all my plein air gear to go to the library, but didn't find the sunlight and the shadows.. The colors around don't seem the same on a cloudy day.. They look even more muted on a rainy day!

So last week, I headed to Buddy's Pizza instead, since I had been attracted by how the light on the sign shines in a gloomy day.

I have, for some time been trying to understand how you can reproduce the light effect of a neon sign; on a sunny day, the light hardly ever catches your eye!

Very recently, I had the chance of reading James Gurney's "Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter", and that's where I discovered how you can show that. So I just went ahead and sketched this one. I think the book should be put in the artists painter's list of essentials.

After painting it all, I took a photograph of the building from my car so that I could see what was different about the sign in the photograph versus what I painted.. I feel the sign came out better in the snap than the sketch though...

Too bad, I composed the sketch wrongly. And the camera doesn't do much justice to the colors either!
Next time, I'll just draw the lights close up, rather than the entire building...!

Plein air painting at the Library

2011-11-02T11:16:00.001-04:00

Plein air painting at the Library, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

The Auburn Hills Library is a beautiful building .. I have kind of always wanted to paint it, photograph it or something.. This is a plein air painting study of the library that I plan to work on over 3 sittings of about an hour or so.. That is all that I can afford at one time..

So yesterday, after dropping Tanush off to his pre-school, I drove down to the library and parked near the spot where I had parked last week to draw the pencil sketch of the building. I didn't get the same spot, but got space 3 spots away. That was ok.

I painted for 2 hours..

Then I was so hungry that I had to drive back home, only to be reminded that I had cooked nothing! So I cooked up a quick oatmeal with fruits and nuts for lunch.. I wasn't very pleased with it though, especially with wanting to eat nothing sweet.. I still have this weird taste in my mouth from the cold and sore throat that I had last entire week. But thank God for the good nutritious food..!

I just hope tomorrow I get the same parking spot as I did last week..

Hairstyles!

2011-10-27T11:37:00.001-04:00

Hairstyles!, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Manu has been growing his hair for a while now. He was trying to imagine what style would suit him the best; if he should go about growing it any further at all.. He was all set to go out for a hair trim and suggestion, when he remembered that there are softwares that sometimes superimpose a hairstyle on your face and suggest what might suit you!

But I know, the softwares out there wouldn't make a good copy of you to suggest hairstyles. And their hairstyles are usually pretty impractical if you don't have the texture that they show you..
So I offered Hubby that I could sketch his face and put some imagined hairstyles on him.. I used the same pose for some time, and then decided to try out a couple more faces... It was a totally creative evening!

Rewards?
1. A fun filled evening of laughter
2. Tanush recognizes all of them as his dad (that's the authenticity certification that I trust!)
3. Manu dropped the idea of going in for a cut, and tried swish swashing his hair at home.. He liked what he made!
4. He sports one of these hairstyles!

Stunned

2011-10-14T23:34:00.001-04:00

Stunned, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

She sat there stunned for long enough to let me sketch her and color her too.

Pookalam

2011-10-13T16:49:00.001-04:00

Pookalam, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Tanush does all his work with pride! He helps me with pride! And then announces it to everyone with pride. I have to give it to him though - he does a very good job most of the times.. He decorated the Onam Pookalam outside our house and then when the guests came home, he happily announced, "I did it! I made this..!"
The next day, my parents on Skype got the same information.. so did Manu's parents. through phone..

Moon Aura

2011-10-12T10:12:00.001-04:00

Moon Aura , a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

The sun had almost set.. There was still a cool blue in the sky.. The stars were nowhere to be seen - it was cloudy. But the white clouds looked pink in the evening light, and for some time the moon wore a pink ring on itself!

Camera

2011-10-10T15:35:00.001-04:00

This post was still in Drafts!! Well, I release you dear post! Go shine!!

Drew this and the next one while listening to Manu speak on the phone with a friend...

What have you read

2011-10-10T15:35:00.000-04:00

I got the following list from another blogger - - and thought I would go through and check to see how many I have read. There are many books on this list that I plan on reading and a few that I will not, namely that Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe. I saw the movie and that was enough for me.

So how many books on this list have you read?

The BBC says most people will only read 6 of these 100 Books.Instructions:Cut and Copy the list into your notes... then...1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read. (remove other persons X's)2) Tally your total at the bottom.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (tried reading through it...)
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy X
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams XX
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini X
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown X
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel X
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens X
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas X
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens X
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle XX
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

(I have reads hundreds of other books not even listed. I marked more than one X on some because that is how many times I have read them.)

Golden glow

2011-10-10T15:29:00.001-04:00

Golden glow, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Mmmm! Fall colors...! The whole room used to be filled with a golden glow for most part of the day, when the light passed through this tree to fill up the room. And that was just a couple of days ago..
.. Now it is 60% empty as I upload this picture,, Winter is on its way here!

Rainy ground

2011-09-23T15:29:00.001-04:00

Rainy ground, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I tried painting a rainy scene with wet ground. It was raining heavily when I started with the sketch. By the time I started to paint the car, the rain had stopped, the road had already started drying.. And then the sun came out while I was painting the car! All in just about 20 mins!

Hands and handsfree

2011-09-22T14:55:00.001-04:00

Hands and handsfree, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Tanush sometimes holds our chin and says "So sweet". Sometimes he'll say in his baby tone and voice "Very good Amma"
Tanush has been doing so many things that I wish I could record.. Just picking out some random ones with the time that he gives me to note them down...
How I wish I could record all the small cute anecdotes that we all share in life...

Faces

2011-09-21T23:20:00.001-04:00

Faces, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

.. what do YOU do while you wait for your chance to get your hair cut?

Housetop

2011-09-20T10:31:00.001-04:00

Housetop, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Not so long ago, I never thought this view was interesting enough even for a 5 min sketch; now I want to draw this same view 3 times a day, on rainy day, on sunny day, at night, with pencil, with paint............
My time doesn't allow me all that luxury, though I may make one by nightlights...

I tried the variegated painting approach at the lower edge of the painting, so that the focus is directed at the house-top.

Happy Friday!

2011-09-16T11:42:00.001-04:00

Have you ever been drawing sick? I am going through that one now! This is the second time I have been drawing sick after the one during my first and only week at School of Planning and Architecture. That time, I knew I had grown sick of drawing because there was suddenly just too much drawing being done, and there was no more relaxed time to to fill up with Math or Science... And that, I thought, was an indication that I wasn't meant to do so much Drawing! I am a Science person, you know?! What a wrong judgement!

After that I realized that I grew sick of almost everything, when I overdid it - either because I needed to (project driven), or because I was hard on myself (like a marathon cleaning..!) Well, everyone did grow sick.. End of the day, anyone who's just been doing one single thing throughout the day, would grow sick of it! I understood that you just had to chill for some time and you could come back to what you were doing with renewed energy! If only I had done this, that time, 12 years back, I would have been an Architect now! Or something related to Art!!!! :)

Well, but until, my sickness goes away, I'll post these old posts here!

Thank God for Friday! I shall eat a Non-Indian meal sometime today.. I always make an International meal for Friday. Either the breakfast, lunch or the dinner (or all three) would be 'International'. I mean non-Indian..

Foliage study, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.Here's a Foliage study.. and it is a bad one!! I sat there plein air, trying to figure out how to render this one.. Do you do the background first, or are you supposed to color the foreground? With watercolors, I felt that the dark background should be done after I drew all the delicate leaves.. But it came out like this.. Maybe I just needed to spend some extra time on it!

Orchids study - background changed

2011-09-14T12:11:00.001-04:00

Orchids study - background changed, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I changed the background from a monochrome purple to brown and green. The scan is bad, but that's the contrast that is on the real painting.. So I feel that it needs a darker shade of brown and a stronger wash too.. Here, I left a bit of purple there to see if a variegated background color would look better or a solid one! It doesn't seem to work - not with the purple anyway!

Orchid Study

2011-09-12T22:35:00.001-04:00

Orchid Study, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

This can be called as the phase two of the Charcoal study of Orchids that I had put up some time back. It is not intended to be the final version. I am studying it still.. I thought that purple would make a good background, however, it has started looking somewhat monochromatic! So I may change the color of the background.

American Goldfinch

2011-08-22T15:15:00.003-04:00

American Goldfinch, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I found out what they are called, after I clicked them, then drew them and colored them. These cute little birds are regular visitors around our apartment... They fly so fast and yet so gracefully, it is calming just to watch them glide up and down, around their partners.. I hope that's a partner dance and not a war dance; it is too beautiful to be a war dance.. They make a sharp yet not shrill musical tweet..

And what do you see up there? That was a dragonfly pair.. and their mating dance midair! We had stopped to sight some deer.. and that's where we saw these guys! I have never seen (maybe noticed) such amazing wonder works of nature!

Introducing.... My Sketchbook

2011-08-19T13:42:00.001-04:00

Ready to be painted on..

New sketchbook meets my old sketchbook :)

Ah! My sketchbook is ready! Here is my new friend.. All hand bound – with some favorite cover papers. The whole binding journey was interesting! You would already know if you have ‘read’ about what I am up to these days and how I stumbled into an interesting bookbinding site.

Why did I decide to bind one? Hmm, because I was tired of looking around the house for one of the many sketchbooks I am using, because I didn’t have the right media at that time! I’ll pull out watercolor and then go looking for my watercolor sketchbook; or have just pen and wouldn’t want to waste a watercolor page with pen marks on it!

And because I was so totally in awe with the sketchbooks that other artists bind! They look so so yummy! I just had to try it!

I totally recommend anyone who’s been eager yet unsure of binding their own books, to just take the leap! It is not overwhelming – not at all if you do what I did. I combined steps from 2 different places and went ahead. And some reading of binding experiences by other artists through the last few months only helped me make some good choices.

Here’s what I did to get this book up:

What all did I use:

1. Paper (or different papers) of your choice

I used

Drawing paper

Bristol paper

90lb watercolor

140lb watercolor

2. Patterned/Colored Paper – For the cover of the book. I went by Dani’s suggestion (from Dani Draws) and bought some scrapbook paper. I used a construction paper strip for the spine.

3. Heavy board – from the back of a couple writing pads that were going to the trash anyway!

4. Glue - Regular white glue

5. Brush to apply the glue.

6. Needle – Regular stitching needle

7. Thread – I used thread from a new dental floss. Or you can use a strong regular thread with beeswax applied on it. I didn’t want to go through all that trouble with no idea what each thing was – but I read from one of the other artists that a dental floss works well since it is strong!

8. Knife for cutting paper

9. Cutting board – a must

10. Ruler

11. Awl / thumbtrack to make holes.

12. Ribbon – optional; for a bookmark or so.

13. Elastic band – optional; I didn’t use it – it can keep your pages together when you are drawing.

14. Paper towels for wiping excess glue.

Method

I am just going to lead you to the sites I referred to:
Moleskine Reloaded
Dani Draws
Artist's Journal Workshop - You have some interesting links under the topic 'Bookbinding and Lettering Resources'

1. Book Block – Either site

1. Cutting paper – Moleskine Reloaded

2. Creating Signatures – Either site

3. Punching - Moleskine Reloaded

4. Stitching - Moleskine Reloaded

5. Trimming – Dani Draws

2. Cover

1. Cutting cover board

2. Cutting Spine board

3. Cover paper

4. Spine paper

5. End paper

6. Gluing

3. Putting them all together

Note: I followed the instructions given in Dani’s page for most part of the binding. It is explained in a simpler fashion compared to some other sites that I had visited. She has some good pictures to support her steps too. So I cut my paper and created my signatures. But I got confused when I came to the stitching steps. So I followed Moleskine Reloaded for the steps Punching and Stitching. There you have a lot of detail in explanation. Am I contradicting myself? Well, I needed some detailed explanation when it came to stitching the pages. But only for that.

I came back to Dani Draws for Trimming and the rest of the steps.

End papers

Ribbon bookmark

Sketchbook

Pages

Closing end papers

Good choices

1. For the sake of simplicity, I just took papers of the size and bent them into half. I didn’t bother with making them into a 5X7 or so sized paper. This is only my first sketchbook after all!

2. Kept it simple – bought nothing costly or fancy. Used paper that was there at home.

Bad choices

1. Started with no cutting board but a soft board. In no time, my table was marked with a couple of scratches!

Hope it was all helpful :) and hope you enjoyed reading through it!

A Day to Ourselves..

2011-08-17T00:11:00.007-04:00

Flickr: My first charcoal attempt.. I tried this one as a pre-sketch for a value study. I would like to try out a watercolor of the orchid.

I am looking forward to tomorrow. Tanush has his daycare and Manu has taken the day off for his physical examination.. So, barring the physical he has for most of the morning, it's going to be a day with each other. A long time since we had a day to ourselves.. Manu had taken a day off a few weeks ago, when Tanush had his daycare - but that day was to attend to some of our other errands - getting Tanush's documents done and some shipping and shopping errands. And before we knew, the whole day was gone and we were heading towards Tanush's daycare to pick him up.

As far as I can think of, there is really nothing on the plate for tomorrow - yeah, barring that doctor's appointment.. Thinking of that took me back to our days together in Bengaluru (it was Bangalore then). Not the ones immediately after our wedding; the ones when we used to hang out together, but we weren't really a couple yet! Why those? I don't know.. We knew we liked each other - YES, but we wouldn't be talking about it. We would meet up, go to Landmark or some place, where Manu would listen to the samples of his favorite music or something, and I would always be hanging out in the stationary section. Or we would meet up at a juice joint with another common friend Leya.. Or we would be walking up and down in MG Road just yakkety yakking about our work, want-to-studies, common and uncommon friends and the local food.. He was always a movie fan, I was always not! So we wouldn't go to the movies together always. The non-couple couple days!!

We still love to take quick walks - if we get a chance anymore. I don't know what we plan to do for the day - whether we would hit a movie theater together, or spend the day outside - him with his camera and me with my sketchbooks, but I am really excited about tomorrow.

Learning Perspective

2011-08-16T23:50:00.002-04:00

Learning Perspective, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I have been looking for a good book on Perspective Drawing. I picked up 'The Art of Perspective' by Phil Metzger from the library. I found the book easy to understand - very straightforward and well explained. Metzger has put in demonstrations in different media to explain different types of perspective. I feel this is a great book for anyone who wants to understand how to implement laws of perspective in his art..

I followed the demo instructions in the book and just copied his demonstration. This is just the first exercise. I am looking forward to the next exercise...

Eggplant

2011-08-15T10:11:00.002-04:00

Eggplant, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
..today, she is a budding fruit.. when I drew her, she was a lovely flower.. waiting for the eggplant..

It is a delight seeing the garden bloom and then change into little fruits and then they change their colors. Tanush and I keep track of the growth of the couple of plants that we have potted in our patio.. Strawberries have bloomed too, and soon we are going to be eating some of them - that is, if Tanush doesn't squish them before we harvest them!

Geese in my backyard

2011-08-13T00:29:00.003-04:00

Geese in my backyard, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

One of the best views from my patio is these geese coming around every summer end.. in search of some bright sunlight.. They'll come in big groups and families and will bask around pecking at the grass.. They'll move with the sunlight until the shadow falls over the whole area, and then they'll fly off retiring for the day..

They'll be back again, the next day.. Until the whole of fall! Such a cheerful sight..

A Wonderful site for binding books...

2011-08-07T01:14:00.000-04:00

.. and some more papercrafts..

Yes.. I am binding my own sketchbook! And I am pretty excited about it!!
But, this post belongs to someone else..

I was digging around to fill my artist's well, and I landed at this wonderful page called 'Stamphenge' by Jean aka “Kwen”/Queen of Inkland today. I am so glad I did, 'cause it has a wealth of information on papercrafts and bookmaking! Such a co-incidence that I had to stumble upon the site when I am binding my first sketchbook! I was looking at the accordion paper sketchbook construction, and here were 1000 other lovely book folding and binding ideas smiling back at me! Check out this page on making Minibooks for yourself!

Some books described there are so pretty, it just made me want to write poetry all over again! Did I just re-discover another part of me that went hiding into shadows? I went back to my eighth grade days when I started writing poems.. and when did I write my last one!? Where are they!? Are they still around or have they gotten thrown away!? I don't really know!!

Thanks Jean, for making a page like that. I especially loved going through the Explosion Box and Flag Book (where there are pictures of two little hands attaching the flags to the book; how cute is that..)! I have bookmarked the site for myself! :)

(Continuing with the update about Guess what I am up to now... I have just glued it all together, and am waiting for the end product - will be ready by morning... :)

Ah! My very first handmade sketchbook, with different papers like I would like for now!)

Guess what I am upto now..

2011-08-03T13:52:00.001-04:00

Makes me think...

2011-08-02T10:27:00.003-04:00

Makes me think..., a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

... sometimes I go into this mode of "Am I doing anything important!? I am no longer getting a cashcheque home.. at least for sometime more... And I still haven't made a selling of any art piece of mine...Am I not wasting my life away?"

And then I remember - with the current scenario, I can't do much; but with whatever time I have, I do a lot more than many!! :)

Oh, and I like my changed color co-ordinates for my blog.. What do you think!?

Class

2011-07-31T00:08:00.003-04:00

Class, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I warmed up with this sketch to start working on a (then) new drawing.. Tanush is now totally comfortable with his 'school', though, those days he would just stand around with his stuffed dog, Scout..

He likes to see this sketch, and recognizes that it is his school.. and then he points out to himself in the picture..!

A journal entry

2011-07-29T16:47:00.002-04:00

Morning bed hair/ Dad and Son, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Sometimes I just draw anything!!!
Morning bed hair while Tanush was brushing.. and dad and son here, relaxing..

Graduating!

2011-07-28T13:58:00.002-04:00

Graduating!, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Well, couldn't stop myself from drawing it.. and now couldn't stop myself from posting it... You can hold back on something that's an important part of your day, only for so long!
(BTW, did you notice Tanush's dumbbells?)

Kai for JKPP

2011-07-28T00:06:00.002-04:00

Kai for JKPP, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

.. starting with my digital painting explorations... rough, refined and final sketches all done digitally...

Ref photo here

Happy B'day Manu

2011-07-25T23:59:00.003-04:00

Happy B'day Manu, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

This is my card to Manu welcoming him to the fourth decade... :)
He's not yet seen it - I thought I'll not post it at least until he sees it... His B'day was yesterday, so I decided that I'll post it here anyway...
Tanush has been ill since yesterday morning, so Manu's not really been keen...

P90X Chicken

2011-07-20T10:36:00.003-04:00

P90X Chicken, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

We watched Tony Horton's GSeriesFIT Live interview... It was a good session on him answering some of the fitness questions asked by people and in general.. He is funny - a good showman!
After listening to Tony's "My chicken is free range whole grain fed chicken..", I couldn't get this scene off my head, until I got it down on paper! So here goes!
Well, how long can you not draw about what is an important part of your everyday life?

Kat-in-the-hat1 for JKPP

2011-07-17T22:29:00.003-04:00

Kat-in-the-hat1 for JKPP, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Kathy for JKPP...
Here's her
picture...

and here's her photostream !

Eye shadow

2011-07-14T10:51:00.002-04:00

Eye shadow, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I give up on coloring my eyes... Time to throw all of those shadows; too bad, I bought all of them!

Strawberries

2011-07-14T10:50:00.002-04:00

Strawberries, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

A page from my journal...
This strawberry grew a few days ago.. and was such a lovely little thing! My son brought it inside the house - he's still exploring the 'gentle' touch, and so the slightly crushed strawberry became the subject of the my drawing. And then, Tanush just went ahead and tried to stick the fruit on its drawing.. that's how the journal entry got colored!

Gonzalezmoreno1 for JKPP

2011-07-10T22:28:00.003-04:00

Gonzalezmoreno1 for JKPP, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Tried something new again... This was a good challenge to the self... The ref photo was in black and white.. I just decided to try out some colors, from imagination and her other photographs...

...using the reference photo from Flickr - Julia Kay's Portrait Party

... Carmen's photostream can be seen here

A new WIP

2011-07-06T10:42:00.002-04:00

Next WIP, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

.. this is a photograph that was taken by Manu way back in 2007. He found this one while selecting some of his good photographs to submit to a contest... And then thought, maybe we should try some paint out...

.. So this is my current project... These are just the notes.. Stay tuned for the finals.. And maybe the steps too!

Something Fresh!

2011-07-02T12:55:00.000-04:00

Something Fresh!, originally uploaded by teshionx.

Fresh carrots, just bought from the store. I decided to paint it before I put it in the crisper of my fridge...

Just in time for EDM 112 - Something Fresh

Digital Portrait

2011-07-01T13:51:00.003-04:00

Sketchbook Mobile Express.., a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

.. I tried sketching Manu with my finger tip on my mobile phone.. I feel that the application is very limited when it comes to size on a mobile phone.. The tip of the finger is too thick! I wonder how to use that sketchbook!!

Studying composition

2011-06-30T14:00:00.003-04:00

There was this fun exercise, where we had to mute a movie and watch it. When an interesting plot came about we had to pause it and draw it quickly. About comic book pane size. And then unpause and pause again on the next scene and draw again....

..it kind of gave it a graphic novel look.. and also showed me how moviemakers plan on composition....

..I loved the exercise so much, I even tried it on a good simple scene..

Petting the Dog

2011-06-29T12:55:00.002-04:00

Petting the Dog, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

.. some gesture drawings..
.. drew my neighbors who were trying to pet their non-cooperating dog, so they could brush his fur...

Lawn

2011-06-28T10:41:00.002-04:00

Lawn, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

..behind my house...

I have drawn it in snow - I have drawn it in sun.. It looks beautiful all the same!

A Plein air painting

2011-06-16T10:33:00.002-04:00

Plein air, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

.. I guess this would count as my first plein air painting! I have never been able to pull out my paints and brush, though I carry them around everywhere!

..this was when we went with Pras for his skydiving... which didn't happen that day, because of a change in weather just before he was scheduled to fly!!!

Asleep

2011-06-03T01:09:00.000-04:00

I didn't get much time to work on this one.. Partially because I took so much time to come up with an idea!

But I didn't want to miss out the chance.. So here's my contribution to this week's IF..

A Tight vs Loose painting

2011-05-26T16:54:00.002-04:00

Tight painting, originally uploaded by teshionx.

I followed an exercise in Wetcanvas.com, and did this painting. I assumed that tight painting means you pay attention to the minute details and paint every bit possible by you in the time you assign yourself... I took about an hour for this one..

I assumed that loose painting means you don't pay attention to the minute details, but just the blobs of colors and paint... This took me 45 mins... But I am convinced that this is still pretty tight!

I'll be drawing one more - trying to be much looser than this...

Soaked

2011-05-24T12:33:00.002-04:00

Soaked, originally uploaded by teshionx.

This weekend was the first pretty spring-summer weekend that we had this year... By Sunday afternoon we saw quite a few girls and boys out on the streets and lawns, in their swimming attires, for some soaking..

Here were 2 girls, all sun soaked, at the lawns right behind my house...

Portrait - Tanush

2011-05-16T16:30:00.002-04:00

After so many days of trying to shake myself out of the watercolor-portrait block, I finally managed to finish a good one. This time around though I made a note of everything that I did to make the portrait, so that the next time I need a push, I don't end up with 'I'm not sure' as an excuse.

I am going to mention every bit of a thing that I did to make the portrait.

1. I checked up online to see if there were any simple tutorials for portrait painting. There are quite a few! And they are pretty good at the explanation. The only thing that they differ in is the color pallette that each of them uses. And probably a few steps here and there.. More or less, things explained remain the same.

2. I went over my previous portrait (yeah, the one which I drew of myself!). I stared at it for quite a few hours - off and on; trying to see why sometimes I felt it was just fabulous and sometimes that it wasn't at all like what I had imagined it to be! Yeah, I felt that there was a lot of unnecessary blues that cropped up at many odd places! I took a pen and paper and made whatever little notes that I could make. I regretted not making these notes while I was painting that portrait!

3. I had decided pretty long back that the next portrait was going to be of Tanush's; so the block kind of stopped me from trying any other portraits as well! I missed Julia Kay's Portrait Party so much, because I was determined that this one needs to be done first and then the others! After a few days of just trying to get started, one fine day, I made up my mind that I need to have my own studio (I like to call it that, though it is just a desk LOL!). So I put up notes, pulled out my small desktop easel and arranged my paints, papers and other stuff in a way that would be organized and easily available! It took me just a day! I wonder why I hadn't done that before... Well, tell you what!? That just got me started!!!

4. I had shifted Tanush's photo in a different WIP folder on my Picassa. That just had this one photo, but worked well.. I made quite a few rough sketches to get a good hold of the features as well as to get the best portrait. Well, I think I drew this photo about 4 times. The last one was the best and I stopped.

5. I darkened this final rough sketch with a 2B pencil. I placed the sketch on the light table (I don't really have one! I have a glass top table, and I slid down a table lamp under that while covering the whole place with a curtain....), a Watercolor Cold Press 140 lb paper on top, and then lightly traced over the picture with a 2H pencil and lightened it further using a kneaded eraser. By now I knew where I had to draw really light and where some emphasis could be given...

6. By now I had decided on which tutorial to follow! You can go through Wetcanvas' Portrait Lesson which gives you a simple and easy to follow series of steps to make your portrait. I made simple notes of it in a paper emphasizing mainly on when to take a break. I mounted the drawing to a hard support.

7. I kept away the drawing and took a day's break, because I was getting too excited! :) As the next step, I decided on what all colors I will use for the portrait. I went through the photograph trying to notice what shade are the different shadows and created a small palette with all the colors that I was going to need and what shades could be mixed with them. I had decided on a mild - almost monotone portrait, so I needed just 4 colors or so. I pulled out appropriate brushes too.

8. The next day, I lay a basic shade over the entire face, leaving out a few white areas on the face and hair. I let the color flow on to the hair and a little bit of the background too for harmony. I looked for the violets and greens in his face as suggested by the demo.. I dropped a bit of violet wet into wet. My paper wasn't too wet either, though - I didn't wet the sheet completely before starting. I started with wetting areas and then dropping colors, to see how that works.. I let it dry completely before I started another layer on it.

9. The next day, I started with the eyes. I had to look for the soft violet and green tones in the shadow areas. I had my shades mixed in preparation. So I wet the crease in a line above the eye. With a small brush I dropped a soft shade of burnt umber in a line along the crease. With a clean damp brush I directed the flow of the color to the drier area. I kept doing this until I got a crease effect and then, I let it dry. I also added a wee bit of color to the inner corner of the eye.

10. I worked on the shadows around the eyes some more. And I also added a soft warm color to the left side of Tanush's face., which was reflecting a good red color from the pillow he was lying on.

11. I dropped in soft colors for his Iris.. I was still working with soft colors and shades.. I added a few eyelashes and a soft color to his lips. I used the same coloring technique all over the painting - I used to lay down a wash, and then with a clean damp brush I used to lift up excess water and color. And I kept doing that until I was satisfied with the work.

12. I added a good bit of shadows and details to his ears and the area between his nose and upperlip. I again went back to work around the eye and an overall light touch up all around the face. You can notice the greens in the inner corner of the right eye and also around his nose. The painting looked quite scary at this point! I just wanted to finish off the hair and eyebrows as soon as possible.

13. I came back to it the next day. I started with his nose and worked on it adding shades little by little. Every now and then I would take a break from the area where I was adding all the details and start looking for shades to be added on to the entire face. Once I was 'done' with the nose, I went to the hair. I didn't want to use a dark color to his hair and shift all focus there, so I used loose strokes and shaded it to the minimum. I put in burnt umber and shaded it up with a mix of burnt umber, alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue.

14. I went through the ear shadows and details once the hair was done in completion, so that I could harmonize ear with the hair and skin. I touched up areas on his temple and forehead with some alizarin crimson.

15. It was time to draw his eyebrows - something that's a real challenge for me. I am always worried that if they don't turn up in the correct length, width and angle the whole painting would be doomed! :) Well, I didn't take so much time to characterize them! I will have to thank my initial sketch for that! I used burnt umber and then touched it up with violets..

16. Re-touched the face everywhere and 'polished' the nose. I was quite happy. It was time to pull the face out of the background. I worked on the chin and neck to bring them up. And then pushed the background down a little with a bit of a violet mix. Ta-da!!!! :) :)

A Fence

2011-05-15T00:16:00.002-04:00

A Fence, originally uploaded by teshionx.

I tried gauche for the first time.. I wasn't impressed.. It was a bit difficult to control and spread.. I couldn't really manage to keep the same shades where they were supposed to be same..

The Bottle

2011-05-11T15:27:00.001-04:00

The Bottle, originally uploaded by teshionx.

Another one drawn while watching Heroes.. I needed a lot of concentration to draw those rings around the bottle.. It is pretty difficult. I'll have to try some more such stuff..

Car

2011-05-06T11:04:00.001-04:00

Car, originally uploaded by teshionx.

...Another 'mindless' painting while watching a couple of episodes of Heroes

Lotso

2011-05-05T10:09:00.001-04:00

Lotso, originally uploaded by teshionx.

We have been losing a lot of our relax time watching 'Heroes' on Netflix.. It's pretty addictive - before we know it, we have would have watched 3 episodes and it would be 2 am!!
Well, I decided to do some 'mindless' painting since the past 3 days and it has been working well... Effective drawing requires that your mind is relaxed and elsewhere instead of wondering why the model's head looks bigger than his tummy.. My mind stays on Heroes and eyes and hand stay on the sketch, and look what I have managed to make!! :) Am impressed!

Camera

2011-05-04T16:27:00.001-04:00

Camera, originally uploaded by teshionx.

Sometimes it is nice to just make the best of the time that someone gives you, to make their sketch (or not).. Manu didn't move too much, yet didn't really sit still, so I kept toggling among one and the other 2 poses that he kept assuming, while watching Zack Arias' photography workshop this weekend.. Couldn't have gotten a better activity on my drawing than this!!!

Via Flickr:
Drew this while Manu was watching a creativeLIVE workshop on photography..

My hand

2011-05-04T16:22:00.001-04:00

My hand.., originally uploaded by teshionx.

I started reading Betty Edward's Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain once again... This time, purely for the exercises... One of the pre-instruction drawings was to draw my hand.. This is an unusual pose.. Looks creepy to me..!

Via Flickr:
creepy isn't it?

House

2011-04-21T12:08:00.001-04:00

House, originally uploaded by teshionx.

We cross this house whenever we go to the Best Buy or Kohls near Great Lakes Crossing Outlet Mall...

Happy 2 Tanush!

2011-04-07T15:34:00.000-04:00

I haven't been coming here much; have I? But I have to today.. 'Cause my li'l angel turns 2 today! So wishing him the best.. Well, they say a lot about Terrible Twos.. I am not sure whether Terrible is the right word. I think it should Tiresome Timerobber Twos!

Or is it just me, with so much stacked up to my daily list!?

Well, I am thinking of adding another item though - I am planning on attending a Life Drawing workshop from this Monday... So pretty soon I guess I'll have to convert this blog into a 18+ blog.. Nah! Maybe I'll just create another blog.. I like this one the way it is!

Chats and Tea

2011-03-30T20:12:00.001-04:00

Plein Air Portraits!

2011-03-18T23:21:00.000-04:00

I took my sketchbook to Denver, when we visited Meg last month... And then I just made use of every available opportunity to pull it out.. Didn't even try to think about what they'd all think... Ok... I accept - I did think about that, and did feel nervous initially.. But then once the sketchbook was out and everyone came to know that there was a sketchbook in use somewhere, I didn't feel conscious anymore!

Anand and Nidhish were kind enough to pose for me for a plein air portrait session! And this was the first time I was trying something like this.. Till now, it would be usually Manu whose face I would just like line-draw, and other than him, it would be Tanush.. This one was different! They were almost like public!!!! :)

Self Portrait - Completed! :)

2011-03-07T09:50:00.004-05:00

So here it is....

Braving all my fears!

This is what I am going to mail to Julia Kay's Portrait Party... Not a masterpiece, but, hey, it's a start! I am actually feeling quite proud that I made an attempt in watercolor - something I have been always scared of...!!!! (I am sure it is ok to pat oneself in the back...! :) :) )

Self Portrait :)

2011-03-05T01:37:00.000-05:00

Working towards drawing a self portrait, to send it across to Julia Kay's Portrait Party...
We are supposed to send in a self portrait and another portrait of a person whom we have sketched.. More details go to Julia Kay's discussion here.
I decided to do a watercolor self portrait! I wonder why!! Have a look at the various stages:

1. The cleaned up pencil outline..

2. Watercolor washes stage - 1

3. Watercolor washes stage - 2

Ok.. I am now scared to do anything more.. I feel frozen now! This is good so far (I think)...
but very incomplete! More than anything, that eye is an eyesore! But I am scared to make even a mark more..

I've been staring at it ever since, and now I am going to drop my brush and go to sleep... maybe I'll get the courage tomorrow... Good night people..

Puppy...

2011-03-03T22:53:00.001-05:00

This guy has become Tanush's favorite.. he's a nice small guy who barks (yips) when you drop him or hit him on the head..

Our worry is - Tanush shouldn't try to pat another dog's head hoping to hear some friendly Yip-yips!

Lightbulb study...

2011-03-02T13:43:00.004-05:00

I drew a gesture and a blind contour study also, before I drew up this piece in pencil

Tanush painting

2011-02-28T13:46:00.000-05:00

Lately he's been wanting to try out my watercolors.. I don't want to let him, for the same obvious reasons - not safe for him... I tried making a small palette for him on a plain white plastic palette, but he didn't really understand what that was! He thought that was a base to paint ON! And then spread all the colors on the palette...
The rest has been journaled against my painting up! :)

Cupboard

2011-02-27T07:51:00.000-05:00

Tanush's clothes shelf.. drawn last year, colored this....!

Tanush's pal..

2011-02-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

I drew this just so he enjoys it a few years from now.. Tanush wakes up and wakes Mickey up in the same tone as a mommy scolds her son! 'Mickey Mouse...' in a high pitch monotone!
I don't think it would change even if he discovers that Mickey is about 100 years older than him!!!!

This would be a nice memory!

500 Faces - A friend

2011-02-20T15:15:00.000-05:00

I am just naming it as 'Friend', because I didn't hear back from him on the picture - so I don't know whether they would like me to name them here! Well, for me it was a practice picture again! So one more face...

Orchids - BCF 18th Feb

2011-02-18T14:33:00.002-05:00

This week's entry for Blind Contour Friday! This was a tough one! I cheated twice :(

JKPP - Hans***M and Tahirih

2011-02-16T11:51:00.001-05:00

This was for JKPP

Reference photo: www.flickr.com/groups/portraitparty/discuss/7215762393422...

To check out his work, go here: www.flickr.com/photos/petervanayk/

And another one:

Reference photo : www.flickr.com/groups/portraitparty/discuss/7215762507529...

If you want to have a look at Tahirih's artistic hand, go here: www.flickr.com/photos/22026338@N05/

They're amazing!

Catch-up!! Perception Study

2011-02-16T11:46:00.000-05:00

New ID

2011-02-14T20:42:00.002-05:00

Phew! So finally I managed to change the name of my blog... So it is no longer 'Day After Day', but is 'Lines, Scribbles and Dots..'

I'll tell you the story.. But that and the rest of the transitions are going to take about a week more.. So stay tuned.. And don't forget to tell me what you feel about the new look...

Happy Valentine's Day!

My Paints

2011-01-29T23:44:00.002-05:00

This is my Winsor Newton pan paint set...

Partners in Time..

2011-01-27T15:40:00.001-05:00

Today Manu and I are celebrating 5 years of Time-travelling together... This day, that year, we took our vows of togetherness..

Happy Anniversary to you Sweetheart!!!

500 Faces - More faces

2011-01-26T02:07:00.000-05:00

Well, I'll start with the Random celebrity caricature that I did last year, in Oct.. This one's of a bollywood actor.. Just to see if I make them well too.. I mean, how many people are actually going to identify the faces in my 500 Faces...?

And then, this one is my actual 500 faces caricature.. She is a friend of mine; wasn't sure if she wanted to be identified with the picture, so I am just going to leave this one nameless.. I know who she is, and that should be enough I guess...

Cheers!! :)

Goddess

2011-01-24T17:55:00.000-05:00

This year, so far I have just been putting up my journal entries.. This is from my Jan01 page. I thought I'd wait till I fill in the paints.. but anyway uploading the penned one..

Fish Tank

2011-01-22T21:30:00.000-05:00

One of my Platies is not feeling too well.. He had a swollen eye, which looked like it'll pop out.. We changed the water yesterday and today he looks better - has been travelling and eating better today. Hope he gets well by the next couple days...

Blind Contour Friday # 6, 7 and 8!!

2011-01-21T14:01:00.001-05:00

Entry for this week

I hadn't been able to upload the Blind Contour drawings that I made the last couple of weeks... Once I was away from home, and the other time, I just missed out on posting it! So here is my combination BCF entries!

Last week

I tried drawing Tanush's soft toy dog, who hangs from the handle of one of our shelves...

Entry for Jan 7th

This is Manu again...

500 Faces - Keerthi

2011-01-21T01:23:00.001-05:00

Caricature time!! Yeah, I didn't forget my 'mini' project!! I had a few pending uploads from my previous batch of caricatures.. Here's Keerthi...

Name: Keerthi
Know her from: Met her as Srinu's wife, and then we were friends.. She is more my friend than Srinu is Manu's...
Know her for: Well, very pleasant personality. Pretty and friendly. It is fun siding with Srinu against her - brings out the best in her.

Drawing Tanush

2011-01-19T15:15:00.000-05:00

Tanush is the most difficult model I can get.. The only time I could draw him completely was when he was watching Go Diego Go.. And then too I had to imagine one foot, or sit elsewhere to get the same angle of the hand once more.. And he gave me 3 poses in that 25 mins of the show!!!

He kept coming to see what I have drawn, and even got his own pen, so that he could scribble on my sketchbook.. He wasn't happy with the paper he had lol...

Sau Mama and Mr. Potatohead

2011-01-18T15:24:00.000-05:00

A lounge sketch... Tanush used to be scared of the Potatohead and so we had placed it near our Fish Tank... Now he is cool with him around too... Need to find a new scary toy to keep him off the fish..

Snow

2011-01-17T15:03:00.001-05:00

Medicines...

2011-01-16T19:46:00.000-05:00

Hah! Talk about getting inspired from the most mundane and uninteresting objects around you.. and the dullest of feelings.. :) This brightened my day when I drew and colored it..

A sick start to the new year

2011-01-12T16:03:00.000-05:00

All these days I have only been able to draw in my journal. I have a commissioned assignment that I need to finish and give away, but haven't gotten around it till now.. Will start today I guess..

Meanwhile enjoy my journal entries!!