Mridula and Tanush

Mridula and Tanush, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

That's Tanush's best friend today.. They both go to the same school - she is in a different section of the same class.. They go to school together, come back together, and then they meet up again in the evening ..

Mridula loves to drop in and share her stories with me.. She loves to dress up well and loves it when we notice.. She loves to pose.. Tanush is more carefree and makes sure that he doesn't really pay attention to details.. He'll make sure it is as difficult as he can make it for you to draw him.. But they compete in everything.. eating, playing and even going down the stairs.. She loves to bully him! He still doesn't care! :)

She has been missing Tanush since he went to Trissur last weekend.. But she's ok with coming over and playing with Sooryansh.. Sooryansh can't say much but he loves to see her too.. Sweet kid..

Snooze

Snooze, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

.. Sooryansh..
.. waiting for Santa, snuggling tightly into his pillow, to make sure Santa is caught when he tries to leave a gift under the pillow..
.. Merry X-Mas to all..

Flipflops!

Flipflops!, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I grew up calling them a pair of Chappals.. Hawai Chappals.. an even better name! There was an old ad with Salman Khan and Sangeeta Bijlani for Lakhani Hawai Chappals.. Some people call it slippers too..

Sooryansh and Tanush

Sooryansh and Tanush, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Sooryansh is now 6 months old.. Tanush insisted we cut a cake for Sooryansh's half year b'day.. I have been noting small things about the boys whenever I get a chance.. sometimes with a sketch and other times without one.. I must remember that I shouldn't stop writing notes waiting for a chance to sketch..
Sooryansh resembles his dad a lot.. if you ask me! :)

My valuable Moleskine

Moleskine Journal, a set on Flickr.

2009 and 2012

My valuable moleskine!!! It has seen my life through the precious 3 years of momhood.. I managed to find empty pages to journal both Tanush's early milestones as well as Sooryansh's arrival in the same book..

This moleskine had startled me at first.. With $12 as its cost, when I bought it, I just didn't want to draw anything in it..

I purchased it in 2009, a little before my elder brat arrived. I drew a little, journalled a wee bit, and brought it to India that year.. I left it here and went back to US, since I wasn't finding myself drawn to drawing much in it..
I re-discovered it here at mom's house when we moved back here, this year.. This time with the second brat in tow, I started drawing again in it..

Now it has become such a precious possession, for all little and big reasons, wonderfully filled with memories and events, I don't think $ 12 will ever matter again at all.. This is more valuable than the costliest camera that I could purchase for recording memories!!!

Brothers!

Brothers!, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I drew the lower sketch 3 yrs back, when Tanush was about 5 months old.. He used to enjoy watching me having my tea, carefully tracing the cup's journey from table to my lips.. I see, Sooryansh loves to observe the cup too! I just had to click him, because Tanush's sketch drawn 3 yrs back resembles Sooryansh more than Tanush! Now, doesn't it!?

New Life..

Spread 26, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

When I had informed the world of Sooryansh's arrival with a sketch, my friends asked me whether I had taken the sketchbook into the labour room...
YES!! I did! Check out the sketch before this one!
And no, I didn't draw when I couldn't!! That would be the silliest thought! Better call that a no-thought! But for the rest of the time, I noted down memories of Sooryansh's arrival, including details of how we named him..

The Day before Sooryansh arrived..

Spread 25, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Oooh! The day - and the night - before my little Sooryansh arrived.. I was always with my sketchbook! I drew anything I could see.. Whenever I felt uneasy, I would draw! Whenever I needed to relax, I would draw! I even took my sketchbook to the Hospital.. I could not part with it when I was so tense and nervous!!

I drew the beanbag! And I drew my nurse when she was tucking me in the sheets and attaching all those monstrous monitors!! And I drew a slightly nervous Manu, while we waited for my pains to grow!
My nurse smiled and wondered aloud, "How do you do that with so much pain!?" and I couldn't help but wonder the same! But it had some meditative effect..

I felt as though art was my religion! I just submitted to it.. Sketching proved more powerful in relaxing me, than a few holy mantras would have.. Why why why didn't I recognize this power before!?

Bengaluru Bandh - 6 Oct '12

Bengaluru Bandh - 6 Oct '12, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Taking a break from my moleskine sketches, I am posting the sketch I drew on the Bandh day. There was a statewide bandh declared last Saturday, the 6th of Oct, as a protest against release of Cauvery Water to Tamil Nadu.

The roads were more or less deserted. Public transport was called off, and cabs too had to stay off the road. I drew the mob that held the state flags and stood on the junction on Outer Ring road, shouting slogans. They looked a little disturbing, though the whole thing was carried on smoothly, barring when they lit something and threw it right at the middle of the junction. Then, all I could sense in my heart was a slight fright..

There was some smoke from something that was set afire. It looked pretty disturbing, but was well contained. Maybe a cloth or something.. There were cops on the road on the junction right in the front of my house. I sketched a few people out on the roads too.. There were just a countable few women on the road on Saturday. They, too, disappeared by around 10 am.

I drew as fast as I could. Added some color to the flags, and then waited for the coast to clear so I could paint the rest of the scene. It was a cloudy day, thankfully!

Tanush and Scouty

Spread 6, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

:)
A heartfelt journal entry there...

Precious Moleskine - Spread 1

Precious Moleskine - Spread 1, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Do you see a more recent date there? Isn't the moleskine supposed to be of the 2009 period? Oh yes!! That's because I didn't arrange them chronologically in the moleskine. The first page had scared me enough to leave it blank!

Towards the end, I just wanted to fill in every bit of empty space! So there it is - the first page, the most daunting page, that got filled only much later in life.. A good picture for a first page..

I used mainly pen in this book.. All kinds of pen I guess..

The one on the right is a marker two tone sketch that I did while waiting for Tanush in his first week in school.. The first week required parents to drop their wards, wait for about 2-3 hours and then pick them back to go home. I spent most of my time with the moleskine and my Kindle..
That's a sketch of his school compound.. I met a few people too, but all the parents were supposed to sit outside the building and wait for the kids.. I was spared since I had a 36 week tummy to sport! So I had a couple of grandparents with me at the school reception for company.. :)
That was the week before Sooryansh arrived!

Opening Page

Opening Page, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

This would be my valuable moleskine!!! No, not because it is my first (and only one so far); It has seen my life through the precious 3 years of momhood till now..

This moleskine had startled me at first.. I had contemplated a lot about buying it at all.. I had just quit my job, and taken up drawing once again. I had already invested quite a bit in drawing supplies, and for a person who's not going to be getting any cheque back home, buying anything seems like a waste..

With $12 as its cost, when I bought it, I just didn't want to draw anything in it..

I purchased it in 2009, a little before my elder brat arrived. I drew a little, journalled a wee bit, and brought it to India that year.. It always intimidated me.. I left it here and went back to US, since I wasn't finding myself drawn to drawing much in it..

I re-discovered it here at mom's house when we moved back here, this year.. This time with the second brat in tow, I started drawing again in it.. This time, it came easily to me! I filled in all the blank pages too, and so there is not much of a chronology followed in the book..

Now it has become such a precious possession, for all little and big reasons, wonderfully filled with memories and events, I don't think $ 12 will ever matter again at all.. This is more valuable than the costliest camera that I could purchase for recording memories!!!

Welcome to my world! :)

Outer Ring Road

Outer Ring Road, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I gave myself a week to complete whatever little watercolor that I was planning to add to this quick sketch. However, I could not get one more minute with the sketch! I misplaced my sketchbook :)
This is the view of the Outer Ring Road from where I stood that day! 20 mins..

Milestone

Milestone, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Lanterns

Lanterns, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I was trying to depict evening light with the lanterns lit, on the terrace of the restaurant next to where I stay..

This is the rooftop of The Village Restaurant, after the sun set.. It was getting dark and that too fast!

It was a very quick painting - paying attention only to how I should show the lights.. Sometimes these unplanned sketches come out much better than planned ones!! :)

Sherlock

Sherlock, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Sherlock Holmes was, I think, the first person I fell in love with - like, I am sure, many girls.. His personality and wit have always seemed so magnetic, it is impossible not to admire him. He made me fall in love with anyone who played his character on screen (yes, Cumberbatch is the latest added to the list)!! And I simply go ga-ga over each story.. not wanting to miss even the slightest detail on screen or in the book.. I even feel at times that a lot of his personality matches mine (LOL I know what you may want to say - I mean the look, not the brain!!)

They did it again - play 3 episodes in a season and then let you burn in an anxious wait for the next season, which would be aired only next year, at the earliest! Why do they do it? BBC I mean!

I had been waiting for Sherlock Season 2 ever since I watched Season 1.. After being terribly disappointed about how I wouldn't be able to watch it, once we come back to India, I was delighted to know that I would after all be able to watch it on BBC India. I kept going back to the official site of BBC Entertainment India, kept checking when they might air it.. And then the commotion happened - shifting, re-shifting, no phone but have internet, have phone but no internet, new baby and then I discovered that they had started airing Sherlock S2 on Sundays from 8pm to 10pm. Missed most of Episode 1..
Didn't let myself miss any more.. And before I knew, E1, E2, E3, all done!!!!!! Over!!!!!
What are they doing!?

The season got over this Sunday, and I am so sad.. I felt so restless, I couldn't help myself from using my sleep time to draw this fan art......

First Page

First Page, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I braved the first page and started a new sketchbook.. This is the handmade sketchbook that I had boasted about a few months ago. Yeah, it took me so long to start drawing into it! I didn't want to mess it up you see..! The jitters of starting a new book! Thank God we don't face that trouble with reading a book!

I have a lot to catch up on.. I have been sketching, albeit just a few ball pen 15 min sketches since some time. But there, I have been quite busy too.. I'll post in my coming entries about what's been going on these past few months.. For starters, if you didn't know already, my family and I have shifted our base to Bengaluru, India..

..Some day I would like to own a bell like this one..

Sooryansh

Sooryansh, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Manu, Tanush and I were blessed with a new addition to our family of 3 on June 11..
We have named him Sooryansh - a piece of Sun..
So, that's where I was.. all this while..

Tanush's Toys

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

I journaled this page, the last time Tanush visited Thrissur. He stayed there for 2 whole weeks... That was the first time for both Tanush and myself - staying away from each other. I missed him so much, I felt it was unfair! But I couldn't do much about it..

Now, in just about a month, he's again away from me - though this time for just 3 days.. I still feel it is unfair!! :) I guess, that's what being a mom is all about!

Buttons

Buttons, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

That's my camera.. top view.. for the buttons.. EDiM

Grandpa and Grandson

Grandpa and Grandson, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

..playing Kinect Season II
Tanush always makes my dad play along with him.. He loves to defeat grandpa in skiing and tennis.. These are their expressions when they play.. Tanush was a bit difficult to draw, he would JUST NOT be still for a second!
Dad has chucked his daily exercises and walk in favor of playing with Tanush!!

Feet

Feet, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

Hand

Hand, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

When you have nothing to draw that day, draw your hand!
When you have nothing to post that day, post a pic of your hand!

Dad - Drawn live

Dad - Drawn live, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

I made use of my time on a wet, rainy evening and sketched when there was no power..
There is always an interesting light and shade play whenever there is a power outage. I'd like to draw in candlelight some time, but looks like candles are no longer in use at homes here.. Not in mom's home at least.

Dead Flies

Dead Flies, a photo by teshionx on Flickr.

that's what they are! LOL

Graphite on Watercolor CP90 paper

Tanush's pose

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

If I ask him to pose, he'd make me click a collection of about 15 photos, none of which would be UNblurred.. He'll go about shifting on his feet and singing some tune..
Would I need a posemaniacs site? LOL