Last week my brother asked me to make an e-card, if it can be called one, for the festival of Holi. He told me he wanted a splash of colours and gave a small reference image to work with. I wasn’t quite sure how to go about it, so I took a short cut! I downloaded a few paint spatter brushes and applied them randomly, and viola! It was done!
Now since the bulk of the work was done using brushes, it’s only fair that I should give credit to the sources of the brushes. There’s one called Bombay_Wisps and one that’s called benblogged(splatter). So a big thank you to them for putting out stuff so that other’s can use them :).
On my brother’s suggestion, I decided to upload it here. I admit, its late. But anyway, here’s wishing everyone a great Holi 🙂
During one of our still life sessions, we were told to make a flower vase, with flowers in it of course! Nature, and anything to do with plants is a very exciting prospect for me. I’ve often joked that I have no interest in humans 😛
So I began, and had a good start. But then it all went horribly wrong. The backdrop was a sheet of tarpaulin, and I really messed it up. I was a little sad, because some of the flowers had come out pretty decent. But the leaves and the background really let it down.
So here’s where the software came to the rescue. Initially I thought I would paint it digitally, with the sketch as the base. It was a rather tedious process. It took me a hell of a long time to do it, and with other work piling up, I sort of abandoned it. Then, when the time came to get my portfolio up and running and post stuff on the blog, I got back to the file. It was then that it dawned on me that I needn’t waste so much time! While a clean painting would look nice, I simply did not have the time, or the motivation to complete it.
Edited Sketch
This sketch was completed on 1st November 2009. So it was already stale. So I used some short-cuts and just adjusted the colours using standard colour-correction tools and presto! The ugly background had disappeared! 🙂
So while this sketch is not part of my gallery, I think it is pretty decent enough to have its own post 🙂
A couple of years back, I joined sketching classes. The classes included study of still life, perspective as well as the study of human anatomy. But I kind of got stuck at still life!
There is something about putting pencil to paper, and just looking at an inanimate object. Its just sitting there, patiently waiting for you to make its portrait. It doesn’t feel conscious of your presence, it doesn’t move about, and it definitely does not need breaks.
Like I mentioned earlier, every sketch has a story behind it. Here’s one of them:
Our sketching batch was wound up within a couple of months and our faculty member had told us to continue sketching and show him our work. But, as it turned out, I had stopped doing anything. As the months rolled, I began getting negative thoughts. I was sad most of the time and maybe I was on the verge of depression. I felt like I had nothing to do, a feeling of utter uselessness. I remember crying miserably on my mother’s shoulder and telling her how I felt.
She somehow consoled me, and although my tears had dried up, I was still sad. So, out of sheer desperation, I picked up my sketchbook, emptied a little ‘kullad’ (a small earthen pot) and began drawing. It was late at night and everyone had gone off to sleep. I stayed up till midnight and completed the sketch.
The Kullad that saved me
The very next day, I attempted to sketch a rare, odd-looking seashell right next to the mud pot. Soon I felt my self belief returning.
My mother remarked that the sketch looked sad. But I will always respect it. It’s not the best, but it is the sketch that saved my confidence.
Musings of an eccentric mind 