Abstract ideas

Textures, patterns, colours, light, shade.. I love them all.. I find them all wherever my eyes travel. Most times I merely gaze at them for a while.. think about the possibilities of painting them.. and then just move on. Sometimes I take the trouble to actually take pictures of them as reference points to the emotions and depictions that I feel like giving them.

Our next project in my art workshop is going to be on abstract.. which is a terrifically exciting thing for me to look forward to. My art instructor, the genius in landscapes mostly, has of late ventured into abstracts.. and they are absolutely beautiful renditions of light and space. he's done a series of abstractions of landscapes and another series of almost abstractions of the interiors of his home.. his messy home.. his home whose architecture belongs to a past era, housed with furniture that ranges from comfortable saggy sofas to smart neo-modern dining chairs.. all of which he paints into artistic expressions of his inner eye.. inner soul. So I am super excited about what approach he is going to take when he demonstrates it to us. Meanwhile, I am collecting all the abstract ideas I have clicked, that I want to explore on my canvas.. some of which I've put here

The Pilgrim

I am so thrilled.. he praised me today.. my painting, I mean..I mean my art instructor.. the one whose workshop I am going to.. I didn't think he would notice me.. I mean my painting.. after all there are about 25 in the class.. I am totally absolutely completely utterly over the moon! Not only is he a great artist..  I think he can be counted amongst the best in the world today.. but he's such a lovely person.. gentle, soft, unassuming.. yet with an understated air of confidence, not only with himself as a person, but him as an artist.. I could watch him paint all day for the rest of my life.. I told him so.. and he laughed.. a lovely gentle laugh. The way he instructs too is so gentle.. always giving space to us, his students, to work out things for ourselves, express ourselves according to how we want to.. only offering some technical aspects when he feels we need it.. but always gently, sensitively.

About this painting.. did it at the workshop today.. it's still at the base coat.. it will be finished tomorrow. I had a tough time with the face - my instructor achieves faces in a jiff.. a brush stroke here, another there..and voila, the face emerges as if conjured up by some magician... Amazing! Me, I struggle with it. But, looking at it now, I quite like what I've done. I loved doing the folds of the cloth.. I"m pleased with the skin tones I've managed.. so difficult to get the 3-D effect on a face.. the nose juts out, creates all sorts of shadows and shades on either side of it, on the cheeks, on the upper lip and the lips. The eye sockets and the folds of the eyelids, another tough area. The chin, the ears, the forehead.. and then working with acrylics, which dries so fast. At least with oils, one can premix the various tonal values and apply them, blend them, work them in at leisure. Acrylics dry so fast that one has to keep mixing the shades of colour, and apply them fast enough to enable some blending. But the enormous plus point is that you get your finished art work immediately. This painting, for example, would have taken me about a week to finish in oils.. in acrylics I'll have the finished work by tomorrow.. and that too because my instructor has told us to finish it with him..

Oh, I'm calling this painting "The Pilgrim" because he's a Warkari, the worshiper of Vitthoba, the deity that resides in Pandharpur, Maharashtra.

the boy next door

Well, I lost my nerve.. couldn't do the Suchitra Sen. The problem is, I haven't done a portrait in ages. The most difficult part of painting them is to get the tones right in order to depict facial contours along with skin tones.. that's bloddy hard! And I often wonder why.. after all the head is just an egg-shaped oval, just that it has features in it. But when one does get into painting this egg-shape, one realises the subtle shadows and skin tones that are created by the light hitting it.. and while one gets engrossed in trying to capture that, one also must try and capture the essence of the person, so that it doesn't become merely a face, if you get what I mean.

Anyway, so I decided I had to do some practice portraits before plunging into the Suchitra Sen one. And I rather like what I have done in this one.. so my confidence level has gone up a notch. But I think I'll do a couple more before I do my Suchitra.

the sketch.. next, the paint

I'm attempting to capture the elusive beauty of the beautiful Suchitra Sen.. and I tremble. I know how to paint it... but I don't know.. I don't know.. Will I be able to capture that gazelle like quality about her? Those expressive eyes, that delicate nose.. that subtle expression..that elegant hair..?

One of the reasons of taking a picture of the sketch is that it helps to discern if I've made any goof-ups in the structure. It's hard to see those on the canvas, for some reason. A photograph, or looking at it in a mirror, or upside down, are tricks that helps one to detect those, especially in a portrait. And, after seeing my sketch in the pictures above, at once I can see that I must rework her right eye.

I find portraits the most difficult to do, compared to landscapes and still lifes. Capturing a human being.. not merely her/his likeness.. but that something that lies behind the surface.. apart from the technical aspects of getting the eyes, nose, chin, mouth etc right.. intimidates me. Hence I rarely attempt doing them.

In this one, I am in a dilemma about what colouring I should give her. At this stage of her life.. the age she is in, in this sketch (the photo from which I sketched it).. she of course was in black and white movies.. and that is the memory of her etched in my mind.. those innumerable roles in which she laughed, cried.. was strong.. was weak.. was emotional.. was simple.. was glamorous.. was a girl, was a woman.. in love.. in pain.. as her role demanded of her.. all of which she accomplished with such easy grace. So, I think I will do her in a monochromatic black and white. Or may be in sepia tones..

But my hand hesitates.. I hesitate.. I am filled with nervous fear..

Talking about portraits, I discovered a fascinating master of them, Lucian Freud (grandson of Sigmund Freud). His portraits and figures are stark.. with a disturbing quality to them.. raw reality, instead of the porcelain pretty portraits and figures that are usually done. Here's a quote from him, from the video I'm giving here: "The promise of happiness is felt in the act of creation but disappears towards the completion of the work. For it is then that the painter realises that it is only a picture he is painting. Until then he had almost dared to hope that the picture might spring to life." - Lucian Freud.

Do watch the video documentary of his art and glimpses of his thought process in the video link below. (Warning: If you are a prude about explicit nudes, skip it. Hypocrite "Guruji" types, who propound their sanctimonious views, will not get it..)

Lucian Freud: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJdOst73_8M 

twigs, leaves and a sun splashed path

Mmm.. maybe I should have waited a few more hours for the sun to rise and then taken the picture of this painting. The artificial light has made it somewhat hazy. But I'm impatient.. patience has never been my forte.. I just finished it, so wanted to put it up.. Now. So now it is. Maybe I'll click it again once the sun is up and post it again. After being stuck on still lifes - the restrictions of having to discipline myself to remain within the boundaries of forms - it was fun to let myself loose in this little landscape. I love love love painting trees.. and undergrowth... and foliage.. Landscapes are my favourite, really.

And oh.. here's a fascinating theory of how the old masters painted: David Hockney's Secret Knowledge (part 1/8) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBNrgCaoyW8

Banana peeled and sliced

Tried to sleep, but for some reason am quite disturbed by Sunanda's death.. why I shroud be I can't understand, for of course I don't know her personally.. but twitter.. even though I didn't interact with her.. gets one close to people, many times without realising it. I just keep visualising her effervescent  and emotional personality.. also a strong personality, though she also sounded very naive, so I really didn't take what she tweeted all that seriously. But I also often used to wonder how difficult it must've been for her to have such independent views, especially political views, from her husband. But never imagined it would lead to this.. sinister end. Anyway.. no point speculating about something that the truth will never be known..

About this painting.. Painting in this loose style is tough.. needs a lot of discipline. It's making me realize what my natural bent is in painting.. with every stroke of the brush I fought against my instinct to blend, make it realistic. I really love the effects the loose style creates so I will persist.. practice practice practice.. that has always been the best way. But, I have a feeling that I will revert to my as-realistic-as-possible style often, for I enjoy that and it is my inner style. Fruits, flowers and veggies... still life... are great fun to do.. and also more challenging for me, hence I am concentrating on them. I find landscapes very easy.. so even though they come out beautiful, I'm not doing as much of them, at the moment..

The empty tube of paint

I'm going to try and follow the practice which has become very popular now amongst artists - the 'paint a day' project. The idea is to take a small subject and finish it in a couple of hours or so.. and, as is obvious, to do a painting everyday. I also want to use this form of exercise to practice painting in a looser, free-er style, which is evident in this painting. I don't know if I'll be able to sustain this style for long though. Even while I painted this, I kept wanting to make it precise and controlled. Apparently being as controlled as I am in my paintings is a sign of anxiety.. a sign of unsureness.. Which may be true - I certainly am beset with anxiety and unsure-ness each time I start a painting. While I always thought I was a bad case of artist's anxiety, I've met someone in my painting workshop who is hyper-anxious. She almost breaks into tears before starting each session.. and I am the one usually who tries to reassure her.. hahaha. But then, I do understand what she goes through, so it's natural enough.