Sunday, December 30, 2018

The serene Lake Union



When I first visited Seattle, I was not impressed by the city. It did not have the subtle delicate beauty of Boston. There are skyscrapers everywhere which do not create a sense of aesthetics. I was slighted underwhelmed. But I feel as if the soul of Seattle took it as a challenge and did everything to prove me wrong, and slowly made me fall in love with it. My journey in Seattle has been positive and enriching in many many ways for which I can never be thankful enough. As I was looking for a subject to write my next blog post on, I noticed that I have done many sketches around Lake Union, one of the many water bodies of the Washington state. So I am going to take you in a tour to Lake Union in Seattle!

Here is the Google map of the Lake Union. Seattle seems to have developed around the lake. Every time I look at the map of the lake, I can not dismiss the thought that it kind of looks like a female reproductive system. :-| But, the lake is beautiful from all directions and invites you into a different aspect of the city. I have highlighted the point of views from which I did each sketch over time. Let's get, set, and go!


Lake Union, Seattle


1. Lake Union from Westlake on a summer afternoon.




In summer, everybody is outside trying to get the best out of the pleasant and short-lived sunny weather. The lake is filled with sail boats through out the day. It was a very pleasant watch from my Westlake apartment. One could sit and watch the boats floating around, racing all day. There are parks (South Lake Union Park, and Gas Works Park) to sit close to the waters and enjoy the view as well.

2. Downtown from GasWorks Park
 



Soon, I joined UrbanSketchers Seattle, the first Urbansketchers group. Urbansketchers started as a small idea of Gabriel(Gabi) Campanario in Seattle, and slowly had become a worldwide phenomenon. People all over the world were flocking in groups in different city corners and sketching away. 2017 was the 10th year since the phenomenon started.  In order to commemorate the 10th anniversary, 10x10 workshops were organized in Seattle and in other locations. I went to Gas Works Work to attend one of the many workshops about perspectives organized by Gail Wong. She was an amazing teacher and I learned a great deal about doing perspective sketches. You can have a clear view of the downtown seattle from the Gas Works Work. I bet it looks great at night, although I am yet to go there during night.

3. Aurora Bridge






In one of the meetups in Fremont I met an urbansketcher who was sitting next to me and sketching the same subject as I.  It was nice to see different approaches to sketch the same thing. After the meetup, I went to a grocery store nearby, and met her again. We ended up hanging out, and she took me to one of the Seattle's famous place, the Theo Chocolate Factory. A few weeks later, she was leaving Seattle, and wanted to hang out with me before she left. We had nice breakfast in one cool breakfast restaurant in Fremont, and we decided to go to Gas Works Park. Both of us wanted to find a spot close to water. I started hunting for a spot close to water. I was sure there must be some spot where you can reach the water, even though I had not seen it. Luckily, we did find a spot close to water. It was a small abandoned corner next to a very popular viewing point, and I was surprised that not many people were on it. It was a sunny summer morning, water was at the right temperature to dangle the feet inside. So we sat there and I sketched this view of Aurora Bridge and the lake. The feeling while I was sketching was surreal. The excitement of being next to the lake dangling my feet in it, watching the ripples, ducks gently floating along the waves, people kayaking and driving boats, sound of birds flying around, the sweet breeze, the sense of comfort around a stranger, a sense of surprise and puzzle to be considered important by someone I met only once, is all too vivid to me. By the time I was done sketching and started painting, clouds had covered the sky completely. So although I started with the blue, I had to tone it down to reflect the gray sky. I had heard from other artists fussing about how the lighting changes and they have to be really careful. I appreciated it on that day.

4. The Ballard Locks


With #uskseattle at the #ballardlocks watching the bridge fall and raise to accommodate boats n trains alike #urbansketchers #watercolors #sketchbook #seattle


One day, my colleague who had recently moved to Seattle told me about the Ballard Locks and how the engineering behind it was interesting to him. I was surprised that I did not know about the place yet, and I decided to go to see it sometime. Coincidentally, the Urbansketchers meetup happened in the same place the very next weekend! It was really interesting to watch the engineering. The locks were built in 1917 as part of the project to connect Lake Union with Puget Sound to the east and Lake Washington to the west. The purpose of the lock was to make up for the water level difference between the lakes and puget sound, and also to not affect the salinity of the lakes. Learn more about it here

This sketch is not of the locks though. It is of a bridge that lifts up to let the boats pass by underneath it, and when it is lying flat, it acts as a rail-road.

5. Lake Union from Amazon Dawson




Oh, I can't tell you how proud I am of this sketch! I had to go to one of Amazon's buildings named Dawson to attend a training for a few weeks. I would admire the view from my training room. From that point, the whole lake was visible! "I need to sketch this", I said. And I kept saying it until the very last session. But I had to sketch it after the last session was over. I stayed back after the session, and sketched the view. One can never do enough justice to the breathtaking view. It spanned, Queen Anne and WestlKe to the west, Fremont and Gas Works Park. I also felt very lucky to have access to the view and sketch the awesome view.

6. South Lake Union Park


20180804_125540


for the first 5 months of Seattle, I always walked past the west side of the lake to my  office. I would think of sketching this view, but, well, there was always something way more important. Fast forward to two years later, I started joining a writers' meetup in SLU. After one of the meetups on a sunny Saturday, I decided to visit the SLU park to, you know, say hi, and ask, "It has been long time, how are you doing?" I sat down on a bench and sketched the sunny view of the lake union from the corner. It was very windy though, my papers kept flying everywhere.

Thats' it! if you visit Seattle, you know where to go if you want to enjoy the view of Lake Union!

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Jule Fest and the story of ravens



On 18th Nov 2018, I went to the newly opened Nordic Museum in Seattle along with Seattle urbansketchers after a long time. I was excited to meet the fellow urbansketchers after a long hiatus, but ... only until the previous night. The morning of the meetup though, was a different drama. I did not want to get out of bed. I just wanted to curl up inside my blanket, watch some random YouTube videos to numb down my mind, and snooze away. I was doing everything to sabotage my previous night's plan. Here is how my internal stubborn and procrastinating monologue went on.

 8AM, hmm... it s a good time to getup, let's get ready and take the D line to the musuem.
 Cool! It is so close by! 
Aah,...let me sleep a little while.
9AM, you need to get up, eat breakfast, and go!
Naaah... I don't want to go, how about I skip it today?
No, but then you won't be able to go hang out for until another month! 
OK, I guess I should go. It will be nice once I reach there, I guess...
Nooo, I want to sleeeep.
9.40AM, get up! go brush your teeth, pack your bag, eat something, take a cab!

And I jumped out, brushed my teeth, packed my bag, ate breakfast, got ready, and got a cab at 10AM.

As soon as I was out of my house, it felt different. Much more lighter and brighter. It was a sunny day. I had a cool Uber driver from South Africa who knew 10 different languages. Thank you dear driver, for giving me some nice moments and dropping me safely at my destination. I was obviously late, but was glad I got out of bed. It was crowded outside, people were lining up to buy ticket and go inside to enjoy the JuleFest or YuleFest.

Once I went inside,  the mood was festive. People from all ages were strolling around the museum, and more people were coming in. Many were dressed in traditional costumes too. I met a few artists, busy finding spots for themselves amidst the crowd. I dodged around shops, exhibitions and people to find the boats at the end of the corridor on the ground floor.

The boats presented an interesting challenge of perspective. Having placed along a narrow corridor, it was difficult to catch them from an angular point of view. I was luckty to find a fancy wooden bench to sit comfortably while leaning against the wall. I did hesitate though for a moment wondering if it is on display and if I am not supposed to sit on it. As I settled down, I noticed some other artists already engaged in sketching the boats. Once I figured out the perspective, it was an easy work. A few visitors stopped by appreciating my sketch. I remembered, the time of 2011, the year I resumed sketching actively. I would find all these beautiful spots to sketch, but I would feel so shy and conscious of people watching me. Now moving forward to 2018, I am not only indifferent to crowd around me, I am also enjoying my interaction with them.  It is a much simpler process now. Step1: I want to sketch this spot Step2: I sketch it. Nothing in between. I think it is a good amount of progress.


The boats in the #nordicmuseum in #seattle during #yulefest or #julefest #scandinavianhistory #boats #uskseattle #urbansketchers


Once I finished sketching the boats, I noticed I still had significant amount of time, to create one more sketch. I moved towards the entrance hunting for another spot. The beautiful statues of birds hanging from the ceiling caught my attention. I stood leaning against a wall, and started sketching the birds. The morning sunlight was reflecting through the translucent bodies and was enhancing the beauty of the sculptures. They evoked a nice visual of boats floating away in the windy sea, and sea birds soaring on the cloudy sky. The birds were a bigger challenge in terms of perspective though. Top view, angular layout, and spanning wings kind of confused me. It appeared as if they would fit into portrait mode, but they did not. I had to erase the sketches twice before finally figuring out the right perspective. 

While I was immersed in the birds, I heard a voice calling me out. I looked up and it was an old man looking at my sketch. I had a good 10 to 15 minutes of conversation with him (let's call him Uncle), and his wife (let's call her Aunty) who soon joined us.  It was so beautiful, I regret not writing down about the conversation on the same day.  Now, when I have sat down to write about it after so many days, I am afraid, I may not remember everything about the conversation. However, I will try my best to do justice to it.

The glass statues of ravens hanging from the ceiling of Nordic heritage museum #glassstatues #ravens #nordicmuseum #seattle #yulefest #uskseattle #urbansketchers

So, here it goes.

I look up and say hello to him. He appreciates my sketch and says, "Do you know, they are ravens?" I did not know. I imagined that they might be some sea-birds. He said, "No, they are ravens. Look at their pointy tails. That's how you know they are ravens. They do look very similar to crows. But they are not. They are large in size, and their tails are pointy. On the other hand, crows are smaller and have round tails." Point noted.

Ravens have been an important part of Nordic folklore. To be honest, I know very little of Nordic culture. I ask to tell more. Uncle says,  they are perceived to be intelligent and wise creatures connecting the people with the spirits. Vikings used ravens a lot during navigation to discover islands. They would train ravens, and carry them in the boats while exploring. When they wanted to know if there is an island nearby, they would release a raven. If the raven returns, it implies there is no island nearby. But if it does not, then it found an island.  Noah had sent a raven to find an island when trying to escape the great flood. When it did not return, he sent a dove, which returned to him.

Then Aunty joined us. She said that ravens are very intelligent creatures and also very emotionally intelligent. The parent ravens spend a lot of time training their babies. In their backyard, a raven couple had created a nest. The baby raven fell down from the tree one day, and was trapped in a pit below the tree. Uncle decided to help it. He was worried if cats will eat it. So he shoved a broomstick into the pit, hoping that the crow would climb. Aunty was not so sure if it would help the raven. But the raven knew what to do with the stick. It climbed up with the help of the stick. Both of them rejoiced at the raven's rescue, and they continue to protect the birds whenever they nest.

I was fascinated by the importance of crows and ravens in Nordic folklore and wondered how important they are in Indian culture. I told them that although crows are not as revered in Hindu culture, in Odisha, it is believed that if a crow cries sitting on your rooftop or backyard for a long time, it is an omen that guests are going to visit your home today. They were excited to learn about it.

It was interesting for me to talk to them and learn about the stories. I was trying to retrieve all the information I had about crows and ravens in my memory while I was taking in all the new information I got. Crows being a very common place creatures in tropical India, I had taken for granted that they are bird of tropics. After I came to USA, I saw that crows were a common-place bird species too. But they prefer quiet unlike the crows in India who have adapted to urban life. I have also noticed that crows are depicted in Native American art pieces and in totem poles, although I have not researched into it. In the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series written by George RR Martin, which introduced me to medieval and ancient Europe, Sam is assigned the task to nurture and train the ravens. Ravens are heavily used to send letters across, similar to how pigeons were used in India. They were also able to say simple words (although I am not sure if it is fantasy or truth.)

On the other hand, in India, crows are associated with Shani (Saturn) as his vehicle. Saturn is considered a powerful god, who can ill-favor you. So, if you want to appease him, you should feed crows regularly. But otherwise, they are in general not given a lot of value, often looked down upon for their scavenging habits, and harsh voice. 

Uncle was nice enough to click me while I was sketching. Here is me perched in a corner while sketching the sculptures. 


As I said bye to the couple, I was excited to have finished a nice sketch as well as to have encountered such lovely people.

Monday, December 10, 2018

National Animals Series : A-1


I went to Portland recently, and met an amazing artist after a gap of two years. She told me that one of her paintings is being showcased in an exhibition in an art gallery. We went there after a full satisfying lunch. It  was a very fullfilling experience in the gallery. There were nice paintings showing the theme of conserving trees. It was interesting that each artist had a very unique style of painting the same subject. There were also large oil paintings on wooden panels for an ongoing project to preserve America's coast line, again reflecting uniqueness of each artist. But the most appealing things to both of us were the sketchbooks. There were a few tables where sketchbooks of different artists were being showcased. Each sketchbook was hooked onto an anchor securely so that visiters can browse through its pages conveniently without displacing the sketchbooks. One of the sketchbooks I saw caught my eyes. It was a tall book with top two-third portion in plain white for drawing, and bottom one-third with rules for writing. The artist had done beautiful, light botanical sketches, and wrote notes about them. I loved the idea. On my way back I kept thinking that I want to do something like that. And the idea of sketching national animals of each country stuck me. I think it was the impact of watching too many BBC Earth Netflix documentaries :D 

The next day, I had to catch up with my chores and office work. But the idea kept popping in my head. I searched, and found there are 193 countries in the world, and if I start the project I have to do 193 sketches of the animals in order finish the project. I was itching to start the project, but was constantly stopping myself from doing it because I had other stuff to do. In the end, I could not resist. Finally at 12AM on the Sunday night I opened a new notebook, and started sketching on it. Well, that's me, waking up in the middle of the night to do something completely unimportant just because it has been bugging me.

The plan is as follows:
  1. I will sketch national animal of each country, by moving alphabetically from A to Z.
  2. I will stick to orange pencil and black ink to keep it simple, and keep my expectations low.
  3. I will restrict the orientation in portrait mode for ease of browsing.
  4. I will write a few notes about the animals next to the sketch.

So far, I am liking the effect. It has been very satisfying. On top of that, I feel like I am shooting 3 birds with one arrow. I can see how well I am sharpening my drawing and anatomy skills (Drawing). I am learning about different countries (Geography). I am also learning a lot about the animals I am sketching (Biology). A little bit of research goes on every time I sketch an animal, keeping the journey interesting.

My only fear is if I will be able to complete it. Knowing my nature, I am filled with many apprehensions. What if I get bored or distracted half-way through? What if I start putting too much pressure and procrastinate? What if I don't finish? If I do one sketch a day regularly, it will take me until mid-august 2019 to finish all the sketches. Honestly, that timeline is a little bit daunting and overwhelming.  Well, that is the challenge I am going to face with this project. And fingers crossed for finishing it successfully.

Snow leopard national animal of Afghanistan


A few days before I sketched the snow leopard, I watched an episode of "Tales by Light" of Netflix, where the photographer flies to Ladakh, India to catch a glimpse of Snow Leopards, and repeatedly said that the animal is "elusive". So, it was interesting to sketch the snow leopard. I instantly went into resonance, when I started sketching it. Developing the shape, outlining and shading using pencil, and defining edges and shadows using brush pen was very interesting. I felt very much in control. The feeling has sustained all over the 6 sketches I have done so far, thankfully. I loved the gaze of the Snow Leopard, focused, aggressive, and sharp. The black outline on its eyes reminded me of the black surma used by Afghan people.

As I sketched the anatomical framework, it was interesting to note how features of the animal have evolved to support it to adapt to its habitat. The paws have an extra padding to help walk in snow, the coat is white to help camouflage, the body is stocky, and lot of belly fat to protect against the cold. It was a good learning experience. I felt excited to learn more about the animals as I sketch them.

One thing I noticed that I was being anxious to finish the project right away. I was able to rationalize it soon though, and laughed at myself. Even if I stay up for 24 hours without doing anything else, I won't be able to complete this project. And here, I was somehow wanting to complete it right away. It is not a good approach towards work and projects. I have been noticing it since a few years. It also marks a shift from homework, exam, or competition based work demanding efforts in intense bursts to large projects demanding steady effort over time. I would like to expand more on the thought in another project. While, I am struggling with containing the urge to just finish everything, I think this project is also going to help me overcome this attitude.




Golden eagle. National animal and national bird of Albania


Moving on to my next sketch, it was surprising to find that a bird is also categorized as an animal. It was the most time-consuming of the 6 sketches, but not tiring at all. I loved every bit of doing it. Bird shapes are different and more unfamiliar to me in comparison to animal shapes. I find it more comfortable to sketch animals since they have similarities to humans in anatomy. Birds on the other hand have different anatomy, and have very delicate contours. I loved the eyes though. I liked that I was able to capture the shininess. They have this intense, emotional, focused, angry eyes, I feel like if I encounter a golden eagle any time, I will just stare at its eyes. And yes, they are the second fastest bird in the world Perigree Falcon being the fastest. Now that I have done this much of research, I ask, "What is the difference between a falcon, and an eagle? And what about hawks and kites?" It turns out they are all different species. While eagles, hawks, and kites share same genealogy, falcons share the  genealogy of parrots. Each of the species have their shapes and size defined in order to enable them to adapt the best to their environment. To learn more, check out this Quora post.


Desert fox. National animal of Algeria
 

By the time I sketched the first two sketches, I developed the impression that, "All countries must be having powerful, aggressive, and predatory animals and birds as their national anmials, isn't it?" And my next sketch (and a few more sketches thereafter) proved me wrong. When I was browsing for photographs of Fennec Fox of Desert Fox, I thought it will be an animal of the size of a street dog. Turns out, it is really tiny! It is the smallest fox with size up to 8 inches. That was a  quick breaking of my assumption! It was interesting how their ears helped them in both listening to preys, and also to help radiate heat. I am so enjoying this project!



Cattle #nationalanimal of #andorra


I did not know where "Andorra" was. I went to search for "national animal of andorra" directly. And it shows cattle! Wait, does it mean cows, or anything else? Where is this country? I never thought cows will be national animal of any country. Turns out Andorra is a tiny buffer country between to large countries Spain and France, each with their own majestic history. Cattle are so useful and important part of their life, that they are declared as national animal of the country.  Meanwhile, in India, we have reduced such an intelligent, gregarious, and economically beneficial animal into a topic of politics, standup comedies, and a stereotype defined by western tourists. Time to reconsider our priorities.


#sableantelope #nationalanimal of #angola .With only 100 numbers, they are an endangered species. #angola #antelopes #nationalanimals #animalsketch ref. Lionguard.Wikia.com

I loved the shiny brownish black coat of the Sable Antelope. This beautiful animal is an endangered species with only 100 numbers remaining as per 2015 census. Their large horns were very interesting to sketch. Although I had learned that antelopes and deer are different, I was not very sure how. But now ... I know. Read more here. Both male and female antelopes have horns. Only male deer have antlers. Antelopes' horns are permanent, whereas deer shed and grow them every year. Antelopes have a straight horns, whereas deer have branched horns, as we will see in out next sketch.




Fallow deer , national animal ofAntigua and Barbuda #nationalanimals #fallowdeer #deers #antiguaandbarbuda #animalsketch


Do you see the branched out antlers? Yes, and that's how you tell that it is a deer. I guess fallow deer are not different from harina(ହରିଣ)s or hiran(हीरन)s. Originally from Euarasia,they were carried around to other parts of the world with colonialism, and migration. Introduced to the Americas in 1700s, they are now the national animal of Antigua and Barbuda, a tiny archipelago nation in West Indies.  

I did feel a sense of pressure and tension by the time I sketched the Fallow Deer. So I decided, I should blog about them first, before moving on to the next half of countries that start with A.

Happy sketching! You can finish it!.

Friday, November 9, 2018

Centennial Park: and story of my guilt trips


The summer last year, I left my beautiful, lake facing apartment to move to a cheaper and smaller place in a less remote location. As I was hunting for apartments, I was delighted to see that Puget Sound is so close by! On top of that Mount Rainier is visible with all its glory! I loved the location of Lower Queen Anne and soon zeroed in an apartment. Although it is not very glamorous, I love that it is small enough for my needs, and in a safe location, plus apartment management is also friendly and genuine. And, I live close to waters!

But after I moved in, I confess I am not visiting the waters, the beach, and the park that often. Sometimes, in the weekends I have to guilt trip myself to go there. Once I reach there, I ask myself, "Why on earth don't you come here everyday?" But the pattern repeats. I stay back thinking I have to accomplish a lot, I have a lot of responsibility, only to waste time in stupid activities. The guilt trip and beating up is sometimes too much to take. I wish that whole chatter just stopped and I could seamlessly take in the view like all those joggers in the park. Funnily, all these sketches are an attempt to force myself out of my shell to go there and provide myself a nice time.



Olympic Mountains, Puget Sound from Centennial Park, Seattle
Sunset, Olympic Mountains, and Puget Sound from Centennial Park

This painting captivates the after-sunset glow of the sky, with Olympic mountains and Puget Sound taking darker tones, as the western sky kept changing one vivid palette to another. I am not sure if it was a week day or a week end, but I was determined to just go and sit there. As I sketched this, it became pretty dark, and I remember sitting on the rocks, with my flashlight on, and trying to hold on to the flying papers, and trying to finish my painting soon, while shivering in the increasingly cold wind. I felt proud with a sense of adventure, and told to myself that "I should come here more often. The time spent here is totally worth it. I must invest in this in order to rejuvenate myself."

#mountrainier again! From #centennialpark #seattle #pugetsound #lowerqueenanne ll #uskseattle #urbansketchers #watercolors #winsorandnewton

.... Only to procrastinate until my next sketch. My frequency of visits to the park increased definitely. I remember going there in cold nights and watching the breathtaking night view, and telling myself that I should come and paint the night view. But that did not happen until the next spring. Mount Rainier was basking on the southern horizon with all its glory. I feel, this is a better view than Kerry Park. The sky was a delicate satin of pink, blue and purple. The mount was simmering with golden and silvery light. It was a beautiful evening with gentle cool breeze brushing against my face. Those few minutes of painting were of pure peace. I decided to visit more often, and my frequency increased especially since it was summer. But I still hesitated to sketch. 

I started visiting the waters, and spent more time playing with the waves, and listening to them, everytime exclaiming to myself, "Why don't I come here more often?"  I would see a distant view of the lake, and western sky while walking from work, and debate, "I should probably go take a walk. Nah... I am too hungry, I need to cook and eat first. Nah... there is too much work and too many deadlines, I need to sleep early tonight."  I would miss many beautiful opportunities of sketching thinking "I am busy, may be another time." One day, I myself was frustrated enough with the annoying inner monologue to put my sketchbook and a set of pencil colors in my bag. The following sketch  was of a beautiful, worth framing scene. The colors definitely did not do justice to the beauty of the scene. I forced myself, "Just do it, even though it does not look pretty". And here you go...

Quick sunset view at #centennialpark #pencilcolors #prismacolorpremier #uskseattle #urbansketchers #landscape #sunset #pugetsound #olympicmountains




I remember deciding to walking out of my apartment after staying indoors for long time. I decided to explore the way south, and walk up to Belltown. It was a nice walk, with many beautiful views, full of people enjoying the summer evening. But my heart was not there. I was constantly struggling between wanting to enjoy the moment, and worrying about issues at work. On my way back, I saw this gorgeous view. Although it was getting dark, I had to sketch this one. My inner critic kind of scolded me. "Sketch it! You lazy fellow!". And I obeyed, and sat down to sketch. Sketching the tree was difficult and boring. So I hastened, to avoid the boredom. Still, I liked the way it turned out, although I think it looks better on paper. 

My frequency of visit to the park has increased slowly, although not to a satisfying level. Every time I visit there and see the vista of the lake, the mountains, the vast sky, the green grass,  and the Mount Rainier basking in all its glory as if watching over the city and guarding it from all the trouble, I remind myself. "I am so lucky to live so close to such magnificent beauty."  And I realize what Manoj Das meant when he spoke how being with nature makes you want to bow down with gratefulness in contrast to man-made things which make you want to possess ("Himalayara Himachhaya tale Masoori" in his book Antaranga Bharata).

Monday, September 10, 2018

Sketches of fauna: a surprise to myself



I can not emphasize enough how beautiful a blessing urbansketchers and inktober have been to me. They have so subtly and profoundly changed my approach to life, words won't be enough to express it. It has been long time I have been trying to sketch every day. I am definitely not there yet. But my frequency has improved from about two per year during the dip of the 2000s, to at least one in a week. I think it will take me at least an year to move towards sketching every single day, but I am confident that one day I will reach there.

For someone, who by nature and by conditioning tries to make a perfect piece, shifting to just doing something has been challenging. Lot of unlearning, remembering, and relearning is going into that. On many moments where I sat down to sketch, and did not have anything in particular in mind, I some how picked up a creature. It has surprised myself a lot, because I do not consider myself as an animal lover. The fact that I instinctively reach out for an animal surprises me a lot. It is a weird feeling, "Really? hmm.. interesting, but how?"  I have not still sorted the puzzle, but it is a good discovery for myself. Here are some of the sketches. Most of them are photo references, a few are sketches from real-life animals. Now, at this moment, I realised, I don't go for animals when I am out and doing urbansketching. I go for them when I am trying to sketch some idea. Hmm... interesting :)


The kangaroo was a start. I have by now, become really comfortable with the light yet bright undertone of orange pencil color followed by black pen style of sketches, although I have tried every now and then with different undertones. It allows me to let loose and later hide the trials, gives an illusion of color, and yet give a sense of completeness. I think, I am going to stick with this style for long time.

#kangaroo #dailysketch tools: #moleskinsketchbook #fabercastellpencilcolors #prismacolorcolerase #sakurabrushpen






The horse and two images of a barn dog are real-life sketches. A colleague of mine was kind enough to invite me to her horse-riding session. This was the horse she was grooming before taking her for a ride. I was surprised that this does actually look like the horse I sketched. After doing a few gesture sketches during the horse-riding session, I got bored and came out to sketch the barn dog. He was so fat, overfed, and lazy! He would sleep, and then turn around, and sleep again! There were two cats too, but did not get enough time to sketch them.







20180624_232137


The weaver bird (Baii Chadhei in Odia) and Greater Coucal (Kumbhatua in Odia) are an attempt to participate in Worldwatercolormonth in June of 2018. I did the sketches entirely using watercolor brushes, without and pencil and pens. That kind of surprised me about my muscle memory. I had learned such painting when I was a kid, and lost the habit since then. I loved both the paintings and had a great time painting them. But a few more paintings later, I stopped participating in the month long painting challenge. And funnily enough, I am not ashamed about it , like "whatever..".


ବାଇ ଚଢ଼େଇ ରେ ବାଇଚଢ଼େଇ ..... #Weaverbird #ବାଇଚଢ଼େଇ #30x30directwatercolor2018 #watercolors #aquajournal



#କୁମ୍ଭାଟୁଆ #kumbhatua or #greatercoucal common in tropical India. It looks like a mix of a crow and a male cuckoo.. however is much gentler in nature. And shy of humans. The bird has a deep resonating voice that always brings a strange sense of calm... #b


I love watching squirrels. I think squirrel-watching deserves to be a hobby in itself :) They also bring fond memories of drinking juice in the huts near canteen in IIIT, the backyard of our village, the coconut trees in our Aunt's backyard.

#quicksketch #squirrel #animalsketch ref.animals.mom.me


I don't remember why I wanted to sketch a panda, but its outcome was impactful. Everyone agrees that Instagram likes are kind of addicting. There have been many sketches in which I have spent significant amount of effort, but have got much fewer likes than the panda and squirrel, into which I put very little effort. They made me appreciate the lack of connection between effort and outcome. It happened around the same time, when I was puzzled by similar scenarios at work. What I considered hard work was not being appreciated so much, but what I did not give much thought into, and just did without thinking much, garnered a lot of appreciation. And when I discussed this with my manager, he said, "Just take it when it comes". And I am slowly learning to appreciate outcomes as they come and not read too much into them.



I kept thinking of a herd of elephants for some reason, and was compelled to pull out my sketchbook and sketch them one day. It was not perfect, I did not have the right pen with me, but "Hey! At least I did it!"


One day, I went to an urbansketcher meetup at Westlake Station, Seattle. While I was sitting in a corner and sketching, a lone explorer pigeon kept coming close to us. I did a few gestures of the bird, but could not do any proper sketches because of its constant rapid movement. So, I had the remainder of the page empty, adding "sketch a pigeon" to my TODO list. I sketched it recently, after many many days.

#ଲୋଟଣୀପାରା #pigeon #quicksketch ref.: acornergarden.blogspot.com



I am still not over the "its interesting...." mode. Let's see if I am sketching more of animals in future :)


Sunday, September 9, 2018

"Game of Thrones": apprehension to curiosity to obsession to withdrawl symptoms

Disclaimer: Like the books and the TV series, this blogpost is also gonna be long and windy. Read at your own risk.

I was introduced to the concept of TV Series when I moved to IIIT Hyderabad, and had access to large amount of free media via local network. "Friends" and "The Big Bang Theory" were already series taken for granted. Although "Dexter" was the series every one around me was obsessed about, "Game of Thrones" had started gaining my friends' interest, and people would talk about it every now and then. I, knowing my obsessive nature, tried to consciously stay away from watching any of the TV series. From my initial exploration, I found it bizzare, animalistic, depressing and gross. I did not understand why anybody should watch it. But I decided to read the books, since everyone said it has good content. I went to the library and got one of the book. I tried reading upto first 50 or 100 pages, but could not understand a thing. The book lay there next to my pillow for days without being touched. So I realized it is not my cup of tea, and returned to the library. (I realized , may years later, I perhaps picked a book in the middle of the series. No wonder it did not make sense to me.) That was the end of the chapter, .... for the time.

Then I moved to Boston. There I felt the craze among people over the series and the books. One of my colleague said, that he likes the depth of the characters and that no one is completely good or bad. Although I took a mental note of it, I knew I can not take the violence. Nope.

Then some time later, I started preparing for job interviews. I was doing this weird thing, that even I do not understand. I would play some youtube video on the side while practicing my codes. It kind of made me think faster. One fine midnight, while I was at it, I stumbled upon Emilia Clark's interview on Ellen's show. That led me to the episode where Daenerys burns the Dothraki and starts her own Dothraki army. It was so cool! And I was hooked! I obsessively watched all her episodes and read as much as I could. Then I would find another character interesting, and would repeat the same. Before long, I was up-to-date with the whole series. Then season 6 of the series released, and, I and my friend watched it obsessively.  

Then I moved to Seattle. I was determined to make the best use of Seattle Public Library. And I am proud to say, I am successful at doing so. The "A Song of Ice and Fire" series (the book series that the show "Game of Thrones" follows was so in-demand that I could not find a hard copy. So I borrowed the e-books. I obsessively read them, surprised myself at the speed at which I could read them. Boy! Was it engaging! I also was surprised how I developed tolerance towards reading violence. Everyone who knows the term "Game of Thrones" can be divided into two categories: the major category of maniacs who want to convert every one into the religion of GameOfThrones, and the minor category who couldn't care less about it. At this point, I successfully converted my religion from the minority to the majority. A few weeks after I finished reading all the books, the season 7 released to much fanfare, helping me quench my withdrawl symptoms. 

Meanwhile, a few interesting thing happened to me. I got introduced to urbansketchers and inktober thereafter. Soon it was October 2017, and was time to sketch one sketch every day of the October. Somehow most of the prompts reminded Game of Thrones themes. And I was not alone. There were quite a few sketchers who thought the same way, and sketched many Game of Thrones sketches. And for the prompts for which I could not find a picture immediately, I hunted down in youtube, and google books to find the right picture. Some of them were just ok, some of them surprised me, and some of them made me feel accomplished. Here are my sketches based on the prompts. I have adapted Jake Parker's style of sketching with a orange pencil at first, followed by applying ink. I liked that it allowed me to keep the sketch quick, and also let me go rough. That's why you will find orange and black sketches in most of them.


SWIFT


I saw the word, and immediately thought of the phrase, "Swift as a deer". This picture is of Arya Stark from the TV series played by Maisie Williams practicing sword fight when she was kidnapped by the Hound. The character of Arya Stark, like almost all the characters, is much more nuanced and subtle in the book than the series. While in the TV, she is portrayed as a fiesty girl turned into cold-blooded assassin, the book shows her as a much more three-dimensional person. She is fiesty, and cold-blooded when comes to art of fighting, but she is emotional, and feels deeply in contrast with her rival sister Sansa. She gets angry, and forces people around her to get her way, but her father's death has not made her cold. She mingles with people very easily (unlike how it is shown in the series), and it is shown that this ability of her helps her in forming disguises. She is grounded, and focuses on the work needed to be done in order to survive, and does not even makes any big deal about it, even though she is a royal. This poem is a set of quotes taught to her by her Sword master Syrio Forel as fighting techniques. And as tragedy ensues her life, she uses these quotes at different times to face her fear at dangerous times. The quotes keep appearing throughout the book at appropriate context making Arya's story line interesting.


DIVIDED




I confess, I forced the fabled "Wall" into this prompt.  The giant wall made of ice to protect the realm from what lies beyond is the core of the book. What lies beyond starts as a part of myths, stories, rumours, superstitions and proceeds to reveal itself as the narrative progresses. My sketch of this one is really basic. I think I just made this one for the sake of sticking to the timeline, and was not interested in putting much effort onto it. It is funny that at that time people were drawing lot of parallels between this wall to the wall Donald Trump wanted to make between USA and Mexico border. 

POISON


There are lot of discussions about poisons throughout the book in the series, which is natural when the book is about scheming and killing people for power. While a lot of people dismiss poison as "women's weapon", people from the cool Dorne, study extensively on poisons, and use as an essential part of their warfare. This sketch turned out to be dull despite my sincere attempt. Still, I would like to explain a little bit about the two sketches and the quote. Tears of Lys, is the poison that was used to kill a very able prime minister (The Hand, in "A Song of Ice and Fire" terminiology), which creates chaos like a wildfire. It is used throughout the series for killing various people and when people detect it, they deduct that a woman or an eunuch used it.

Manticore is a poisonous mythical creature, probably inspired by preying mantis. Its specialty is that its tail looks like a human face.  I sketched from the Game of Thrones episode where a manticore was about to attack Daenerys, and the cool Barristan Selmy saved her. This is one of the scenes where the TV series shines over the book. It was a cool introduction to Ser Barristan Selmy, the bad-ass fighter of the seven kingdoms. Here is the clip.


UNDERWATER


Day 4 of #inktober2017 #inktober2017day4 #inktober theme #underwater the mysterious #patchface and his #underthesea songs #caligaphy #ink #pencilcolors #asongoficeandfirequotes #asongoficeandfire #moleskinsketchbook

Ah! I so wish this character were in the TV series! The sketch is a fan made sketch of the weird character "Patchface". He is named so because his face is tattooed into patches (grids) of red and green. He was supposed to be the funniest clown to entertain the King's court, but he gets lost and mysteriously reappears after few days of storm. Since then he is slow-witted, funny and weird. But he keeps singing some bizzare out-of-the-context songs every now and then out of nowhere, only to realise few chapters later that he was foreshadowing some important events yet to happen. His songs are a brilliant way of the author to foreshadow the events to the readers while the characters around him are clueless about it. Only Melisandre, the fire worshipper, keeps suspecting him, and finds herself uneasy around him. But even she is not able to focus her thought around him or make any sense of his songs. I think,  what Melisandre did to Princess Sireen in the TV series, will be carried by Patchface in the book. Ah! When is the next book of the series coming along?

LONG

Day 5 of #inktober #inktober2017 #inktober2017day5 theme #long : old nan's story about long night and others. #gameofthrones #asongoficeandfire #asongoficeandfirequotes #brandonstark #longnight #oldnanstories #penandink #moleskinsketchbook

I guess I must have had debated between Longclaw (Jon Snow's sword) and Long night. I am super proud of this sketch. I have taken this picture from one of the scenes in the TV series, where the nanny (named as Old Nan) tells these bizzare stories of long night to Bran, one of the pivotal characters. At the beginning, the stories appear as simply magical stories (Kuhuka Kahani as said in Odia) that a eccentric child is interested in. But as the story unfolds, the meaning behind them gets more and more obvious. I took quite a bit of time to do the sketch and lot of effort to write the whole story, and it was fun. Although in the series Old Nan appears only few times, the book makes good use of her as a clue. No one knows how old she is. It appears as if she has been living for really long long time. Like the European rulers, there have been many Brandons in the stark family history and Old Nan confuses between all the different Brandons. Also there is the first Brandon, Brandon the builder who has built the wall and other cool structures many many centuries ago. Throughout the book, there are scattered brief mentions about Bran the Builder, and allusion that the current Bran may be the same person as Bran the Builder, although the author remains deliberately vague about it.

SWORD

Day 6 of inktober #inktober2017day6 #inktober2017 #inktober Theme #sword #ice the valyerian sword of house stark held by #eddardstark #valyriansword #gameofthrones #seanbean #pencilcolors #ink #micronpens #sketchbook #sketchbooks

I am so glad I did not follow the series from the season 1. Ned Stark or Eddard Stark, is the ideal hero, who follows rules, has integrity, and a good ruler, a perfect man in all sense, yet ends up with a tragic, humiliating death. I can imagine, how heartbroken his fans would have been when he died, because  he was the obvious hero of the story! His brutal death is a warning from George RR Martin to readers not to root for any character. As you read his narrative, you admire him, you want to idolize him, you want him to succeed, you sympathize with him, you berate him for taking idealized impractical decisions leading to his doom, your heart breaks when he dies, and you learn that being good will kill you in this world.  Everyone dismisses him for being too ideal, and inviting death upon himself, but people subtly envy his integrity. Each one of his children aspires to match up to his ideals, constantly asks themselves the question, "What would father have done?" while tackling difficult situations. Even his enemies think of what he would have done every now and then. That is the legacy a strong person leaves behind.
Any way, why did I sketch Ned Stark (played by Sean Bean) ? I actually wanted to sketch the famous sword "Ice" which was the signature ancient sword owned by the House of Starks. It was one of the many fabled swords in the story. It is funny how the author gives names and personalities to the swords as if they had a life of their own, and the sword has its own story-line!



SHY



I actually wanted to sketch Brienne of the Tarth for this prompt. But I could not find a single adjective associated with her as "shy" in the book series. Every time I searched for the word "shy", I found Podrick Payne instead.  I think, this is one of my best sketches of the Game of Thrones sketches. I was surprised that it did look much like the actual picture of Daniel Portman, who played the character Podrick Payne. While in the TV series he is added for adorable comic timing, in the books he is mostly mentioned from the point of view of Tyrion Lannister and Brienne of the Tarth, and mentioned as a painfully shy person, but with a strong reflex and good fighting skills. This character is also a representative of George RR Martin's superlative story-telling skills where no single character is there for the sake of it.  Every small or big character helps move the story line further.


CROOKED

#inktober2017day8 #croocked alleys of #braavos #gameofthrones #asongoficeandfire #inktober2017 #inktober #prismacolorpencils #micronpens #moleskinsketchbook

This prompt was obvious. I read the word "crooked alley" so many times to explain the city of Braavos, that I did not have to think twice before sketching this one. I sketched this from one of the scenes of Braavos, shot in Croatia. I think my disinterest and wish for quickly doing something and finish the sketch shows here.


SCREECH

#inktober2017day9 #screech of the #whitewalker #samwelltarly killing whitewalker . #gameofthrones #asongoficeandfire #indiaink #prismacolorpencils #micronpens #uniballsignowhite #moleskinsketchbook

Trust me, I so wanted to sketch the dragons for this prompt! I searched, and searched,  and searched, but could not find a single reference to the dragons' sound as "screech"! They were always of referred as music and song. "What the hell! Have you heard of their sound in the TV! How could they ever be songs? What's wrong with Daenerys?" That was the thought in my mind while I was desperately searching for the prompt in the book series. However, I always found the "others" consistently recurring with the term "screech". Finally I begrudgingly settled for the scene and sketched it. I found this sketch very difficult to sketch, and was not satisfied by the way it turned out. Although the TV series does a great job of depicting whitewalkers or the others, I found their description in the book much more creepy, nerve wracking, scary and bone-chilling. This is a scene where the cowardly Sam kills a whitewalker accidentally in a desperate attempt to save himself and his crush, and discovers secret weapon to kill the whitewalkers. More on Sam coming soon.

GIGANTIC

#gigantic #titanofbraavos #inktober2017day10 #inktober2017 #inktober #gameofthrones #asongoficeandfire #ink #fabercastellpencils #moleskinsketchbook

The titan of Braavos is the gatekeeper statue of the ancient city of Braavos. In the series, it is shown occasionally, when Arya enters the city for the first time, and looks at it with wonder. But that's about it. In the book, (I forgot who narrates), it is told that the giant is sleeping (or something like that, Oh. time to read the books again!) and will wake up when the city is under external threat. However, practically, the statue acts as a fort inside which soldiers can hide and attack the enemies from a safe vantage point. That's so cool!

RUN


#inktober2017day11 #run the child who kept running from one danger to another #aryastark #syrioforel #yoren #gameofthrones #asongoficeandfire #inktober2017 #inktober2017 #inktober #fabercastellpencils #micronpens



























Poor Arya. She had to keep running from one danger to another. They were two instances where she found amazing persons as guardians, and in the face of danger, they goaded her to "Run" a few moments before they had to sacrifice their own lives. First the teacher Syrio Forel, and then Yoren. The scenes were too similar with each other. The moments of her escape are profound and heart wrenching.


FIERCE

Catching up with 3 days of lag. #inktober2017day14 #fierce #khaldrogo #gameofthrones #inktober2017 #inktober #micronpens #sakuraofamerica #fabercastellpencilcolors #moleskinsketchbook


Khal Drogo is the quintessential bad guy everyone loves. He is the formidable leader of the Dothrakis, a nomadic tribe inspired by Mongolian warlords, and Native American warrior clans, well played by the actor Jason Momoa.  He is also one of the larger-than-life heroes who experiences a miserable, pathetic death. I think George RR Martin likes to give miserable deaths to heroes. There is a lot of controversy around his relationship with Daenerys among fans, where one faction swoons over their fairy tale love story, whereas the other dismisses it as stockholm syndrome. One has to read the books to take a decision. However, I hated the fact that in the TV series, his consummation with Daenerys was so brutal. I don't see any reason to discard the beautiful narrative of the novel and go for such brutality, other than a higher degree of blood-thirstiness of the directors.


MYSTERIOUS


 #quaithe theme #mysterious #inktober2017day15 #inktober2017 #inktober #gameofthrones #micronpens #fabercastellpencilcolors #fabercastell #sakuraofamerica #moleskinsketchbook

Quaithe, a mysterious woman who keeps appearing in front of Daenerys, every now and then, to warn her. I picked this picture from the series, in which she appears only once while wearing a red mask representing her mystery. But in the books, she is much more mysterious, and ethereal. She keeps appearing to Daenerys  in mysterious ways and gives her warnings through prophecies, and acts as a guardian angel to her.  Now I think, I should have also written some of her prophecies. One of her prophecies that is my favourite:

"To go north, you must journey south, to reach the west you must go east. To go forward you must go back and to touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow."


FAT


The fat boy from horn hill #samwelltarly #inktober2017day16 #fat #gameofthrones #inktober2017 #inktober #micronpens #sakurainktober #fabercastellpencilcolors #moleskinsketchbook #johnbradley


Well, Samwell Tarly was the obvious choice for the prompt "fat". I took this picture from the scene of his first appearance in the TV series. I tried to capture his scared look, it turned out to be scary look instead :). He kind of looks like Kung Fu Panda here.

Introduced as a fat, cowardly boy to the story, he quickly forms a crucial part in finding the solution to the whole whitewalker problem. The actor John Bradely does a perfect portrayal of the character. He is a character about whom I won't compare between book and TV. In addition to acting as a voice of reason to Jon Snow, he provides comic relief both in TV and the books. In the books, his chapters are the most fun to read.

On a digressing note, his character gave me an idea about medieval Europe and their attitude towards scholars. Ancient and medieval Indian society put lot of importance to intelligence and knowledge. Scholars and scientists highest position in the social hierarchy. The ridicule  and dismissive attitude thrown at the fat, book-loving Samwell reflects the attitude of medieval Europe towards knowledge and science, which I find quite regressive and backwards, and dissapointing.


GRACEFUL

Theme #graceful #inktober2017day17 #inktober2017 #inktober #sansastark #direwolf #micronpens #sakurainktober #fabercastellpencilcolors #moleskinsketchbook #waterbrush


Sansa came to my mind immediately, after I read the word "Graceful". She is one of the most gray characters in the book, making your opinion on her constantly wavering.  Making a simple innocent girl's character as gray, shows the incredible ability of the author's to understand human nature. One moment, you love her and adore her, the next you pity her, then you almost hate her, then you want to scream at her "you stupid girl!", then you want to admire her for her cleverness. Although both the TV and books evoke same reactions from you, I felt her character is more two-dimensional in the TV, the same way Arya's character is portrayed. When I read the books,  it was more obvious to me, why she was the preferred child, the subtlety of why she and Arya hated each other, why she was blindly obsessed about getting married to a prince, why she did what she did. In the books, the arc of her transition from a self-victimizing damsel to standing up for herself and for others, and taking charge is beautiful. I must say, her initial chapters, were very difficult for me to digest. I would think, "How much one can victimize herself? Common!"



FILTHY

Filthy #inktober2017day18 #inktober2017 #inktober #filthy #reek #alfieallen #gameofthrones #danceofdragons #prismacolorpencils #uniballsignowhite #micronpens #waterbrush #moleskinsketchbook

If you don't know how to feel pity for others, you need to watch or read the character of Theomn Greyjoy brilliantly portrayed by Alfie Allen. His story line is a striking parallel with Jon Snow, one of the characters leaning towards positive side of gray and slowly emerging to be the protagonist in the books, and quickly made famous in the TV series. It shows the power of inner strength, and how it shapes your life. Both of Jon Snow and Theon Greyjoy go throught severe identity crises while growing up and face similar choices. Theon Greyjoy is given many options, and he takes the decisions that leads to his misery. He is one of the characters where the author shines at offering nuances. While reading his chapters, you see why he acts the way he does, you can reason why he is not right, or is right, yet you can see his perspective.


TRAIL
 #inktober2017day22 #inktober2017 #inktober theme #trail #jonsnow #kitharrington #gameofthrones #pilotpen #fabercastellpencilcolors #sakurainktober #micronpens #moleskinsketchbook ... lagging behind by 4 days! 

 This is the sketch of Jon Snow exploring the other side of the wall in the mission with other black brothers. Sigh, it does not look like Kit Harrington, one of the fan-favorites. While in show, he is shown as the brooding, melancholic hero (in the book too), the book has much more subtlety. I wish they had shown his bond with his dire-wolf Ghost, and his wolf-dreams and his green-seer abilities. I liked his arc in the book slightly better, because of showcase of extra skills and strengths of the characters. While the directors try to project him as a hero, the book does a honest attempt to display both his strengths and weaknesses. 


DAENERYS

#daenerystargaryen #emiliaclark #gameofthrones tools : #gameofthrones #pilotg2pen #fabercastellpencilcolors #waterbrushpen #sakurabrushpen

This was not part of the prompts. Why I sketched her? Because I had to! How could I miss her out when I drew all these characters. While her rise was a kind of a story of an underdog is phenomenal, what I like about her character is how she silently watches while people go on and on waiting for the right moment, and then BAM! and she arrives, everything changes in a flash. Her major scenes in the movie are well-done, especially they are not yet there in the book. The last scene in the book series is where she is escaped with her dragon "Drogon" and is trying to find her way back. Ah! When will the next book come?! While the rest of the stories branch out with each of the stark children, Daenerys, and Tyrion, are the two other characters driving the major plotline. In fact, there is a lot of foreshadowing about her rise subtly indicating that she is one of the protagonists. Although I loved her character on TV, I found myself being disinterested in her initial chapters, and slowly gained interest on her story-arc in the books. Also, if one pays attention, you would find subtle connection between Jon Snow and Daenerys as complimentary personalities, and going through similar journeys. I feel disappointed on the tweaks done by the TV directors for her storyline. I feel they are confused about this character the most.

Well, I surprised myself at the number of sketches I have done for these characters, and how long this blogpost turned out to be. If you have managed to stay with me until now, thank you! And, I am glad to resume this blog after so long!