In a beautiful afternoon...

Mmm  ... where should I begin? Well, this is my first 'online' picture of our beautiful campus :P. The day I came to the campus, I wished to sketch certain beautiful spots. Those spots always reminded me when I pass by them that I need to sketch them. The beautiful white benches were always inviting... but I always hesitated. Sometimes I was conscious about the movement of people around me, some other times unsure of my capability. And the other day, I came out of lab with my notebook, frustrated about the fact that my experiment is not working and started walking until I got tired. Then I sat on one of the beautiful benches. It was a beautiful afternoon, the cloudy weather, the cool breeze, bringing relief in the hot summer ... and I wanted to sit there for some more time. It was then I started sketching this. That moment gave me the courage to do what I could not do for almost 2 years!

I found that it was tougher to observe the patterns and depict it when watching it in real than when copying from a photograph. Many times, I was not sure how to sketch the details, for example the intricate folds of the trunks. Another thing I would like to point out is the branches shooting vertically upwards. This is not the only tree in the campus, there are many such trees whose branches shoot straight up! I could not stop admiring Nature. She has made things so intricate yet so simple.

I tried my best to maintain the perspective, although I need to improve at depths and many more aspects I do not know yet. While I was sketching, I needed to sit and complete it as I knew that if I leave it incomplete, I would never complete it again. There was a fight going on between the Perfectionist Me and the Impatient Me ... I kept sketching until the Impatient Me won :) It was like a treat to me :) . Now I am more confident of sketching on the spot :)

Distraction

Well, as I said, I have developed this habit of drawing zigzag lines whenever I am distracted. So, this time I thought of drawing them on a single piece of paper instead of drawing here and there. So here it is ... I did not do this in one shot. Whenever I felt like scribbling, I opened this sheet and started scribbling. I went where my pencil took me with absolutely no intention of creating anything. And I went on till I calmed down. This is nothing but a compilation of random scribbles in different distracted moments isolated from each other. In the end, it looked good to me :). Looking forward to do more such sketches :)

You are free to interpret it the way you want to... :)

She

She

Hmm... another new notebook... another set of tempting new white pages ... another boring day in lab and another attempt to start something random. So I went on with these zigzag lines which slowly took the shape of hair, and I went ahead with a face to complete it. Again, a girl's face with closed eyes is my favourite.

 I am somehow liking sketching those zigzag lines these days, especially when I am distracted. They allow me to go on stroking with my pencil without really stopping, as if the pencil is moving on itself. They create beautiful patterns and kind of calm me down. :) I used zigzag patterns throughout this sketch; nowhere did I use deliberate clear lines and that was like 'wooow'. Unlike the previous one, I had to stop and use eraser at few places though. I hardly took half an hour to do this and to refresh myself. :P So this was like a quick snack. :) Its alright if I can manage with many quick snacks instead of one full meal. :P

Is it this...or is it that?

Let me start with why I uploaded this picture... because it is different from all the previous pictures that I have uploaded, in the sense that, in this case, I did not have to work on my skills, did not have to deliberate on how to sketch or paint it, I did not even imagine what I was going to do...I started with the blue ink pen and the drawing grew with the ink. That was like 'wooow' for me :)

So I bought a new notebook the other day. I love new notebooks, the white pages and their smell. I was scanning through the blank pages and someone in my mind said, "wow...beautiful white pages!". And then another voice said, "Why don't you sketch something on it?". The 1st voice replied, "Ya..right. I should sketch something. I will think of something good, then lets see...May be some other time". The 2nd one snapped,"O you will never do anything except planning to do big some other time!" There was silence...The 2nd voice could not bear it. "Start with something!! You do not have to plan always!" And then I started with a line without really thinking what I wanted to do...and the drawing developed as something that is neither completely plants and flowers nor a complete peacock...weird...looked more like a mehndi design to me...Nevertheless, it was good.

This is the story, bit dramatised, isn't it? :P Any way, it was fun to do.

Inducing peace

After I did my last sketch, my friend told me to do more of colour than pencil shading. So here it is ... the picture of a beautiful beach :) . The photograph is of one of the lovely beaches of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands captured by a friend who is a brilliant photographer. Really, colours brighten up the mood and this particular picture created many beautiful thoughts in my mind while I was making it. I felt very happy after I completed this and immediately rushed to show it to my friends. It took me bit longer time to complete this...but I was more sincere and patient this time. Although I could not sit for an entire day to do it, I made sure I got back to the sketch as soon as possible.

When I saw the photograph, I decided to sketch it using pencil colours. I began with the sky and, for a moment, I thought I should have used water colours for they are easier for depicting clouds. However, I stuck to my decision. Funny thing was that while doing every portion of the landscape, I thought the next portion would be easier, which was not the case.

I don't know if I will get enough time to do more as life is getting busier, but definitely looking forward to do more and more... plus, I have many unfinished art-pieces crying for my attention :( .

sketched her sketching...

I am glad I went with my friend to accompany her for the workshop she was attending. I sat there as she was sketching and I started sketching her to kill time. I would say, this is my first portrait of a person. I could not get much time, so I had to do the shading part off-line, where I need to improve a lot. I love the shading I did with the hair using HB and B4 pencils.

But I disappointed her as the portrait was not exactly like her. :( Any comments regarding this is welcome. Anyway, I have promised her that I will portray her exactly in the next portrait. Hope I can do that...

There are so many things we see all the time but do not notice! I realised this while sketching her sleeves. If I had to sketch a girl out of my imagination, I would have, perhaps, drawn two almost parallel lines and think that this is sufficient. But when I did it while watching her, I could find out where I was wrong. That's what happens with us in real life too, isn't it? We do not notice so many things even if we see them and keep asking where did it all go wrong...All that we need is to slow down, stop and watch..the same things will look so different to us!

A king in his own terms

Well, this is another photo in the campus. The dog, its furry skin, the different planes in the photo(that of the platform on which the dog was sitting, the hut and the background behind it) were in my mind when I sketched this picture.

Well, I would like to share something about the dog. This dog used to be the favourite of many in the campus. Many people pampered him, fed him, played with him and gave him a nickname of their own. He was kind of nice and royal unlike other dogs. And when I went near him to click his photo, he did not react at all. He just turned his face towards me and turned back, as if he was thinking, "kahan kahan se chale aate hain photo khinchne meri... lelo..tum bhi kya yaad karogi.." :)