Manisha and Asha

I went to see Manisha Shahane and Ashwini Srikantiah perform with their bands at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market. Manisha has a great deal of variety in her set. For one song, she brought her friend's kids on stage to make train sounds when she pointed to them during the song. Asha was a lot of fun with her band (including Sandeep, playing guitar and later eating crepes in the green shirt) too!Here are a bunch of watercolor sketches from their performances and of the people around me. There's also a sketch of Aki and an unfinished one of Big D manning the camera. That one's unfinished because I drew the camera too small...in ink! I think the watercolor of Manisha, Beret and Asha is my favorite. It was the loosest of these sketches. Still can't capture a likeness in any kind of detail..especially very quickly...got to work on that.

Wednesday Figure Experimentation

Here are some figure drawings from today. I'm continuing to play with line and color. It's a lot of fun to see where I can take this! It's this kind of experimentation in short poses that really helps me try out different ideas. I feel like the first two(among the last I painted, are some of the most successful).

Quake Remembered

One year later, reconstruction and rehabilitation continues. Many are still without homes. Below is a poem my father wrote last year expressing his thoughts about the earthquake. A lot of people from around the world have sent money as well as personally going there to help. Many are still there helping. I didn't go back myself, but I feel fortunate that I am in a position to continue to help financially. Thanks to all those who have not forgotten.

Pakistan MeiN Zalzala

BastiuN ki bastiaaN veeraan ho kay reh gaeeN

Chand lamhoN meiN qayaamat ka samaaN yooN chhaa gia

Her taraf bikhrey yooN beybas bay-karaaN insaan haiN
Aaur hazarooN apney hee ghar meiN dafan khamoshe haiN

Un-ginat masoom bachay khoon meiN luthray hooway
Un-ginat insaaN apahaj jism meiN jhakray hooway

Bhook aur pias kee shiddat saiy murjha-ey hooway
Rooh kaiy dard-o-azzeat saye yooN kumlaey hooway

Baye- saro- samaaN kharey haiN zindagee kay mor par
Mun-tazir haiN baye- basee maiN rah-matey aghyar kay

Aap kay jaz-ba-ey deeN jaz-ba-ey eesar sey
Kuchh madawa ho sakay ga zulmatey adwaar ka

Ejaz.

Grand Ave. Festival and Eagle Rock Musical Festival

Checked out a lot of music today. I wanted to continue the ink and watercolor thing, but my pen just wasn't flowing..so I just switched to watercolor only or I never would have got anything done today. Got to find a proper fountain pen...not the ones with cartridges!

I started at the Grand Ave. Festival. The first two are of MC Rai (who I've raved about before) and his band. The third one is of Dakah Hip Hop Orchestra (you can see some of the mcs, dancers and orchestra members). I didn't get any sketches of Kinky, but they were amazing! I couldn't stop moving long enough to paint! After that, I went to the Eagle Rock Music Fesival and saw two fun bands. The fourth picture is of a band called Restaurant and the last is called the Element Band.

Abida Parveen - Tu Han Sakhi, Mai Han Pyasi

Abida Parveen is a Pakistani singer whom I've wanted to sketch for a while, but could not pull off anything I was willing to post until tonight. She is known for singing the poetry of many Sufi Saints from all over Pakistan and India in a number of languages. Her singing is beautiful and the poetry she chooses equally so. I'd like to share translations of this type of poetry more in the future, but for now a taste.(poetry by Bulleh Shah with translated subtitles)Kithe Mehr AliDamadam Mast Qalandar (traditional Sindhi song about Lal Shahbaz Qalander with mention of Jhulelal)Mahi Yaar Di GharoliTo me, many of these songs are mysteries to be unravelled. Names and titles mentioned in this poetry is often the starting point of discovering where the song came from and what the social context is, though the meanings tend to be universal themes. The context simply makes it that much more rich.

Wednesday 3's and 5's Ink and Watercolor

Here are some watercolor figures. I drew them with ink and then quickly added some watercolor on top. The first one is one of the last ones I painted during today's session. On it, I had started laying down some lines and then stopped. It looked like enough so I finished it with watercolors. This is where I want to go.

Watercolor and Ink Faces

Here are tonight's watercolor and ink faces. I took two faces and drew them twice. First straight in ink, then painted on top with watercolors. The lower right hand one (last one I did) is the one I find most effective.

Grandfather

Here's a quick pencil sketch, with ink and then a watercolor and ink sketch based off it. It's pretty humbling to start getting somewhere with one way of working, then start on something else and have to go through that whole process again. It's going to take some work to get this going! I need to get this line as loose as the quick watercolors and yet retain facial features etc.

Malang

Here are some sketches based off a single photo. I've been working on watercolor figures, painted from life for a bit now. Now I want to roll this back into what I did before and move ahead. This is more line than what I want, but it'll take a bit to get there. The top two were drawn directly with ink then painted. The bottom two were painted with watercolor and then line was added. I'm also experimenting with the way I caricature the face and body. The second one on the top is my favorite.

Wednesday Figure Drawing

The model came a bit late, so I started with a sketch of the benches, then two volunteer "models" (fellow artists), and then all the rest are of the model. I actually find that I like these sketches more a few hours after making them rather than right away. I think it's time to pick up some more art supplies..see where I can take this!

Sketchcrawl Pasadena

Alina organized a sketchcrawl in Pasadena today. I got to see a bunch of friends I hadn't seen in a while, as well as some great friends from work and I met many dly new artists. Here are some watercolors. The first is of the Pasadena City Hall Building, and the others are of people hanging out in an outdoor mall courtyard.

Gurdas Mann

Stayed home sick today, but I had my pal Gurdas Mann to cheer me up!

Let him cheer you up too.

Challa

Lakh Pardesi

He's awesome, but a lot of the cds tend to be
too synthesized for my tastes, though I can't help but listen because it is Gurdas Mann after all, but these two live recordings are great! Must find some cds more like this. Any recommendations?

Mohini and Vivek

Attended Mohini Banerjee's Bharat Natyam Arangetram and her brother Vivek Banerjee's Tabla Rangapravesh at UCLA Saturday. These are possibly the two most multi-talented kids I know of. Mohini is also a music student of Lalita Sharma, who I also took vocal lessons with. That makes them all like family, so I feel really proud. It's a pleasant reminder of how much we are all capable of if we put our minds to it and work really hard. Managed a few quick watercolor sketches during the performance. I'm still working out where to go with these types of fast sketches. Must do more work...

Inequality Watercolor

Inequality

(Had meant to originally do this as a watercolor. Finally finished it)

Wednesday Figure Drawing 3s and 5s

Here is a mix of 3 and 5 minute water color sketches from a lunch time figure drawing class.

Blue13 Karishma

Did these watercolors in the dark at Blue13 dance company's performance of Karishma. A lot of times when I do these, often sitting at some performance by myself, I can hardly see anything, and it all looks like junk in the dark. It's always a pleasant surprise to find what I was actually able to capture once the lights come back on. It doesn't hurt that the performers are so talented either!

Random Heads

Here are some random heads.

Niyaz, Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz

I saw Niyaz, Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz perform at a benefit for Relief International who are working to help victims in Lebanon rebuild. The show was at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood. It was a a great cause and a very fun concert. Satnam Ramgotra played some great tabla! I managed to get in a few watercolors during Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz's performance.

Hooray for Bollywood

Here are a bunch of water color sketches from a performance called Hooray for Bollywood. These were really fast and in the dark. I tried to do the same as those last few pen sketches, but with water colors. There were all kinds of acrobats, fire, snakes, swords, some great musicians and a lot of excellent dancers. If you get a chance to check this show out, definately do.

Kiran Ahluwalia at the Santa Monica Pier

Went to see Kiran Ahluwalia perform at the Santa Monica Pier. It was lot of fun and I even managed a few quick sketches.