Crowded House and Pete Yorn

Here are some sketches I did in the dark of Crowded House (first three) and Pete Yorn and his band (last three) from the Greek Theatre. Great show!

Blu Soul at the Good Hurt

I went to see my friend Shalini perform with her amazing band called Blu Soul at a little club just down the street from me called Club Good Hurt. I really wanted to do a better job of sketching them than last time. When people ask why I always do this, just look at those sketches from a year ago, then look at these. So, I'm glad to see that I have gotten better, but there's still so far to go.

I even managed a few sketches of a great band which I think is called Throw Away Gun who played after them. I look forward to the day when I can spend more time on paintings and not just quick sketches!

What? That's not a sketch...

...yeah I know. I want to work on my photography skills too. I bought a video camera as well as a new still camera, so I really want to get the hang of them. So, to that end, here are some attempts. Thanks to my talented pal Chris for some tips, and hangin' out at the Arboretum with me a couple weeks ago, and my friend Ammar for introducing me to his funky claw tripod months ago. After struggling to get that last shot without using a flash (my hands just aren't still enough for long exposures, so I finally rested it against a pole), I picked up that a funky claw tripod (not the actual name) up today for future use. As usual, feedback, tips appreciated and feel free to join on the next adventure! There's more on my flickr page.

Saints and Sinners after OT dinners

Sketch from a little bar called Saints and Sinners after another long day. One of our own is making her triumphant escape. Good for you Britt! Almost there.

Wednesday Figures

Some 2s, 5s and 1s.

Figure Drawing

This weeks figure drawing session was very productive. I remixed a lot of my colors. Several of them are much more opaque because I mixed white acrylics with watercolors. These are 3's, 5's and a few 8 minute sketches.

India Splendor

I went to the closing night gala for a 5 day program called India Splendor at UCLA's Royce Hall, on the occasion of India's 60th anniversary. The show was a glimpse of some of the ideas and opportunities that India has to offer to the world. There were awards and performances. I drew some of the performers including Nishat Khan, Sonu Niigaam, Bipasha Basu and some Los Angeles based dancers. Happy 60th!

Not too late...

"The creation of the new state has placed a tremendous responsibility on the the citizens of Pakistan. It gives them an opportunity to demonstrate to the world how a nation containing many elements can live in peace and amity and work for the betterment of all its citizens irrespective of caste or creed. Our object should be peace within, and peace without. We want to live peacefully and maintain cordial friendly relations with our immediate neighbours and with the world at large." -Jinnah

Happy 60th!

Rock the Bells San Bernadino

I went to Rock the Bells, an amazing hip hop show in San Bernadino. The lineup was amazing. Out of all the performers, I managed sketches of Mos Def, a member of the Roots, Cypress Hill (all in the second last set), Public Enemy (third set of sketches) and Rage Against the Machine (first two sets). Public Enemy and Rage Against the Machine were by far the most amazing performances. These two are Hip Hop with content and not the usual ego stroking nonsense. Rage's set was up there with the most intense and amazing performances of any band I have ever seen. The lineup went on far beyond the few acts I managed to sketch. I was pretty far from the stage, so the sketches are kind of quick and vague. By the time Rage went on, people had jumped the gates and poured into the isles, creating a mosh pit about 6 seats away from where I sat. We ended up balancing on folding chairs, to see the stage..and that's how I sketched them. Couldn't let a little madness keep me from that.

This song says it all:

Public Enemy Harder Than You Think

Venice Sketchcrawl and Festival of Chariots

I went to the sketchcrawl that Alina put together at Venice Beach. It's always fun to hang out and draw with fellow artists. I can think of few places around LA with as many interesting things/people to draw as Venice Beach. I started off by sketching a girl at the cafe, then on to the Festival of Chariots which happened to be today as well. I drew various performers, including these very talented young dancers.

Wednesday Figures

Short session this week. Mostly 5 minute straight watercolors, except the hand study. It took longer. A few started with some pencils.

M.I.A. at the EchoPlex

Went to a fun show by M.I.A. on Tuesday at the EchoPlex. It took us 6-7 hrs to get in, and the show was really short, but it was great! Hopefully next time she'll perform at a bigger venue and for longer. It was pretty dark, and I could only see a bit over the crowd, but I did manage a few sketches. Special thanks to the kind waitress for her encouragment!

Wednesday Figures

This weeks figure drawings are a mix of 2, 5 and 1 minute (second panel) sketches. For most of the 2 minute sketches, I added a few watercolor washes after the fact, so they are more like 3 and a half minutes. Some started with pencil, most are straight watercolors.

Odds and Ends

Here are a few random sketches. The first is practice off a photo, the second from my head and the third from figure drawing.

Santa Monica to Malibu

So, I walked along the ocean today, from Santa Monica, to Malibu and back. It feels good to feel physically tired from actually doing something physical, instead of from sitting at a desk all day. Here's a quick sketch I had to do to try and redeem myself for a sketch that turned out really bad on Friday night (well, this one is at least better than that one!). Also, check out my new website at http://www.madguru.net/. As I try and develop some web and graphic design skills, I'll play around with it some more and try to have some more fun with it. For now, it's functional.

Wednesday Figures

Here are some 3 minute figure drawings. This time around I put down pencils first and then added watercolor on top. For some of these, I just had pencil lines and a few watercolor strokes when the session ended, so I finished painting those ones later on (an hence took longer than 3 minutes). The top ones were the last ones of the session. I ran out of papers, and just painted on the cardboard from the pad. I'm trying to work on some structure. I hope that after a while I can start to intelligently mess with the anatomy. Working on that intelligence part...

Cheb i Sabbah, Riffat Sultana, Taal, Gingger Shankar, Atini Bauseh, Satnam Ramgotra and more at the Levitt Pavilion

Went to see Cheb i Sabbah, Riffat Sultana, Taal, Gingger Shankar, Atini Bauseh, Satnam Ramgotra and more at a free show at the Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena. It's been a few weeks since I mustered up the energy to go out after work, so this was a lot of fun! I was very tired, but I did managee a sketch of Cheb i Sabbah and one of the Atini Bauseh dancers. If only I had the energy to paint more of the performers. Oh well, next time. Just felt good to even do this much!

Wednesday Figures

This weeks sessions was super short. I was only there for a little bit, before work pulled me back in, but I managed to get some sketches in. I sketched these out with pencil and then continued with watercolor all in 3 to 5 minutes each. I dunno why I messed up the shoulder blade in the first figure on the second image..oh well.

Wednesday Figure Drawing

Hmmm...I wish I could draw every day...I could sure use the practice. Here are this weeks figure drawings. Gold and green ink with watercolors. I think I could benefit from some pencils and watercolors next week. It's time to start working on exaggeration without quite as much abstraction. After this work project ends, I've got to do at least three times as much drawing with a concentrated effort to improve.

Wednesday Figures

It's always good to come home and realize that there is actually something good in the drawings you did earlier that day. Often when I do them, it's hard to see that. I guess it's because I'm always thinking about what I want them to be...always reaching for it, never quite getting there. I suppose it doesn't help that the artists I look to for inspiration are so unbelievably good.