Art Gallery
Voltas ka Bachha
One of the earliest sketches. It is still incomplete. The kids' trousers had 'adidas' written on it. This is the third in a series of sketches that were done when I was in 12th. Or Plus 2 as the home-grown, original mallus would say :P.
This does not look close to the original. There is a marked indifference towards what matters with respect to what really doesn't. It is easier to look at it critically now, with the enormous hindsight one gathers over the years and labels as 'experience'. I look at it now and see how significant it was. Back then, it was the highest form of doodling* at the most.
I have been following quite a few artists ever since and I see how differently they tackle their Art vis-รก-vis Technique & Preservation. Leads me to believe that, in all fairness: a) Patience is a virtue. b) I do not value my Art.
For what it is worth, this one started it all. Or maybe not. It is so old now, I can hardly remember the reasons why I ever sketched at all or continued doing it.
*doodling is a not a verb form of 'dude' - for phattu
Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa is, and remains, by far, my most favorite sketch ever :). The only one I have done twice. One of which, I've lost; Thanks to a fellow I remember calling Uneasy Butt.
Pictured here is the first sketch. This was a farewell gift for a friend, done during those days when it was too damn costly to get meaningful gifts. I missed not having the sketch around to such an extent, that I drew it again. That is the one I lost in college. To a printing press that printed it in my college magazine. When I saw it in the mag, I was so happy. Now I rather hope that whoever found it, had a good sense to keep it and take care of it.
I am glad that this sketch survived. It was sketched way back in Sept 2002. Or so I think. Memories are weird. You can see the delight on someone's face; like as if it happened yesterday...but you can't put a date on it. (@Jay/other nerdy folks: Don't go all brain paths, synapses, hippocamus, lobes on me. I'm just being melodramatic)
Just to be on the safe side...all of this is true. :P.
Zohra Sehgal
Zohra is more than the typical cute, lovable, conservative Grandma. Talented, Indepedent, Sophisticated, Progressive, Brash and Beautiful. The original photo appeared in an interview on some Sunday Times supplement. In the interview, she proclaimed proudly that her greatest drive in life was sex. Just an anecdote.
I did not fall head over heels with that insight of hers. Otherwise, I might as well have sketched pornstars. To be frank though, back then I had the sketching fever. I also had a wrong notion that sketching relatively lesser known celebrities was easier than sketching say, the big ones. One tends to not fret over tiny mistakes. It's the pedantic in me. Surely. And she was by no means, a lesser known celebrity. I was naive
At the end of this sketch, I was disappointed that a lot of space was left on the top-left section. I drew her age there: 92; using some crude methods we learned in our graphics lectures on drawing numbers;)
Michaelangelo Revisited
One of the only two sketches I tried in charcoal. The only connection to that famous fresco is the depiction of those hands :P. This one depicts a parent/child relationship. OO Art for the nerds.
Charcoal turned out to be a pain because I, on my part, was being pretty lazy at focussing on the technique or learning more about the medium. The contrast that charcoal provides is mindblowing though. Nothing is better than charcoal in terms of bringing together Art & Realism. An absolute must for anyone deciding to dabble with figurative arts.
Graphite happens to be my first choice because I feel comfortable with it. It also affects the kind of sketches that I choose to make. A 6B in front of charcoal is still grey. You do not get that true black shade with any pencil. Most of the sketches do not have a background as dark as this one
This is the only one that does not belong here.
Nasreen
Again, the inspiration was some random article about one random materialistic painter. She really is under-recognized in India.
All of that was obviously lost on me. The photograph appeared in Indian Express and I promptly took it as my next charcoal assignment. I was very happy with the outcome of this one :). It fascinated me how easy it is to obtain a completely black background in Charcoal. To do that in graphite is a nightmare.
This collection represents only the ones that got framed. There were some sketches made during this time, that I considered framing, but just gave up on them. Notably the ones of Perizaad Zorabien & one that was randomly drawn for a college exhibition (I lost that too :P).
Omnia Vanitas
This almost Alexa Vega look-alike does not have a name of her own. She appeared, like the others, in the newspaper. It was an advertisement campaign to get child anchors for Hungama TV. They were trying to potray "Confidence" in that particular campaign. Looked more like Pride to me. Hence the title.
Lot of my friends probably already know this, but for the record: I do have a thing for curls :P :D. Funnily enough, even though the hair was inspiring, I just didn't know (and I probably still don't know), is how to get the hair properly done. In most of the sketches that I see, I find the artists have done a very "realistic" portrayal of hair. I see the strands and I keep wondering, did they actually draw each strand :?! Obviously they don't. Never got around that earlier. There are techniques that ought to be followed. Stuff that makes life easier and curls a piece of cake to sketch. Tried and tested. In a geeky reference I'm sure you'll cringe at: like design patterns.
She does have a ghost-like appearance. I was probably too lazy or too catious about shading the face. That repeated itself in Anne "Robin" Frank.
At The Barbershop
This is a representation of that celebrated forward. There is plenty of difference from the original piece. That had a nice background with bokehs in it. Plenty of items on the shelf behind the boy. The hand was much clearer. It was, however, a fantastic photo. I concentrated a lot on the hair at the cost of details on the face. The expression is spot on, but the face is crooked.
Just wondered whether I should take a break from portrait sketching. Finally, this year, I felt like doing something different. I decided to do a landscape. That will be put up next year.
'Tis a good thing. At least I decided on sketching something
Camel Trader
This camel trader appeared in an advertisement. I suppose. The original is a color photo present in one Dinodia Library in Rajasthan. Pretty much all I know about the source
Unlike what happened post Jhumpa, this is the first time I deviated from capturing the expression. The turban was what I sketched first. Downwards from there. By the time it had come to the old man's neck and rag-tag shirt, I didn't feel like sketching it at all. That's why it looks so shabby.
And yes, I had not factored in what a major PITA it would be to sketch the moustache. Did it with needles to save time. Make grooves and smudge and voila! Unfortunately, the paper does not take it that well. For all sketches, portrait anyway, I guess, the main idea is to spend as much time on the face as possible. I have noticed time and again how people barely look at how the ear has been sketched or how there are random shabby pencil marks on the shirt. The turban and the expression blinds everything else.
The Camel Trader was a long one, just like Norah would be.
Norah Jones
Inspired from a photo by Joanne Savio. One really beautiful phutwa
It is not completely OFF. However, one of the better ones that I have made. Smooth shades all over (except on the neck). Hair came out well. Used to listen to a lot of Norah Jones and John Mayer during those days. Still do. They were new artists and both went on to win Grammys.
One way of looking at Beauty is by measuring its sheer simplicity and symmetry. OK. Quite a lot of exceptions. Yet, as a general rule of thumb. It is so difficult to portray ugly. There is far too much detail and absolutely no order. This might be completely tangent to your train of thoughts, yet...look at things you love to look at. See how many of those look simple, elegant and symmetric.
Norah took a long time. At the end of the whole 'ordeal', I was really really happy. Ah! The joys of creating something. Even though it is an impression.
Indifference
This was supposed to be Madhuri Dixit. At least that's who I think it was. Originally, this was sketched without the colors. It looked awfully empty. Obviously the t-tymers did not feel the same way. They begged and pleaded not to 'destroy' the sketch.
OK. Not exactly 'begged', but they mentioned it couldn't be bettered in no uncertain terms. Stubborn as I am, I did not heed to that request. With my limited knowledge of water colors, I spray painted. It turned out less than perfect. I had to retouch the sketch. She was never Madhuri after that :P
It goes both ways. The idea whether it was better before I screwed it up, or whether it looks better that I tried to spray paint and fill up the canvas. I love it the way it was and the way it is. Art is art. Speculation is BS.
Anne 'Robin' Frank
This is a mess. I completely agree.
In my defense, it was the tilt in the photograph that threw my perspective out of the window. It is difficult explaining how the tilt becomes such a major hindrance. It just is. This is the last one that I drew. I grew very impatient towards the end. The dress was just the final nail in the coffin. Once done, I never looked back it it. Did not want to correct the ghost-like shade (or the lack thereof) under her eyes. It did retain the old world look that it was supposed to.
I think I named her Robin because that is what she called herself. No idea where I heard that piece of trivia, but that's what the title is all about.
There is another lesser known photo of Anne Frank. That is the one I actually wanted to sketch, but decided it was too 'dark' and difficult to do.
In all fairness, I chickened out. Yet, it is what it is. Art.
I've heard that it's not always good to praise the person every-time, but every-time I look at these sketches, I can't help falling in love with them. Awesomest they are!! (it's not like I check them out frequently :P) Am always..... awestruck!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ally! :)
ReplyDeleteI echo Ally's words!
ReplyDeleteYou are enormously talented. Are all of these sketches done completely in pencil?
ReplyDelete@Shankari:
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Most of them are.
"Nasreen" & "Michaelangelo Revisited" are Charcoal and obviously "Indifference" has water color sprayed on it.
Hi, all your sketches are wonderful!! I think I liked the the sketch of the camel trader the best. It's just amazing how you captured the pleats of the fabric and the wrinkles on the skin so beautifully.
ReplyDeleteHi Neera,
ReplyDeleteThanks much!
I love it when people stumble on the blog and end up staying ;)
Hi, your welcome. So do you do portraits only? Even I enjoy sketching, but mine is more basic and I'm into landscapes and still life, can't do portraits at all :)
ReplyDeleteDidn't exactly stumble into your blog (but that not relevant), it was interesting going through your blog.
So far that was what interested me anyway. Portraits.
DeleteHaven't sketched in ages now :P
Thanks for visiting anyway.
V
Hey Vinu, Awesome Sketches!! I like your Art Gallery.
ReplyDelete@Senthil,
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting! :)
I think it is high time I make this blog leaner, meaner and cross browser compatible ;)
V
Wow! Vinu. That's some awesome work. The art is amazing and so is the story behind each portrait. I Loved the Camel trader with all the detailing.
ReplyDeleteGreat work Vinu! Look forward to your recent works - hope you're still at it.
ReplyDeleteYour story reminded me of mine in college - sent several artwork to a college exhibition and they all got stolen. Wish I had valued them enough to recreate.