From Our Palette

Om - Calligraphy

2012-02-20T01:18:00.000-08:00

Manga face

2012-02-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

A manga is a Japanese comic/cartoon figure and is characterized by big eyes, small mouth, pointed chin and so on.. This is my entry to the Digital Whisper Challenge for creating a manga face from a normal picture. The challenge link is given below which has a link to the tutorial on creating a manga face.. It is amazing how a few changes in the shape of the eyes and the mouth changes the entire face and out comes a totally different person!

The original picture:

The link to the challenge :http://digitalwhisper.ning.com/forum/topics/digital-challenge-136-beautiful-manga-faces?groupUrl=digitalchallenge&xg_source=activity&groupId=3240204%3AGroup%3A23&id=3240204%3ATopic%3A170332&page=3#comments

Paper texture : http://knald.deviantart.com/art/Vintage-paper-TEXTURE-PACK-152400787
Postage stamp : Alex Dukal stamp brushes from brusheezy.

Air (Theme 63)

2011-12-19T09:33:00.000-08:00

Credits: Baloons : http://foxstox.deviantart.com/art/Hot-Air-Balloons-III-106182366
Cave background: http://dest-stock.deviantart.com/art/window-22234780

Heaven (Theme 7)

2011-12-13T03:47:00.000-08:00

Credits : Background - http://mysticmorning.deviantart.com/art/For-Angels-stock-156528355
Angel - http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com/art/Fairy-2-51370052
www.ranum.com
Stone Angel - http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/?q=angel%20brushes&order=9&offset=48#/d1bwf6u

Clouds (Theme 73)

2011-12-12T11:37:00.000-08:00

This picture is done with scanned sketches and some shapes available on photoshop..
Dripping brushes - http://cynthetic.deviantart.com/art/Teardrop-Brush-Set-11192807

Proud (Theme 50)

2011-12-11T09:14:00.001-08:00

Tried some Zetti art this time. This was a really an enjoyable experience..The net is full of freebies on Zetti. I used a few of them here.. The rest are my creations..

Cave (Theme 21)

2011-12-10T06:56:00.001-08:00

The painting is from Ajanta caves in India . These paintings are a marvel in cave painting..

Credit for cave picture : http://dracoart-stock.deviantart.com/art/Dracoart-Stock-Cave-6-7973145

Life (Theme 53)

2011-12-09T00:36:00.001-08:00

All images from google images

Revolver (Theme 6)

2011-12-08T23:53:00.001-08:00

All Images from google images

Exodus (Theme 5)

2011-12-08T03:53:00.001-08:00

Background credit : http://twins72-stocks.deviantart.com/art/fantasy-bridge-255440537

Night (Theme 32)

2011-12-08T03:48:00.001-08:00

All images from google images

Wings (Theme 97)

2011-12-07T09:44:00.001-08:00

Background is one of my paintings. Just tweaked around a bit on photoshop..

Wind (Theme 71)

2011-12-07T08:11:00.001-08:00

Credits : Silk : http://weavesilk.com/
Model : http://dove-stock.deviantart.com/art/Flight-18433805
Background : http://ashensorrow.deviantart.com/art/Premade-Background-840-175289449
Brushes : http://aimelle.deviantart.com/art/Aimelle-Bokeh-Pack-01-STOCK-99678210

Two Roads (Theme 44)

2011-12-06T21:48:00.001-08:00

All images from google images. Poem by Robert Frost.

Time (Theme 65)

2011-12-06T21:43:00.001-08:00

All images from Google images

Solitude (Theme 99)

2011-12-06T04:24:00.001-08:00

Now that it is December, I am rushing towards finishing as many of the 100 themes challenge as possible..This photo was once again taken in Africa and I thought this single elephant standing alone in this vast landscape depicted 'Solitude'.

Dawn (Theme 13)

2011-12-05T23:21:00.001-08:00

This is a photo I had taken in Africa.. I just played around with photoshop filters and textures.

Gateway (Theme 79)

2011-12-01T20:16:00.001-08:00

This is one of the photos I took on my trip to Delhi..Used Photoshop filters and some arabic calligraphy

Contemporary calligraphy after a long gap!!

2011-11-29T08:01:00.001-08:00

This is an attempt to revive the contemporary calligraphy work I used to do... Photoshop is a great tool for such art!!

Passion (Theme 76)

2011-11-26T17:27:00.001-08:00

One of the things I am passionate about is abstract art.. So here goes my entry for the theme 'Passion'
Credits : Textures from http://www.cgtextures.com/ .Calligraphy image from google images..

Dream (Theme 39)

2011-11-23T00:16:00.001-08:00

All images from google images, Photoshop filters used.

Pop Art (Theme Art - No 78)

2011-11-21T04:01:00.001-08:00

Tried this with dingbats for Digital Whisper's discussion. Posting it under Pop Art..
Credits : http://www.fontspace.com and http://www.houseoflime.com/dings.htm ..House of lime recommended by Su has hundreds of dingbat fonts..Just loved it..

Mirror (Theme 75)

2011-10-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

Sketched and colored with photoshop tools.

Ocean - (Theme 72)

2011-09-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

I tried making a palette knife painting on photoshop.. It was quite tough but the bevel and emboss feature made the task easier..

Resting the wings (Theme # 97 Wings)

2011-09-19T23:39:00.000-07:00

All images from Google images with photoshop filters.

Lock & Key (Theme 85)

2011-09-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

All images from google image and photoshop filters

Puzzle (Theme 98)

2011-09-05T21:17:00.001-07:00

Motherhood (Theme 42)

2011-08-15T05:37:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the colors and art of Africa.
Sketched and painted on Photoshop.

Magic (Theme 62)

2011-08-12T06:50:00.000-07:00

As a child, I was brought up with a regular dose of Amar Chitra Katha and Indrajal comics - two great entertainers in India in the pre-'multi channel TV', pre-'Internet' world of my childhood. So magic brought to my mind the greatest cartoon magician Mandrake and his companion Lothar. I combined them with a spell from Harry Potter series and tarot card images..All images taken from Google Images used with photoshop filters and layers.

Bridge too Far (Theme 70)

2011-08-02T06:14:00.000-07:00

All images from Google images

Gold (Theme 12)

2011-07-22T22:34:00.000-07:00

All images from Google images and photoshop filters.

Hope ( Theme # 94)

2011-07-05T23:46:00.000-07:00

Image from google images, photoshop filters and text effects.

TRANQUIL (Theme # 87)

2011-06-26T10:43:00.001-07:00

All images from google images, Calligraphy sketched and scanned.
Calligraphy reads 'Shanthi' which means Peace.

Home (Theme # 1)

2011-06-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

All images from Google images, Alphabets from photoshopfreebrushes.

Mother Nature (Theme # 22 )

2011-06-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

Background and images from google images, brushes and filters from photoshop.

Lemon Tree (Theme 10)

2011-05-31T05:18:00.000-07:00

All images from Google images.

Secrets (Theme #100 Picture # 27)

2011-05-14T04:46:00.000-07:00

Image credits : Background - Masterjinn on Deviant art
Brushes from http://www.photoshopfreebrushes.com
Other images from google images.

Journey (Theme # 35 Picture # 26)

2011-05-07T22:25:00.000-07:00

The journey a bride take to the bridegrooms place after marriage was considered the most important journey of her life in the last century. The bride traveled in a palanquin and many artists and poets have captured the essence of this journey.Here is my creation under this theme with a poem 'The Palanquin Bearers' written by one of India's famous poets, Sarojini Naidu.The poem talks of the journey from the point of view of the palanquin bearers.

Lightly, O lightly we bear her along,
She sways like a flower in the wind of our song;
She skims like a bird on the foam of a stream,
She floats like a laugh from the lips of a dream.
Gaily, O gaily we glide and we sing,
We bear her along like a pearl on a string.

Softly, O softly we bear her along,
She hangs like a star in the dew of our song;
She springs like a beam on the brow of the tide,
She falls like a tear from the eyes of a bride.
Lightly, O lightly we glide and we sing,
We bear her along like a pearl on a string.

SUN (Theme # 40 Picture # 25 )

2011-05-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

Image credits - Photoshop gradients and google images.

Light (Theme # 3 Picture # 24)

2011-04-30T00:14:00.000-07:00

Original Picture link : Aishwarya Rai

Rock Star (Theme #27, Picture # 23)

2011-04-25T01:57:00.000-07:00

This picture has been sketched and colored on photoshop. Background texture from google images.

Mask (Theme # 86, Picture # 22)

2011-04-18T05:28:00.000-07:00

African masks are always beautiful. I saw a craft project on making an african mask with cardboard and decided to try that on photoshop. Posting the result here under the theme 'Mask'

Falling (Theme # 93, Picture # 21)

2011-04-14T23:47:00.000-07:00

All images taken from google images.

Dance (Theme #82 Picture # 20)

2011-04-10T23:51:00.000-07:00

Bharata natyam is a traditional form of dance in India. The picture is sketched and colored in photoshop. The background is a famous temple in India. I have tried to make this picture in different shades of a single color.

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Eyes (Theme # 37, Picture # 19)

2011-04-03T23:08:00.000-07:00

As I was composing this picture for the theme Eyes, I saw a challenge in the color palette group about colors used by Christina Parise. The colors were so bright and beautiful that I decided to use them here and post this picture for both the 100 themes and the color palette challenges.

Tear drop bruses are from http://cynthetic.deviantart.com/art/Teardrop-Brush-Set-11192807
Background textures from Deviant art - here

Exotic (Theme # 64 Picture # 18)

2011-04-02T05:44:00.000-07:00

Found some nice tutorial on the net and followed it..Learnt about masks and shading in photoshop. I am posting the result on the theme Exotic. The tutorial is at http://tuts4you.co.cc

Love - (Theme # 2, Picture # 17 )

2011-03-29T04:53:00.000-07:00

There are many small things in our lives that we love.. For this theme, I have tried to compile a few things that I love.

Grunge texture from Deviant art, everything else is just photoshop filters and tools..

Flowers ( Theme # 31 Picture # 16)

2011-03-25T02:58:00.000-07:00

It was a simple theme, I tried my hand once again at sketching the image and coloring it on photoshop.. The roses and the leaves are from http://www.sxc.hu . The background brushes are from brusheezy. The brush for the hair is from Obsidian Dawn from Deviant Art.

Pen & Paper (Theme # 81, Picture # 15)

2011-03-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is a typical village in the southern part of India. Just used a photograph of a village from wikipedia and photoshop filters and textures.

Mansion (Theme # 47, Picture # 14)

2011-03-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

Mansion brings to memory images of domes, balconies, golden color and a beautiful princess.. I have tried to combine these images in this creation.. All images are from google images.

Black (Theme 89)

2011-03-16T00:26:00.000-07:00

Sketched and painted with photoshop

HUNTED - (Theme # 23, Picture # 13)

2011-03-15T01:33:00.000-07:00

Paintings are an age old tradition in India where during the 11th and 12 century the concept of illustrated palm leaf manuscripts came into being. Manuscripts are very small in size hence the painting done on it had to be comparatively smaller. With this need the concept of miniature paintings came into existence.

Miniature paintings are delicate, small paintings done on paper, ivory panels, wooden tables, leather, marble, cloth and walls. A high degree of expertise is required and this art is carried out delicately with a very fine brush and is characteristic of intricate, colorful and rational impressions. The colors used are mainly derived from minerals, vegetables, precious stones, indigo, conch shells, gold and silver which are obtained through a laborious process.

This picture is done following the miniature painting style. I have created the background and copied the hunter and the boar from one of the miniature painting on the net.. You can view the original picture here

Broken (Theme #52, Picture # 12)

2011-03-12T19:22:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Changed the look of my blog.. created the header on photoshop and the background from blogger designs..hope it looks nice..

Got some dripping brushes from deviant art.. couldn't resist using them in my composition of a broken egg...It is so easy dripping paints in photoshop than try to do it for real in a canvas but the final effect on a canvas will always be far superior to the result I have got here...

Credits : Broken egg : Google images
Brushes : http://www.obsidiandawn.com/
Grunge background from deviant art.

# 11 - Half (Theme # 20)

2011-03-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

Credit for the image in the picture is here

Theme # 10 - Animals (#45)

2011-03-03T07:43:00.000-08:00

HORSES
This is a tribute to M.F. Hussein who is called the Picasso of India... A great artist, he loves to paint horses..

I tried sketching with the pencil and brush tool in photoshop.. Was not able to get sharp, accurate lines, but sometimes inaccuracy can be beautiful especially in art..what do you say?

Grunge background is from deviant art.. horses sketched from google image photos..

Theme # 9 - Waiting(#55)

2011-02-26T00:36:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed making this..I sketched an Indian tribal lady in a waiting posture and colored it on photoshop.. I adorned her with bangles on hand and some leg ornaments called 'payal' in India and of course the red dot on the forehead called the 'bindi'....

I also learnt how to transfer a sketch into photoshop and digitize the lines..The tutorials available on the net are fabulous..

Brushes are from brusheezy and textures from photoshop..

Theme # 8 Underwater (#83)

2011-02-23T06:40:00.000-08:00

I just combined an underwater image with a mermaid sculpture, both of which I got from google images.. Shading and frame was from photoshop..

Theme # 7 - Tower

2011-02-20T11:10:00.000-08:00

A wind Tower or the Barjeel is a traditional Persian architectural device used for many centuries to create natural ventilation in buildings. It is not known who first invented the windcatcher, but it still can be seen in many countries of the Arab world today.

Though constructing a wind tower is a thing of the past with the invention of the modern air conditioning systems, a handful still exist in most of the region’s cities, sometimes on people’s homes, and sometimes carefully preserved or reconstructed at museums.

Traditional wind towers rise five or six meters above a house. They are usually built of wood or stone but can also be made from canvas. The tower is open on all four sides and catches even small breezes. The breeze create a low pressure zone which will draw air up from the house causing to create natural ventilation.

The towers work amazingly well. Sitting beneath a wind tower even on a hot day you will feel a consistent breeze even when the outside air feels heavy and still.

I have taken the picture of the wind tower and the information from http://tabreedholding.com/About_UAE/Wind_Tower_Main.htm and wikipedia. I have colored it and given the light effects on photoshop.

Theme # 6 Drowning

2011-02-15T21:58:00.000-08:00

This was a difficult theme.. I realised that working on material themes like 'stripes' or 'window' was much more easier than themes like 'waiting' or 'drowning'.. Should try to do an equal mix of themes so that I don't push all the difficult themes to the end..

I wanted the drowning person saved, so the famous hands of Michelangelo became those of the drowning person and the saviour.. The background image was saved as a wall paper from the internet long time ago and I searched the net but couldn't find the site once again..

Theme # 5 Colors

2011-02-13T11:11:00.001-08:00

Thanks everyone for all your comments...It is just wonderful to read them...

This is an attempt at minimalism.. sometimes leaving huge blank space on the canvas brings out the depth of the colors applied..The filter gallery in photoshop is just fabulous for twirling colors around..

No credits/inspiration for this piece..lots of photoshop and a bit of imagination..

Theme # 4 - Umbrella

2011-02-09T03:44:00.000-08:00

Participating in the 100 themes challenge is a good learning experience... Doing this picture, I learnt how to make silk texture with folds on photoshop..I enjoyed the entire creation process..hope you all enjoy this too..

Credits : Umbrella - http://ww w.neub lack.com/art-design/biodegradable-umbrella/
The Lady - Indian actress Asin
The inspiration - Rainbow Umbrella -flickr photo

Theme No 3 - Music

2011-02-04T20:48:00.000-08:00

The 'Sitar Player' is a tribute to one of my favourite Indian artists Raja Ravi Varma. I sketched the figure and scanned the image. The image was colored on photoshop. Then I created the background on photoshop and superimposed the figure on the background.

The inspiration behind this picture is this lovely painting:

Theme # 2 - Window

2011-01-29T04:21:00.000-08:00

'Window' immediately brought to my mind the one in the Agra tower where the emperor Shah Jahan spent his last days..

History says that Shah Jahan was over whelmed with grief when his wife Mumtaz died and he decided to build a memorial for her - a memorial that would stand the test of time in its grandeur.. Unfortunately, soon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangazeb and put under house arrest at the nearby Agra Fort. His only consolation was that he could see the Taj from the window in his room. Shah Jahan died in 1666 in captivity and was buried in the Taj near his beloved Mumtaz.

I have tried to depict the window and its view of the Taj in this picture..

The picture of the Taj was taken during my visit to Agra. The picture of the window was taken from photoshelter and write up from wikipedia.

100 Themes Challenge - Digital Whisper

2011-01-26T21:12:00.000-08:00

Recently, Digital Whisper has come up with a brilliant idea of the 100 Themes Challenge.. My first entry for the challenge is posted here:

Challenge No 49 - STRIPES

This picture done on photoshop has been inspired by a form of art from India called the Kolam or Rangoli. Drawing a kolam is an everyday tradition in the southern parts of India.

Kolam (kõlaṁ) is a form of sandpainting that is drawn using rice powder by female members of the family in front of their home. It is widely practised by the people of Southern India. The patterns can be geometric and mathematical line drawings around a matrix of dots or free form art work and closed shapes.

Kolams are thought to bestow prosperity to homes. Every morning in Southern India, millions of women draw kolams on the ground with white rice powder. Through the day, the drawings get walked on, rained out, or blown around in the wind; new ones are made the next day. Every morning before sunrise, the floor is cleaned with water, the universal purifier, and the kolams are generally drawn while the surface is still damp.(Quoted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolam)

A typical scene of drawing kolams looks like this:

(Credit: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com)

The beauty of Arabic Calligraphy

2011-01-04T05:36:00.000-08:00

Among all the languages in the world, none celebrate the form of the written alphabet like the arabic language. In this language, alphabets are like dancers, dancing to the tune of the calligraphers pen.

Traditional arabic calligraphy can be flowing like the deewani font, or be stiff and straight like the kufi font, or it can take the contemporary avatar from the brush of the artist. There are innumerable fonts in arabic, each a visual treat if you are into typography.

Sharjah Calligraphy Institute hosts the 'Calligraphy Biennial' where calligraphy artists from all over the world display their work. This unique event has influenced us to try some typography in our work.

Here are a few of our paintings celebrating the beauty of arabic calligraphy.

The orange colored flowing style is called the Deewani Jalil while the golden font - sharp and straight is called the Kufi style of calligraphy.

Our experiments in the contemporary styles:

Photoshop once again...

2010-10-31T07:15:00.000-07:00

I think I am bitten by the photoshop bug.. I found a few sites on the net with grunge brushes and vectors. I made a wallpaper with these which I edited on photoshop and got these pics..

Working on Adobe Photoshop

2010-10-02T05:46:00.000-07:00

It has been a very long time since this blog has been updated.. I hope to be more regular from now onwards.

Currently I am learning and experimenting on Adobe Photoshop. Our teacher Mr.Noori introduced us to this magical software. Before this, I was under the impression that photoshop was a software for photographers. Mr. Noori was raving about the use of photoshop in art which piqued our interest. I googled for 'art using photoshop' and came across an artist called Malik Anas on Deviant art. His compositions were so beautiful that it that I wanted to use photoshop in my art. Malik Anas's works can be viewed on this link:

http://malikanas.deviantart.com/gallery/

Inspired with such lovely calligraphy, I am trying to learn photoshop with the help of the various tutorials available on the net along with my own experiments with a lot of trial and error attempts.

I am posting a couple of compositions I did using photoshop...

This picture is an abstract composition of arabic calligraphy. The next contains the word Shanthi written in Hindi..

Some Photography

2010-01-31T23:56:00.000-08:00

Photography is a recent addition to our art world. During my trip to Turkey, I found quite a few interesting subjects to capture on my camera.

Pets are a difficult subject to capture as they never sit still. I had to wait for quite some time and had to make quite a few attempts to get the right picture

The imposing structures of mosques in Turkey are a photographers delight. The clarity of the picture depends on getting the picture with the exact quantity of sun light at the exact angle. These are two of my most favorites.

Abstract Sculpture

2009-11-27T23:03:00.000-08:00

Last week we created the mould and cast our sculptures in polyester resin. Polyester is a very light weight medium to cast in but is quite messy. We had to work outdoors as the chemicals have a really pungent smell which is quite unbearable. But the final outcome is so beautiful and the resin used in the casting gives an image of old copper sculptures...

Here are some work in progress pictures of the mould and the casting.

The scuptures after painting:-

Glazing ceramics

2009-10-26T01:23:00.000-07:00

We glazed our ceramic pieces last week.. Many times, glazing springs surprises that can be sometimes good or sometimes nasty.. This happens inspite of experimenting with the glazes before applying them to the pieces..These are a few of the pictures of our pieces after glazing....

I was really not satisfied with the glazing of this piece.. I wanted a more earthly color but the glazing tricked me..

This piece looks great after glazing. The combination of basic colors of red white and black gives the piece a nice finish..

Here also the glazing has been successful and the colors are vibrant and beautiful..

The glazing of the individual pieces were not really satisfactory..But the piece looks good when mounted on a stand

Sculpture

2009-10-09T00:18:00.000-07:00

Another area in which we are competing in the november exhibition is sculpture.. We have started on two sculptures..The basic shape in clay is finished and we are planning to make a mould and then cast it in polyester fibre resin.. I am posting some pics of the two sculptures.

This sculpture is made by me and is a depiction of motherhood.. Pushpa has depicted an elephant in her sculpture..

Some Painting

2009-09-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

July and August are months where Sharjah experiences summer and the temperature soars up to 50 degrees...Vacations are planned just around summer to escape this unbearable heat. We were on our annual vacation to India the last two months and as a result there was a total lull in all art activities and hence the delay in the posts...

Now it is back to work after a refreshing vacation ...Ceramic work will begin in a couple of weeks after we have decided on the colors...We are working together on a huge calligraphy piece for the november exhibition..The piece measures 1.2mX1.2m and is done with airbrush and arabic calligraphy...Here are a few pictures of the work in progress...

Ceramic Sculptures IV

2009-07-18T05:32:00.000-07:00

Our second set of sculptures are also made and baked. No damages so far. I am posting a few pictures of the same...

The fish is a handbuilt piece by Pushpa. More textures are to be given on the surface.

This is my piece. I made the center on the wheel and everything else was handbuilt. I am quite pleased with the texture on the surface.

We are hoping that we get the glazes right....

Ceramic Sculptures III

2009-06-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

The sculptures have come out of the klin unbroken :) . Taking the piece out of the klin is like waiting for a test result. The heart beats overtime and tension levels shoot up....But the joy on seeing the piece unbroken more than compensates for all the trouble!

These are the pieces out of the klin....

I tried arranging them one behind the other. I think this arrangement looks good.Now I should decide on the colors for glazing. Glazing is always the most tricky part. It decides the final look of the piece. It can spoil the appearance of a good piece and at the same time, make an ugly piece look beautiful. I hope this time the glazing comes out right....

Ceramic Sculptures II

2009-06-05T02:56:00.000-07:00

The first two sculptures are made and have gone into the oven for baking. We are keeping our fingers crossed for them to emerge unbroken. Breakage is a major problem for any ceramic artist. It is heart breaking to see a piece emerge from the oven broken beyond repair....We have had quite a few such experiences in the past...Hope it doesn't happen this time.

In the meanwhile we have decided on the second sculpture also. We are planning to include some portions made on the wheel. This will give us an opportunity to test our pottery making skills after a long gap... I think pottery making is like cycling or swimming. Once you learn the technique, you will not forget it.

The basic figure sketches look like this:

The center will be wheel-made in the first picture, with flaps on both sides. Pushpa is planning to make the second picture which will be a fish on a wheel and she is planning to give some texures both on the wheel and the fish..

Will come back with more pics in the next post...

Ceramic Sculptures - Part 1

2009-05-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the images of the work done last week..
The clay is flattened ready to be moulded onto desired shape. This is the first step in the process.

One piece by Pushpa is made of hollow circles later to be assembled into a sculpture. Here is the basic work done.

My sculpture is made of strips of clay:

These strips have been later assembled into an abstract form thus:

I am planning to make one more similar sculpture and place them at different angles.

Will come back with more pictures in the next blog.

Ceramic once agaiin

2009-05-17T02:13:00.000-07:00

After our ceramic exhibitions in 2007, we found it difficult to continue our work on ceramics due to the constraint of space and klin facilities. We diverged into calligraphy and abstract painting which was equally creative and fulfilling. But last two weeks have been hectic with ceramic work!! We have re entered the world of ceramics, thanks to the exhibition/competition being organised by the Art department of Sharjah. Our alma mater, the Sharjah Art Institute invited us to participate in the competition which is proposed to be held in November.

We are competing in three catagories - ceramics, sculpture and calligraphy.

We initially thought november is in the distant future and we would have plenty of time to plan and create some larger pieces, but as usual time just flies as every little preparation process is time consuming.

We prepared a few sketches and went to the institute for discussion with the teachers. We were in for good surprises. The new kneading machine (pic below)is a dream come true. No more kneading and then groaning with pain in the arm later. The machine gives out clay kneaded just to the right consistancy! The raku oven is yet another addition which we would love to try. We were like two kids who just had a visit from santa :)

we will now be blogging about our entries to the competition and the process of creating them in the next few posts. Hope to get your views on these pieces.

Hindi Calligraphy

2009-04-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

The hindi alphabet is very curvy and this makes it a calligrapher's delight. I experimented with hindi calligraphy in a few of my paintings and I was quite satisfied with the results.

My first attempt at hindi calligraphy was this picture. The words in the painting read 'Shanthi, shanthi, shanthi' which in english translates to 'let there be peace, peace, peace'.

This was followed by many more paintings where I experimented with hindi typography. I tried to create two different fonts of the alphabet one with soft flowing lines and the other more angular. This one is all curvy and twined called the Perinneal Vine

The second one a more angular attempt at writing the words depiciting the seven notes of Indian music called Sapta Swar.

The final painting of this post is an inspiration form an arabic calligraphy painting I came across in a magazine. It was a lovely maze created by alphabets. I wanted to try if the hindi alphabets would look as lovely if depicted in such a style and the outcome is this painting which I have named Maze.

Traditional Calligraphy

2009-03-03T00:13:00.000-08:00

Arabic calligraphy is an art form developed over centuries. Many styles have evolved over the years and the art has emerged in its abstract contemporary form also. Though contemporary calligraphy looks great, it requires considerable mastery over the traditional forms. It takes a long time and lot of minute work to get the entire piece correct. This is a piece where I have tried to imitate arabic calligraphy style in the Indian alphabet.

Arabic calligraphy involves a lot of grammer or rules as to how a letter must be placed or how much space has to be in between two lines and so on. The deewani style followed in this picture is more flexible in the form of the alphabet.

Tamil Calligraphy

2009-01-20T22:50:00.000-08:00

Being my mother tongue, I have a facination for the tamil language and its script. Tamil script is different from all other languages - it has very few alphabets. The pronounciation of the alphabet changes with reference to the context. Though this may sound a bit difficult for a beginner, practice over a period of time familiarises a person to the nuances of the pronounciations.

In my abstracts here, I have taken quotes from the Thirukural, a remarkable book of couplets in tamil dealing with all aspects of life. The book 'History of Tamil language and literature' by Prof. Vaiyapuri Pillai describes this great book with these words - "Never before nor since, did words of such profound wisdom issue forth from any sage..."

The quote in this painting is translated thus:

A as its first of letters, every speech maintains;

The Primal Deity is first through all the world's domains.

In simpler words,

As the letter A is the first of all letters, so the eternal God is first in the world.

The quote in this painting is:

The twain that lore of numbers and of letters give

Are eyes, the wise declare, to all on earth that live.

In simpler words,

Letters and numbers are the two eyes of man.

Wall series

2008-12-30T00:17:00.000-08:00

"Walls", are something we face daily. In many ways these solid walls what we create around us always effect our energy. Artist "Hakim Gazali's" beautiful paintings of wall had a profound effect on me & so i was inspired to start working on a similar style. My "wall series" has travelled from ordinary / every day walls that we see, to cave walls & mountain walls & even drum walls.

Plain walls when needed to be excuted into a painting, needs a lot of play with the colours as well as patience to get the right effect. I have induced Hindi calligraphy to give it a form & meaning.

Calligraphy

2008-10-24T02:48:00.000-07:00

Calligraphy as an art started centuries ago when mankind invented communication through the written word. The Arabs, Chinese and Japenese have inculcated this art form into their culture.

In the Arabic art world, calligraphy has grown from the traditional styles to include contemporary abstracts also. The Sharjah Calligraphy Binniale is an event which proves the importance of calligraphy in the Arab world.

We began our journey into the world of arabic calligraphy with the traditional styles of rokah, deevane and deevane jalil scripts. The tradition calligraphy and ornamantation is a laborious task with very minute drawings. Very soon we branched out into the abstract representation of calligrapy.

Dubai hosts many exhibitions in contemporary calligraphy and we have had a chance to see the best of the calligraphers exhibit their art here. Our penchant for calligraphy grows with visits to these exhibitions and we hope to integrate calligraphy into our paintings.

On the potters wheel

2008-08-17T05:19:00.000-07:00

It is always facinating to watch a pot take shape on the wheel. It looks easy too. But believe me, it is anything but an easy task. It is one of the most demanding task which requires concentration, attention to details and lots and lots of patience.

The marvel of something beautiful emering out of the most uninspiring lump of clay attracted us to the wheel. After a long battle with the clay and the wheel we got our basic cylinder just right. Never knew that getting a cylinder out of the wheel will make us so proud of ourselves.

From there the process was much faster and we started working on different shapes and styles. Our shared passion for abstracts started influencing our pottery too and we tried to bring in an element of abstract into our creations.

Our exhibitions on ceramic pottery Hot Perspectives 1 & 2 were the result of the recognition of our work on the wheel by the Directorate of art and culture, Sharjah.

Starting with abstracts

2008-06-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

Mystic Aura by Pushpa

Mystic Ascent by Pushpa

Abstract by Parvathy

Inter Connection by Parvathy.

When we joined the fine art course at the Sharjah Art Institute, abstract/contemporary art was the remotest thing in our mind. We wanted to learn some painting techniques and may be copy some works of old masters or impressionists.

It was Mr.Muntasir Sharief who introduced us to abstract art. Abstract art is a very difficult subject to teach. In the first class he explained the concept of abstract art with a few of his paintings. Me and Pushpa found it interesting. That was the beginning of our tryst with abstract art. He was somehow able to pass on his passion for abstracts to us within the few months he taught us. We lost contact with him after he shifted base to Holland. We miss his guidence even today when we paint abstracts. So Mr.Sharief, (if you ever happen to read this post), this post is for you....

Face of Asia Exhibition - A review

2008-05-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

Name : Face of Asia _ A Photography Exhibition

Artist : Steve McCurry ( The photographer best known for the photograph ‘Afghan lady’ in the National Geographic magazine)

Where: Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah.

We visited the exhibition yesterday. It was a treat to the eyes. Never imagined photography of day to day life and ordinary people can evoke such strong emotions. The exhibition mainly covered three countries - India , Afghanistan & Cambodia. The spirit of each country has been expressed superbly through the lens.
You need not be a photography enthusiast to enjoy this visual treat. It is a must see exhibition of all those of you living here.

Hi Art Enthusiasts....

2008-04-29T01:35:00.000-07:00

Art fascinates us. We have dabbled in various forms of fine art.
Abstract art has been our tool of expression. We started experimenting with colors in our abstract paintings. The strong influence of the rich Indian culture and our emotions can be felt in our paintings.
Having lived in the Arab world for over a decade, their culture and art influenced us. Arabic Calligraphy has been the most ancient form of expression in art in this part of the world. The enchanting world of alphabets opened a wide arena and we have tried to use it as a form of depiction in our creations.
Ceramic clay has been another media in which we have worked extensively. The movement of the clay on the wheel resulting in enticing forms of pottery has been another of our artistic endeavor.
In this blog we want to take you on a journey in the world of art through our eyes and we hope that this gives you as much pleasure as it gives us.