Think of the Devi...

This Devi illustration is one of my meagre achievements as an animator [Yes, she's an animated character, this is just a still from the movie].

I needed a cameo by the 'Supreme Being' for an animated short film. Unable to visualize anything that would look Supreme enough, I turned to good ol' Hinduism. I tried out several illustration styles, but after hours of sketching, experimenting and staring blankly into space, I settled upon this:





I took care not to make her Durga/ Lakshmi/ Saraswati by not giving her weapons/ wealth/ musical instruments. So I threw in all the general stuff and whipped out a diety that technically, I had invented.

Oh an here's the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLe0ZGT-ESs

Bulb-Heads Revisited

No. NOT Gautam Gambhir's birthday. This was a greeting I made for our Beatles-loving, humour-wielding, friend Tanya Gambhir. Not exactly a very profound piece of art [the greeting, not Tanya], I admit, but it should also be noted that this greeting was made despite the absence of any possibility of a Birthday treat. :P

Again, the Bulb-head style is what I use for most of my comic illustration. Check out the last post for another example ['Friends and Woes'].

Friends and Woes

click to enlarge


I made this one for a bunch of crazy old friends this friendship day [yes, I'm one those people who actually take this day seriously], even though my friends are the lot who'd choose chocolate cake over a painstakingly made, lovingly thought-out handmade card, any day. But I missed them all so much this year that I couldn't help putting in some poster paints and wakeful hours [and love] into this card and mailing it off to everyone.

Oh, and you'll see more of these stylized long necked people in my other work. I call them the 'Bulb-heads' [my sister calls them 'Ice-cream Spoon Men']. Great for comic artwork but with numerous restraints.

Owl's Well That Ends Well

Made this one quite recently, it's a quickie, really. It's been done in my favorite medium- the transparent photo inks. The colours were even brighter originally, I had to give it a uniform layer of watery grey to subdue the effect.

I love photo inks for the same reason most people avoid them for- their unpredictability. Their free- spiritedness. It's almost as if they have a mind of their own. Once photo inks touch the paper, your artwork is no longer yours. Which is kind of okay by me. I let them run around freely, do their thing. I intervene infrequently and unobtrusively. And somehow, the result ends up looking better than what I'd originally planned.

Of Visuals, Not Words

I've finally decided to set aside my usual suspicion of good advice & common sense- and make an online accumulation of all my artworks. So this blog here, is officially the portal of my sketches and paintings; and this that you're reading is its iconic First Post.

I'm ending my days as a moody artist [read: slacker] and beginning this visual saga. I promise to keep this blog updated with whatever joyous chimaera escapes my slightly wonky brain.

So you're welcome to keep coming here to feast your eyes :) I'll refrain from writing any further now, as this is the place for visuals- not words.