Peepul Tree temple (Arasa Marathadi Kovil)

The Peepul tree (Ficus Religiosa) is a beautiful sight to behold. It's branches spread majestically and the heart shaped leaves shimmer as they flutter in the breeze. It is said that this shimmer is akin to that of the shine on a king's crown and hence the Tamil name Arasa Maram. I rendered this pen and ink sketch on the very first day of my recent visit to Bangalore.

Napping at the airport

Sunset in LalBagh, Bangalore, India

11X16 inches
Oil on Hardboard
1999

I am submitting this painting for Illustration Friday. Dusk seems to draw a blanket over the lake as the egrets, cranes, dabchicks, and cormorants - among other inhabitants of lalbagh - prepare to call it a day and rest.

Two Palms

11X18 inches
Oil on Hardboard
1999

Life Drawings - The Cleveland Symposium 2008

Here are my works chosen for display at the reception of the 2008 Cleveland Symposium.

The Cleveland Symposium 2008

Last week I received a mail saying that two of my life drawing submissions were accepted for display at The Cleveland Symposium 2008!

The focus of the symposium would be on "Studying the Representation of the Nude in Art". Those interested may attend a series of lectures on the theme on the 29th of February 2008 at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Thusharagiri, Wayanad, Kerala

Girls playing in Avaneeswaram (near Kollam/Quilon, Kerala)

Kerala House Boat

I had the privilege of meeting the artist-writer Mr. Manohar Devadoss. More about the great man and his wife here and here. Gifted this small black and white painting (acrylic on canvas)

Knife Painting

I try to keep changing my tools/medium to keep my sketching/painting process interesting. These were painted using just a pallette knife and acrylic on paper.

Life Drawing

This 18 X 24 sketch was done in 2003

Amasa Stone Chapel (Rear view)

IF: Juggle (Jena 6 Racism)

Homework, Relationships, Racism......too much for school kids to juggle

Please visit the following links to see what I am talking about:
Democracy Now
Yahoo News
Friends of Justice

Left Hand Sketch

Here is another one drawn with my non-dominant hand. Please click on the label "left hand drawing" below for more.
Update: I have been asked if this sketch is that of Mohandas Gandhi. No, it is not. It is of a model in the life drawing class that I attend occasionally.

IF: Visitors (also my first en plein air painting)

This is the first painting I completed outdoors. It is a 12X18 inches acrylic on canvas painted at the Tree House in the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, Cleveland.
I feel at peace when I am here. Apart from nature lovers, frequent visitors who come to this tree house are, downy woodpeckers, robins, cedar waxwings, cardinals and a host of other beautiful birds.

Dr. N. Ramani

Dr. N. Ramani (Flute) and his son (Flute) at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana. For more sketches made live at this festival please click on the label Thyagaraja Aradhana Series below.

Unni Krishnan at Thyagaraja Aradhana

Unni Krishnan (Vocalist) and Arun Prakash (Mridangam) at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana. For more sketches made live at this festival please click on the label Thyagaraja Aradhana Series below.

IF: Twist (Biggest Painting so far)

This is a 48 X 60 inches acrylic on canvas that I completed recently. I am submitting this for Illustration Friday (topic of the week is Twist). I saw a beautiful village well in Tamil Nadu, India and was fascinated by the twists and turns I could incorporate in the painting were I to base the work on the well.


Also, I wrote a poem on this well:

The Village Well with its concentric steps
Just enough to put one foot down
Jutting out inches from the brick wall
that is green -
and red as the dragonfly
that darts about the banyan
that already has a prop root or two
As it grows on the moss-green wall
of the village well.

You will see that the poem is just about the immediate visual effect that the well had on me. There is more to the painting than meets the eye - I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

I shall also write about the experience of working on this 4 feet by 5 feet canvas shortly.

IF: Neighbour - This is my NEIGHBOURhood

In a recent post one of the visitors wondered what the result would be like if I tried sketching the same subject with both my right and left hand. So, yesterday, I sat on the steps of my apartment and sketched this scene. That is my neighbour walking...

I first sketched with my right hand (dominant hand) and then drew the same with my left. Dear viewers, I am eager to know which one of these sketches you like and why.

Update: The top one was done with my left hand.
I am clarifying because I see that my writing has been a bit misleading here (as I can see from the comments)

Veenai Jayanthi Kumaresh

Veenai Jayanthi's performance was one of the best concerts I have ever attended. To learn more about this talented and beautiful musician please visit her website. You can buy her music on itunes (among other legal sites).

This sketch is one among several that I made at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana 2007.

To see other sketches in this series click on the label Thyagaraja Aradhana Series below.