Category: Acrylics

Looking at the bride

9/15/2014

Looking at her 16 x 20 inches , acrylics on canvas ( private collection)

I am attending a wedding in one of the small towns of India . The whole affair is very traditional and not the big tamaasha ( spectacle), Bollywood style , which seems to have become quite a norm thses days .

The ceremonies are attended by family and close friends and they start a few days before . From the bride’s side –every evening we gather together to sing Bunni ( bridal) songs which are folk songs teasing the bride ( bunni) and and are peppered with motherly advice . They are accompanied by lots of clapping and dancing by the family . There is the official Sangeet , the day Mehendi ( Henna ) is put on the palms and feet of the bride , her friends clap, dance and sing . All these are accompanied by plenty of feasting .

The young ladies of the house are dressed in their finery with jewels and zardosi embellished skirts and veils on the day of the wedding ---but they pale in front of the Bride –who is dazzling , yet demure in her attire of red and gold .

The look on the faces of girls when the bride steps out of her room is something that stays with me . The eyes big , the look of excitement . Their mood is infectious and I try to capture it on canvas …

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A student again

8/28/2014

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A Student again

Ok –a second career sounds good but is quite daunting .Now as my youth is in the Past tense, I try to make the most of the Present ,because the Future looks shorter than it did some decades ago.

I ponder over my past drawings -- am I really good in art? So far I have been indulging my own whims and painting anyway I want to –But maybe I need direction from experts …….

I scout around for instructors but do not feel drawn to anyone . The art that is out there is not what I want to do –I do not feel challenged .

After a year of looking around I step in to this studio I happen to spot on the other side of the road, and walk into a hallway of paintings which look they are from the Louvre -----this is it , this is what I want to do ---.

I am awed by the exquisitness of the work. I do not think I could ever make paintings like that –ever achieve that perfection

An instructor watches me and asks if I want to join the Academy of Realist Art –my answer is yes and then I tell him I have no formal training in art . He hesistates and takes me around the studio showing me the different levels of training . He observes that I am getting exited but am very nervous so he suggests –why don’t I try it out for a couple of months and then decide.

I take up the offer and by the following week ,I am a student again ….

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Second Career...

8/10/2014

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Teen Bon ( 3 sisters ) Acrylic on canvas ,

Rediscovering, Reliving, Reviving

After decades, the pleasure of drawing and painting is mine again. This old tired brain is trotting and is getting ready to live again.

I visit a sleepy lane of Old Kolkata( My Calcutta ) and see three ladies gossiping on the front steps of their house . There are very few houses of that elegance and charm left in the city and the ladies look so at ease, close and bonded. I am lucky to see them. The ladies are sisters and readily agree to pose for me.

I choose Acrylics for this painting. They are excellent and versatile –having qualities of both water colours and oil paints. Acrylics are a boon to experiment with. The many vibrant colours dry fast and stay true to its vibrancy on any surface and with any brush. Much unlike oils that are far more tempermental and high maintainence where one needs to ensure every stroke doesn’t turn into a mess. I used an old hotel plastic card key as my painting tool on this canvas . . The card is perfect, smooth, firm with a sharp edge and fits in my hand ---I can glide the colours on with ease.

The paint layers on beautifully, opaque or transparent as and where I want it . I feel in control and yet in complete harmony with the flowing colours . The completed picture is snapped up by a visitor from abroad and that is how my second career begins…….

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Looking at the bride

A student again

Second Career...

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