Fierce Black

Today I finally pulled out this piece of charcoal I had bought a few weeks ago and picked up a piece of coloured paper and did a still life drawing. As always, when a piece of charcoal is in my hands, all hell breaks loose and I am covered in giant black smudges. But, it was fun and I enjoy the satisfaction of seeing these dark black , fierce lines coming to life under my hands. Im an angry soul these days, I dont think Chennai suits me very well.

The pine cones in the sketch are picked up from walks in Ooty, gorgeous ooty with its beautiful trees and pathways with ponies and flowers. Now thats a better place to live in.

Songs that make you sing

I rarely get to take a stroll in the big cities that I now live in and sit with my sketchbook and draw.
Last week, we went back to auroville to wind down for the weekend and a friend and I sat down to sketch our surroundings together - it is a distracted sketch, I have to admit . We were busy catching up and I was simply and happily dragging my brush across the paper. Such good times :)

It is sweltering here, but I have found this great mix of music http://8tracks.com/penkemeg/good-music-warm-weather-summer-fun . Its making my weekend so much sweeter ! Much love.

Leave you with this lovely quote, I dont think they are talking about the song really but more about life in general. deeper stuff :)

First Birthday!

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This post is designed to make you go aww ! 

I got the chance to design for baby annika again, this time it was for her very first birthday and her awesome mom threw a big butterfly themed party ! She asked me to design a card for her and of course I did :) 

She sent me this adorable picture of annika with the card. Im all smiles now !

Happy weekend everybody!

Hope

There is no despair so absolute as that which comes of the first moments of our first great sorrow 

when we have not known what it is to have suffered and healed.

to have despaired and recovered hope. George Eliot

Losing someone you love is the most painful, gut wrenching emotion you can ever feel and it changes you for the rest of your life. When I read this quote by George Eliot, I blinked at the absolute truth behind it.

When In Bloom

When I started working on this wedding invite, I was back in Bangalore and its springtime! The city was at its most beautiful with flowers of every colour creating beautiful canopies everywhere. Made my heart sing with joy. Obviously, this has translated into the card :) Lovely Rangeeta pretty much gave me a free reign with her wedding card. The envelope is made of brown paper and the whole thing is going to be tied with lovely blue ribbon. Im waiting to get the actual thing in my hands and Ill take some pictures for you to see :)

In bloom!

Dose of Normal

what better way to express all the crazy you feel in a week than through a sketch with a pen.

The perfect doodle device. Its been a mad few weeks, ecstatic one day - and down in the dumps the next. think i need a dose of normal :) 

How are things going with you? 

The Wonders of Travel

I was amazed to see what Ludhiana could do in my recent trip there for a friends wedding. The fashionable Punjabi women make the most of what is available in seemingly plenty out there - huge pools of talent. Embroidery, dyeing, incredible tailors and a sea of beautiful fabric to choose from as well as gorgeous borders and laces and the list simply never ends ! 

I decided I wanted to get a skirt made - in two days and it happened! I bought a white ''dyeable'' crepe

material and walked across the street to see the guy do this to get me the exact colour that I was looking for.

nothing less. I wanted to share this incredible process with you !

 Wanted to take these back home with me. A mouth watering collection of coloured powders (dyes)

He then adds the colours with great flair into this pot of boiling water

A few minutes later - voila! My gorgeous now bright orange fabric emerges!

And all the water goes down a drain. I shudder to think of the chemical pollution there. 

 Incredible to watch, and I wish I had my own personal dyeing place here as well. I would go crazy and dye all my things ! 

photo credit : Harleen Johar

That would be me, in Punjabi garb :)

Have a great week folks ! much love.

Brachiosaurus & Pteranodons !

Two of the new words I learned recently ! Its funny how enlightening it is to work with different people !
This illustration was commissioned as a wedding present for an ecologist couple. The brief was nothing short of fantastic, jsut the kind I like to hear - with requests for giant butterfly-eating dragonflies and dragons and a
whole world of dinosaurs. Incredible and I had a brilliant time creating this illusion !



Its been a long while since my last post - Things have been terribly hectic and I seem to have taken my usual nomadic behaviour up by a notch. Sort of in fast forward mode where I was doing the same sort of insane travelling incredibly quickly- leaving me with no time to breathe.  One of my best friends got married last week, so it was one big fat punjabi wedding. Unfortunately I didnt have my camera on me,  though I did ask friends to click a few things that I will post when I recieve them. Ludhiana is an incredibly artistic society. The fabric, the dyeing and sense of fashion there is unbelievable. Ive never seen anything like it !

I will try giving you a glimpse soon :) Have a wonderful week! much love.