First few gestures of 2020

9th Jan '20

First few gestures of 2020. Last year was so hectic! I travelled a lot, applied for a homeloan (believe it or not this takes months (if you're a self-employed, single woman)), adopted a cat, got married, and helped complete our inhouse shortfilm. Hoping that I can completely dive into my work this year and up my game! These are a bit rusty, but I'mma catch up!

#100HeadsChallenge

So I'll update this as and when I complete the heads, but here's the first one for now.
I find these challenges really intimidating, and usually don't take it up because I can't commit and I don't finish it. But I think I need to atleast try!

The challenge is to finish 100 heads in 10 days. I finished 9 today, and it took me about an hour and a half. The goal you need to achieve with the original challenge is to get more confident drawing heads and facial anatomy. Ahmed Aldoori who started the challenge encourages participants to take reference from photos etc. However I changed this up a little bit. I'll definitely do some of the heads for study, but my goal at the moment is to enjoy drawing (like I used to) and just draw for fun, to explore styles and shapes.

I really hope I make it to a 100! Here are the first 9.

Finding the roots

It’s been a while! SOOO I haven’t been updating my blog for such a long time now. I missed writing down my thoughts about art and animation, learning new things, challenging myself. It’s been really difficult to stay motivated lately; so I came back here to find my early inspirations. What used to keep me ticking?

I found a lot of those Artists along with many more whose work moves and entertains. I want to get back to basics, back to learning, and take it one step, one challenge at a time. I want to get as comfortable with drawing as I used to; draw for myself more, not just to do better work. So I thought I can start by posting here more frequently, be it art or artists who inspire me; so that I can always come back to it when things seem flat.

Some of my latest inspirations are Alberto Mielgo, Patrick O'Keefe, Tarun Lak, Shiyoon Kim, Anand Babu, hongsi84, Krishna Chandran, Rudy Hill, Djamila Knopf, Danielly Romero, Rebecca Sugar, Caio Martins,
Amongst the old favourites I want to revisit are Nathan Fawkes, Tom Bancroft, Glen Keane, Goro Fujita, Toby Shelton, Claire Wendling, Normand Lemay, Paul Briggs, Barukuri, Boulecorp, Frank Frazetta, Carter Goodrich, Peter de Seve, Chris Sanders to name a few!

I have been turning to Bobby Chui for his amazing content on Chuistream whenever I need motivation!
One of my favourite interviews is of Paul Briggs, who keeps reminding us that Story is King, and we should never forget to communicate through our drawing. Hope you enjoy listening to the stream too.

J

January Gestures

Kickstarted the year by practicing Gesture drawing to loosen up before work! There has definitely been an improvement in pose and proportions, but I still need to work on my speed. Here are the best of the past 3 weeks. 

Kiki's Delivery Service Review (with Spoilers)

It had been a while since I’d watched an animated film, so I went through the Miyazaki films I hadn’t seen yet, and picked out Kiki’s delivery service. I had heard the main piano theme and it was so heartwarming, I couldn’t resist.

[Spoilers Ahead]
Kiki’s Delivery service is one of those films where you think about it even after it’s over. Even though it was made in 1989, Miyazaki hits many chords and tells a story that is relevant even today (especially today). Kiki is a perfect protagonist. She’s kind, brave, energetic and driven. Kiki comes to the big city to complete her ‘training’ as a witch, where she is expected to find her special skill. She discovers that since flying is the one thing she really knows and enjoys, she turns it into a living by starting a delivery service. Somewhere along the path, she starts losing her magic (skill). She gets so caught up in her job, that she loses focus on why she flew in the first place.

The struggle she goes through as a young witch in the city is especially relatable to non-conventional professions like art, music, dance etc. Kiki’s situation is a clear metaphor for artists and creators who lose their passion and creativity whilst finding real-world applications in a world that has no economic value for such talents. It is only when her friend is in grave danger, and she’s the only one who can save him by flying that her instincts and magic comes back and let her fly again. Just like artists, Kiki finds her passion back only when she realises that she’s making a difference to the world, and that there is value in what she does.

It amazes me everytime to see how Studio Ghibli successfully tells stories which explore such profound and meaningful ideas through their beautiful characters. They feel more alive and real than us. This, coupled with stunning backgrounds, art and animation gives the perfect illusion of life, and let’s you sink in to their world in the first 60 seconds itself.

I can’t wait to see the next one, and what it has to offer. Hat’s off to Ghibli for yet again giving us a timeless film that we can always run to when the world gets dark. <3

Evening sketches

Evenings at Jay Prakash Nagar. :)

Sketching at Infinity Mall

Did some sketching after a long time! I really enjoyed my alone time. Always feel rusty with these but it is what it is. I'm just glad I got myself to step out and inaugurate a new sketchbook. 


Last night at Infinity mall, Malad. The mother was just waiting for the dad to order some food, whilst she kept her daughter occupied with a phone/tablet. 

Almost 90% of the people I sketched were on their phones, even though they had company. Kids, adults, even the oldies. We have quite a plague.

RIP Carrie Fisher! (Princess Leia)

2016 takes another. My humble tribute to Carrie Fisher, who played one of the most badass princesses in Star Wars history. You will be sorely missed!

One with the force.

Schoolism Assignment 1!

 Hi guys!

I've finally signed up for Schoolism! What a kickass education platform! I'm taking the Painting with Colour and Light course with Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo! :) I hardly get the time to work on the assignments at a stretch with Totem, but here's no. 1 and no. 2.

Please note that the colours in the photo may be different because of my phone camera settings. These are live paintings, not done with the use of the reference photos. Critiques are welcome! 

Assignment1_1

Assignment1_1

This week, I have to study diffused lighting. I started with this challenging view of our office exterior in the monsoons - too many details! Took about an hour and a half for this one.

Assignment1_2

Assignment1_2

After the previous painting, I realized I should pick a simpler subject and focus on the 3 details they mentioned - Contact Shadow, Soft Shadows and Local Colour. Definitely helped.

Rusty Gestures (live)

02-09-16

Some super rusty gestures after what feels like a year! From my experience, I know it's easy to start something, but it's not easy to maintain it. I hope atleast for Sept, I manage with Totem!

All critique is welcome!