A new project has begun

Planning is on for an exhibition with 4 other artists later this year and I’m looking forward to it. You’ll find the details here as soon as it is finalised. This project will have me working towards a deadline and it’s something I’m looking forward to right now. I hope when the pressure mounts I dont regret feeling this way!

Watermelons are one of the best fruits to have in summer. It quenches your thirst in a jiffy. In Dhaka, you find street vendors selling slices of the fruit near bus stops to thirsty travellers.

The Watermelon Boy 2 is digital and made with Art Rage. Based on a photo ref by Anil Advani, used with permission.

The Mike Guy

Decided to take the day off from the two things that I’m currently working on – singing practice and a painting as yet unnamed. Managed to finish a ball point sketch this morning and then found this ref while looking for something else to sketch.

He was the mike technician at the recent exhibition inauguration at Chitrak. There was something about him and I knew immediately that I’d like to paint him. This is a digital study and I hope to use it for a larger painting in oil/acrylics.

Painted using Art Rage and a wacom tablet.

Lucien Freud – Take 2

As part of my efforts to improve I have been copying the works of some master artists. Lucien Freud is one of them. I’m drawn to this self portrait of his. You can see an attempt that I made recently and one made in 2005 side by side. And though they’re nothing compared to the original , inspite of seeing the mistakes, I liked them both when they were made. I guess my mind figures out what I’m capable of at a given point in time and gives me credit accordingly. I’d love to try this piece again after a year.

An artist and his muse

Jamal Ahmed is a successful Bangladeshi artist with 41 solo exhibitions to date. Pagla has been featuring in his work for many years now. With many artists you see a recurring subject, model or colour something they keep coming back to. Do you have one?

The reference for both these pieces have been taken by Anil Advani for his SoFoBoMo project and used with  permission.

Below I’ve tried a close crop of the digital painting made of Pagla. I’m not sure if it is better or worse.

Jamal 12″ X 18″ charcoal in my sketchbook.
Pagla digitally made using Art Rage 2.

Chip off the old block

I used a reference of my niece for this but the people I saw while painting were my two sisters!   Even now I see my sister and not her child.   Did I exaggerate the features I was familiar with till the likeness changed to resemble another person from another time?

Uma WIP 10″ X 10″ acrylic on canvas.  Photo taken by Suporno.

Dalai Lama

Everyone seems to be discussing Tibet lately. Even my niece, who isn’t quite two, has been taught by her nanny to say “Free Tibet!”.

The reference for this piece is the cover of a recent issue of Time Magazine. 8″ X 10″ Pen & Ink in my sketchbook. I have used a white ink pen to recover from errors. Looking around for a grey pen to be able to use three distinct values in a future attempt.

Looking forward to 2008!

Firstly, Happy New Year! Got back from a nice, long vacation, spent with family, last night.

Bob Martin, an artist I admire and who has helped me find my “painting” feet, often, in these past two years, had tagged me to list 5 little known facts about myself, then to “tag” five other artists to do the same.

Because of the vacation, I’ve taken a lot longer than intended to put them down. Here are my five.

1. In Grade 3, I was selected for the Inter-House Elocution Competition. I suspect only because of my loud voice. When it was my turn and I saw a hall full of people looking at me expectantly, I went blank and ran off the stage!

2. On average, I spend 7-10 hrs a day surfing the net or on other computer related activities.

3. My first exposure to a Mac was when I worked with Apple (96-99). 10 years later, I’m still crazy about Macs. If Apple introduces a Tablet PC, I’m willing to wait in line outside the store to get one. Something I haven’t wanted to do for the iPod or the iPhone.

4. The craze for gadgets has been replaced by an equally strong one for art supplies.

5. Would love to learn to sing! My family is a bit wary of that ambition as I’m sort of tone deaf.

I’m sorry but I’m going to be a meme buster Instead of tagging 5 more artists there is a list of 5 non-art sites that I frequent excluding Gmail, Flickr, Facebook, Youtube or my blogs though that’s where I spend my day!

1. Conceptis Puzzle

2. Digital Photography Review

3. Lifehacker

I did not realise until yesterday just how tough this task would be! Discovered that in addition to Mail and social sites, I surf with a narrow focus on art and related information!! Here are two new links that I hope will help me with my resolutions in 2008.

4. HassleMe

5. Zen Habits

Wish me luck!

Sketch : A copy of Lucien Freud‘s portrait of Frank Auerbach, painted in 1975/76. Pen & Ink on handmade paper in my sketchbook.

I can get no satisfaction…..

Brian, a fellow EDMer, had the following to say and it matches how I feel. I was sure I would not be able to express it as well and so I asked him If I could quote him here.

We’re all victims of Hollywood’s romantic way of portraying things. Artists in the movies always seem so confident, like they know exactly what they are doing, what they want, how to achieve it and so on and so forth, in between passionate rolls in the hay with the female lead. In fact, in the movies you seldom see anyone actually working. It’s all glamour and passionate inspiration, and no cursing and throwing of drawing implements.

In real life, we’re caught in a neat little Catch-22. We are never entirely
satisfied with any particular drawing, leading to frustration. But this
dissatisfaction is also the thing that keeps us going, because we keep on
thinking that the perfect drawing is just around the corner. Tantalizingly,
it remains just out of reach.

I think if we ever became perfectly satisfied with our work, it would there
and cease to hold our interest. The frustration would be gone, and so would the incentive to keep at it. So you are either a frustrated artist, or the frustration ends, but with it the art as well.

Brian van der Spuy
on EDM

Pen & ink in my little sketchbook.

UNWA Fundraiser and Exhibition

I was delighted to receive an invitation from Nahid Osman of Art Club Bangladesh, to participate in the Annual UNWA Exhibition which will be held on the 7th of December 2007 at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, in Dhaka.

Here are the two pieces that I have entered. The photos and my resume have been submitted to the gallery and the paintings handed over to the framer earlier this evening. The Portrait is for sale at the exhibition and the two men heading to the field for a days work is the entry for the Fundraiser.

Acrylic on Illustration board, 8″ X10″ – Exhibition

Acrylic on canvas, 14″ X14″ – Fundraiser

It’s been a long time…

.. been a long time,
Been a long lonely, lonely,
lonely, lonely, lonely time.
Rock & Roll, Led Zeppelin

Vacations seem to unsettle me. Now, dont get me wrong I love them like everyone else. The problem is that well before they start and for a long while after I cant get started on painting.  I’m on my way to starting again and the next vacation is a few weeks away. Have to find a way to tackle this. If you have any ideas please leave me a comment. I’m willing to try most things but not stop holidaying!

8″ X 10″ Pen & Ink and white chalk in my sketchbook.