I’m back at The Art Students League after two years and having a great time this time around too. Painting is with Philip Sherrod and sculpture with Barney Hodes. The piece above is from todays painting session.
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Tag: Acrylic
Point of view
Learning to photograph paintings to look close to what they are in life is something I’m working on.
Take this painting for example. I took a close-up (below) first, less that a foot away and a second one (above) from a distance of around 3 ft. I found that the close-up shot had focused on surface details which you dont see while viewing even if you go up close to peer at it. In the second one the surface details have disappeared almost completely. The actual piece is closer to the image on top – you can see a bit more colour on top than is visible here.
Keeping a distance from the source and later zooming in and cropping give a more faithful copy of the original.
Running with the Bulls
I don’t normally post incomplete work here but I’m away on a longish holiday (back in Sep) starting today. Posts here might be irregular. Wanted to put up something that I’m excited about in case it is a longer break in between posts than usual. Hoping to finish this and do a few more in this series when I return. Will write more about “Running with the Bulls” with the post on the finished piece.
36″ X 30″ acrylic on canvas. This is based on one of the inspiring photo refs taken by Oochappan. Used with permission.
Update: Image updated with finished piece.
The Elusive Key
Everyone is looking for answers to life, its meaning, what lies ahead, who we are and the list goes on and on. Sadhus, Indian holy men, have given up domestic life, its responsibilities and pleasures to search for answers. Hoping to find the key that will unlock the door. Hoping that behind it will be answers to all those questions. Hoping that it will lead to Nirvana. Sadhus lead a very austere existence and even though he is colourfully dressed here and leaning against an equally colourful door that’s not what his life is all about.
20″ X 16″ acrylic on canvas. Photo ref copyright Sanzen used here with permission.
People watching
People watching while waiting for a fare.
10″ X 12″ acrylic on canvas.
Catching up on news
It’s a fairly common sight, here in Dhaka, to spot people on the road patiently reading newspapers. These have been pasted on walls by good samaritans for those who cant afford to buy them everyday.
“Catching up on news”, 6″ X 10″ acrylic on canvas.
Fair & Lovely?
We Indians, it seems, place a high value on fairness. Scan through a few matrimonial classified ads and you’ll see that a requirement that appears frequently, for a girl, is fairness. I’d thought that with our generation we would see this disappear but a recent dinner conversation reminded me that we still have a long way to go 😦 This goes out to all Indian ladies who continue to suffer the teasing and taunting of friends and family because they are dark complexioned.
In case you’re interested, links to a few articles/comments saying it so much better than I ever could. A Darker Side of Fair, Fair = Lovely, Bollywood delusions,
20″ X 24″ acrylic on canvas
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.
Friends and Faces, an update.
Our first joint exhibition, ‘Friends and Faces‘ has been a success. It ended on March 31st and the paintings are safely back home. We spotted listings a few times in The Daily Star, the local leading English daily, on a radio channel and everyday during the period in Prothom Alo, the local leading Bengali newspaper and this being our “first” exhibition, we were pleased with the coverage. We even had an interview appearing a week after the exhibition in the Daily Star. Most of all we got great feedback and encouragement from friends, the artist community and even a few strangers! So much so that Smita and I have decided to exhibit together again before the end of the year.
These are a part of a series which I hope my friend will add to. I’m titling it “People that Matter” and have a plan for a similar series on my family and close friends. approx 8″ X 8″ acrylic on canvas. These two need more work.
Update : April 28, 2008 : The Daily Star interview was picked up by the website Indian Art Collectors in their news from the world section.
3 Blind Mice
Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after the farmer’s wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?
