August Artworks

I am presently in India visiting my sister in Chennai, Tamilnadu. I brought with me just a few select art supplies: watercolors and chalk pastels. Surprisingly, chalk has turned out to be easiest and most effective way to create art on the fly. With just a 9"x 11" reusable vinyl chalkboard cloth and a box of colored chalks and a few wet paper towels, I am able to capture the fleeting images of life here in Chennai. Chalk art, by definition, is ephemeral. My visit too is of short duration. Somehow, the medium and the subject seem to have found each other.

Linked to Paint Party Friday. Thanks to Eve and Kristin for hosting.
Linked to Art*Journal*Journey Color in My World

Sights and Sounds of Chennai

I am presently visiting my sister in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India. Chennai in August is a lovely place to be. The weather is pleasant with moderate temperatures. It is the beginning of the monsoon season and the trees and the flowers show off their best colors. The birds feel happy and sing. Even the gaunt strays that dot the landscape look more hopeful and move around with more energy. Below is a sample of the sights and sounds of Chennai in August

Linked to Image-in-ing.

Enjoy.

Cats on Rocks!

I never had a pet in my entire life but if I ever got one it would be a cat. Several years ago, my daughter, on one of her visits, brought her cat with her. I greatly enjoyed having that little feline around. Cats I think, make a great subject for art. It is that blank, inscrutable face which lends itself to all kinds of anthropomorphic imagination.  An artist can project any kind of emotion (innocence, love, mischief, malice etc) on it and have lots of fun doing it. A cat, obviously, has no way of objecting it!

These two paintings were done on rocks using acrylic paints.

Linked to Moo-Mania "Cats" challenge. 

Etude in Blue

I have always loved blue in all its variations. My preference for blue show up not only in my artwork but also in the clothes I wear and in home decor (the color of the sofa, throw cushions, draperies). The only place where there is no use for blue is in the food I make!

Of late, I have been making art (in various forms) with lots of blue. It has been quiet intentional, a way of branding my art. I also feel that when I do something in blue it usually comes out better. The picture above and below are little gems created on river rocks. The third picture is a pattern on a blue background drawn on a cigar box inspired by indigo dyed Indian bed linens.

The last photo below is a pencil sketch I made last night. I leave it to you to guess who it is. In drawing this sketch I followed a tip given by a well known cartoonist which is to focus on the most distinguishing feature of the subject and to exaggerate it, like Carter's teeth, Bill Clinton's nose or Obama's ears. Here I focused on the hairdo. My daughter thinks it is the lips that is the giveaway. You be the judge :)

Linked to Paint Party Friday. Thanks to Kristin and Eva for hosting.