aLmoSt FaLLen AnGeL

Magazine cutouts from 2000-part 1

2012-01-12T03:22:00.000-08:00

This is a mix of a magazine cutout woman and some block printing in silver.

These I have done wayyyy back in 2000 in college.. i liked a really stark and graphic look back then.

Blurred

2012-01-09T23:50:00.000-08:00

This is actually the reverse of the original artwork...I tend to do this quite often..and the back becomes a completely new artwork...and looks better than the first one.
I have to get back to sketching again..been sooo busy and pre occupied lately.. :(

Monster King and Monster Warrior

2011-12-15T00:27:00.000-08:00

The first one was inspired by an evil king somehow and I have used silk baby pleats to create a texture.
The second one is a warrior at war...
I found these from way back in 2007...my love for Tibentan Buddhism will never end I guess.

Collage fever

2011-12-09T01:30:00.001-08:00

The first one was made way back in 2005...I was in collage mode..mix of an existing magazine face print..with drawn out body and hair patch and it has a worked out fabric patch also.

The base is gold foil print.

The second one are patches of burnt gateway sheets..which I has burnt in my hostel room out of sheer boredom..in 2004. the layers of grey and the textured surface turned out really fun.

The third one was made in 2005 from block printed newspaper strips..the gold pigment does not really look gold in the scan.
I think I should get back to collages again....having a deep deep craving for collages all of a sudden :)

If I had Indian eyes....

2011-12-08T02:42:00.001-08:00

I guess it always happens...when people have straight hair..they want curly hair..and when people have oriental eyes...sometimes thay crave bigger eyes..... :p

This was just one of those explorations with colored ink pens... (but sometimes i do want big eyes...like the anime characters)

All things Indian

2011-11-29T22:04:00.001-08:00

These are not my best sketches... but as you can see these are many years apart..some point or the other it seems I sketch something similar. Indian-ness is something that I hold very dear to me...and at some point it manifests itself..whether its clothes I wear or colours I use!!! Mera Bharat Mahan!!!!! :)

Masks

2011-11-24T05:55:00.001-08:00

Once again Tibetan Buddhist influences re-surface. People often wear masks everyday of their lives...a different one for different people and occassions. As for me I feel the lesser the masks or none..the better...
I have masks... but they are to do with my moods..the upper one being fierce or angry mask and the bottom one being..mischevious and happy...

Women from strange places

2011-11-22T04:24:00.001-08:00

I love making strange looking women...no reason in particular..I actually love hairstyling, costumes and make up also sci fi stuff sometimes...not that these sketches have anything impressive relating that..
The first one is inspired by a space age geisha and the second..has serious static electricity around her :p

All is full of love!!!

2011-11-20T22:06:00.001-08:00

Woke up feeling all is full of love...good and sad...

Reminds me of the bjork song... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjAoBKagWQA

Love the video..the track...all of it!!!

Sending a lot of love and positive energy to all!!!

Ball pen girl

2011-11-15T04:41:00.001-08:00

I had never used ball pens....so in this one I tried to use sketch pens, blow pens and ball pens. They create lovely textures...I think I should use them more often. As such I use whatever I have at hand....
'The small joys of stationary...'

Lotus love..

2011-11-14T23:30:00.001-08:00

Somehow I have developed a deep love for lotuses...for their colour, form and well beauty in general....also I guess coz it i so intensely used in Buddhist and Indian religious iconography...
So here are some illustrations on paper, a table.
I have also tattooed lotuses on my calves..also they are all around my house.... so here is for the love of lotuses :)

Random Lines

2011-11-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

Nothing much to say about these..just some lines....somehow I feel they have an oriental spirit to them.

For people I love

2011-10-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

I somehow started giving people some of my sketches whenever I visit..or just coz they are soooo sweet and caring...
It's fun to leave behind a piece of you...

For Mansi, Delhi

For Anupam, Baroda

For Ujji and Kareena, Baroda

There's something about walls

2011-10-12T12:44:00.000-07:00

I have a sudden rush of adrenaline when I paint walls..the mediums vary from permanent markers to photo inks, crayons, fabric paint to anything and everything that is lying around the house.
I have been lucky with landlords who have let me decorate their walls... but there is one feeling I loathe the most.... leaving them behind..sometimes I wish I could break that section of the wall and take it away with me. I decide everytime that I will paint on something I can carry.. but eventually I end up painting on the walls...I feel like they were meant to be there...kind of like the feel and spirit of the house... here's to more paintings on the walls...

Line track mind!!!

2011-10-11T02:22:00.000-07:00

Boredom and lines sometimes help create beautiful things.... I cant believe that I actually made this one...how many hours I seriously don't know!!!

Massive Attack -Protection

2011-10-10T23:54:00.000-07:00

The sketch was inspired by the song.... the video is awesome too. Directed by Michel Gondry...the entire set of the building for this video was made horizontal and all the actors were lying down....

I was super vulnerable when I sketched this one....just needed some protection....

Wing obsession

2011-10-10T22:27:00.000-07:00

My fascination for wings began after grade 12.

I started sketching wings...makes me feel free and independent (cliche..i know but it's true!!!!)

I even got wings tattoed (will put pics someday)

These are a few of my early wing obsession sketches.

Phool Patti

2011-10-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

'Phool Patti' is something that I picked up while I was in college. We had these design drawing classes.. and at some point we were left in the greenery to draw Phool Pattis. And so it stuck...
Some of them are drawn, some actually stuck on and one of them is Brocade from Kalimpong.

Cherry blossom girl

2011-10-10T02:57:00.000-07:00

Speaking of happiness!!!! This is happiness manifested...for no apparent reason. :)
(made on handmade paper using OHP marker)

And there was hair......

2011-10-10T02:41:00.000-07:00

Illustrations of hair....some of them as old as 2001.
What can I say!!! I love drawing lines, women and hair :p

Demon days!!!

2011-10-09T22:55:00.000-07:00

These are some illustrations from some darker days of mine.

The first one has the silhouette of a strange lonely looking tree that I could see from my window. Somehow the tree seemed so isolated and eerie I felt I had to draw it's shape...soon after there was a storm and the tree lost it's branches. I moved from that house soon after and never saw that tree ever again.

The second one was of a time I was underground and isolated...I have a mirror shaped like that.. I imagined that the whole world was stuck behind the mirror and that it was the only window to the world. Sounds strange now that I think about it...It did not seem so strange then. It was a weird phase of my life...glad I'm over with it now. People need alone time to figure and sort themselves. Too long a period of isolation can be really bad for you though!

The last one was of a nightmare I saw....It began with me waking up in my room and seeing someone sitting by my side. The room had a Zero Watt red bulb lit (creepy!!! don't know why I had that colour light)
In the red room the man had bent his head in such a way that I could see the silhouette of is head just a little and more of his shoulder blades. He was bald, with broad shoulders and a strong body. I tapped him on the back only to find within seconds that he was on top of me. I could feel his knees on my chest pressing me down.
I swayed my hand over his face to feel nothing but air. Every time he swayed his head I saw in motion blur..five different faces..I distinctly remember one of a little girl, one of an old woman...the others I don't remember clearly now.
I am not a religious person..a spiritual one though..but at that moment I prayed so hard..within seconds....what felt like hours the man turned into a moving smoke and vanished into the corner of the room.
That's when I woke up and felt scared to death.
I could not sleep all night...sketched this days later. I wish I had better drawing skills..But I remember the nightmare..none the less.

High!!!

2011-10-04T01:17:00.000-07:00

It's ThAT state of mind. Need I say anymore?

Costumes to be somebody else

2011-10-04T01:05:00.000-07:00

Was just thinking of some wearable costumes for theatre. When I sketched them I could already see fabrics and construction *** it's a professional hazzard*** But I would love to someday make costumes- for people, dolls, mannequins...to wear.. to display...to gift...to sell.
I do make dolls..I guess I can start there.
I can see blogging about what you have already done makes you think about more things that you want to do. YAY!!!!!

Monsters ball

2011-10-04T00:53:00.000-07:00

This happened long long time ago..I am posting all my work very randomly..there is no time pattern that I'm following...I definitely feel these are very naive. But it did come out of my head at some point. I love monsters to this day.
Maybe I should see what my monster would look like in today's date!!!

Glimpses of me

2011-10-03T22:45:00.000-07:00

It is only natural that whenever I sketch women they often have hairstyles and accessories that would be the look that I would like to have or would be wearing at that point of my life . This is Bohemian me...curly hair (permed) big handmade loop earrings. I dressed like my sketch after I drew this. (I think this was more than 3 yrs ago.)

Not who I am

2011-10-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

I always felt some how that I'm a complex creature and it drove me to sketch this out. but as I grow older I realize, I have always been a hybrid of many things but never a complicated person.

Elements of Tibetan Buddhism

2011-10-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

The Black Hat Dancer

You will always see some or the elements of Buddhism in my work. Tibetan Buddhism really fascinates me and it's style colours and darkness draws me more and more to it. I have some sketches of Buddhist masks lying somewhere..will scan them soon.
I don't really know when my love for Tibetan Buddhism began. I think I'm more inclined to the Bhutanese version of it...somehow it's darker. I went for my craft training to Bhutan to learn the art of Thangka embroidery and then I also did my Craft documentation in Trongsa Monastery, Kalimpong. I documented some of the stories and dance costumes of Tibetan Buddhism. (will upload my craft documentation soon too).

It's amazing how a religion could travel from one place to another and come out as such a beautiful hybrid. This version of Buddhism traveled from India to Tibet and mixed with the aboriginal Bon religion and looks like what we see today (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%B6n)

Blow Pen Dreams

2011-10-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

These were accidental illustrations that were triggered by my little brother's collection of Blow Pens(which I conveniently captured later).
It was a really fun medium and I have been wanting to do more sketches with them. I really think all artists should try these pens!!!! Definitely recommended!!

Shiny candy stripes and dots

2011-09-27T22:49:00.000-07:00

I often collect a lot of things (junk) thinking I can use them later in my sketch books.I end up forgetting where all I put them.They resurface sometimes and then they become part of my sketch books...sometimes many years later.
These candy wrappers resurfaced tucked in between some books almost a year later. So for my love of shiny things, fuschia and stripes..these were made way back in 2006.

The next one also has some butterfly stickers that I had collected over the years. Looking at the stripes somehow made me want a dress with stripes. I'ts sad the scan did not come out as bright as it actually looks though.

Love..or something like it

2011-09-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

My sketches are like my visual diary..Sometimes happy...dark..sad. These ones are moods pertaining the heart. I am a very emotional person as such and I love to sketch when I feel, whatever I feel. It's amazing how sketching can be therapeutic.

Tribal Girl

2011-09-26T02:31:00.000-07:00

I wanted to sketch a tribal girl using colours that I was absolutely not comfortable with...also the Indian-ness was not exactly my style of work. The leaves seemed appropriate for the girl who maybe roamed forests and played with leaves and flowers and use them as accessories.
I'm originally from a small town at the foothills of the Himalayas called Kalimpong (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalimpong).
I remember as a child I used to use Thunder Lillies as earrings and used to make flower and creeper wreaths and use it as headgear. It's sad...kids these days are indoors most of the time...We used to freak out outdoors and eat all sorts of plants and flowers and fruits...It's a miracle that I did not get poisoned!!!! Oh!!! how I miss the hills :(

For the love of Headgears

2011-09-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

I don't know when I developed a love for sketching out head gears. I as a kid often drew women with long hair flying in the wind....then I started decorating their hair. It's funny how I had never thought of when the headgear obsession began. We all develop some liking or disliking because of so many factors...I as a person always look back and try and figure out what made me. It's easier to find out why you behave the way you do and what caused it . There is always a reason!!! (makes me sound so profound :p)

The other thing you will notice that I make women..women and women...one because I love to draw them and many times they are like a reflection of my many moods and characters. Secondly...(sheepish smile) I can never get a man's proportions and shape right...they end up looking like sporty women!!! In any case...enjoy the headgears!!!

Early years!!!

2011-09-22T23:47:00.000-07:00

My creative career began with http://www.shadesofindia.com/. A place that let your creativity run wild!!! I basically am very choosy where I work. They focus on innovation and well that's where I enhanced my love for textile art and fabric manipulation. Though the products might be expensive here but you will find unique and mad products here. I miss working here sometimes.
I also used to work for http://www.tmcollection.com/novo/ . Strong woman..Teresa Martins... also let me explore anything in the world. She and I shared a deep love for the orient, Antonio Marras and Kenzo. I thank her for exposing me to a different kind of sensibility and to help me develop into a more wholesome Designer.I miss working here too!!

The Point in the end being...If you absolutely love what you do...work becomes fun and well....it becomes such a big part of you

At peace with the world

2011-09-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

I love being a soulful hippie, a partial goth, sometimes a huge anime and manga otaku, tribal woman from the north east, orient lover, crafty DIY person, Fashionista, Mystic gypsy woman.... soooo much more.

It's funny that I thought that I could describe myself and write down all the ingredients that make me ..me. But it's a tough. So I guess it it will anyway be more fun if you discover one picture at a time.

Posted two of my favorite illustrations.. I guess they are my favorite as I have pleasant memories of them and as I was under the influence of some natural herbs..what came out on paper seems to be truly what I felt in my heart.

I remember them well..The first one - somehow even at a room filled with people screaming, dancing and getting high, I felt really calm, I had sat under this bamboo lamp and sketched away oblivious to the world.

The second one was made in the realm of Pushkar...somehow everytime I have visited there, the place exudes a strong spirituality which I don't know if other people experience.. I guess they do... as it is believed to be the creation point of the 'Bhramand'

Devi

2011-09-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

This was made for a dear friend of mine Roy!! He Loved the original sketch in my so called keeda book. I made a new one for him based on the old one.

The old sketch that you see in the blog name space was made years and years ago.
I have always been fascinated by the orient and specially Buddhism and it's visual iconography. So thats how the Devi was born.

This time I shall take it slow....

Erase and Rewind

2011-01-14T21:53:00.000-08:00

Sorry People... I felt I was just posting pics without really saying anything... so this time.. even though it may be slow I will do itwith more heart!! :)