Saturday, February 28, 2009

Today's sketch--arjun



After a very, very long time, i have been patient here...I spent almost 8 hours on this sketch! Usually I am in rush and spend no more than 2 hours per sketch..but this time I decided to put in more quality.It has come out well, I believe.
My son, who is the model here, commented "It does not look real, but it looks good!"

Happy Birthday


My husband manik celebrates his birthday today...
He is not with me right now .....I miss him and take this opportunity to wish him a very happy birthday ...
this lovely photograph was taken on our last vacation in Pune!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

more of Rishikesh

I found this cute picture on a site...
http://www.oneyearonearth.com/countryinformation/indiaoverview
Its a common sight in Laxman Jhula and Parmarth Niketan which are adjacent small hamlets...a lot of people come here renouncing the world, and spending their lives in oblivion.They are called Saadhus .Monkeys are also not harmed here so they roam around freely and make some very good frames!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Rishikesh, my hometown


I take up this chance to boast of the fact that I was also born and brought up in the small and quite town of Rishikesh. Here is some info about Risikesh I wanted to share with those who are interested in knowing India... This one is of the banks of Holy Ganges in Rishikesh. I have taken this picture from net so I am putting the link here...
Rishikesh is not a very big place, but beautiful and serene...no doubt about it.This place still holds the old world charm between the hustle bustle of daily life.Most of the people of Rishikesh belong to business community, namely the shop owners..(no big offices here)...so it is a ritual for them to visit the quite river banks in the evening after they are done with their business, and offer prayers here.Some come here simply to sit and watch the moon come up from behind the hills
I wish i had some more pictures here...but i am sure going to get some good pictures for you the next time I visit my hometown!

Meaning of Arti



Some people have asked me if my name has something to do with art! Actually, no. Arti is a word derived from Sanskrit. Only it is spelled "aarti" usually. (however, my parents thought "Arti" was better spelling!)

In Sanskrit, the term aarti can be broken up into two words - "aa' meaning "towards" and "rati" meaning the "highest love for God."

The Hindu ritual of aarti accrues from the ancient Vedic concept of fire ceremony or the 'homa'. Generally, one or more wicks made of cotton, or thin cloth strip, is soaked in ghee or camphor, lighted and offered to the deity.



this is a picture of the holy town of Haridwar where mass aarti is being performed for river Ganga or The Ganges, considered a deity in India.

I have taken them from a site http://travel.paintedstork.com/blog/2006/03/ganga-aarti-at-rishikesh_09.html for anyone who wishes to know more about India....




Saturday, February 21, 2009

man with beard



Today`s sketch...I did in about two hours...I guess I lost interest while doing the coat so its kind of shabby...

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Tribal Women



This is a favorite oil painting of mine. I made it some time back and now its hanging in my drawing room....Two tribal girls , in all their finery, sharing a secret or two!...Hope you like this.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Happy Birthday Suzanne

Today my dear friend Suzanne celebrates her birthday...She is in Atlanta and I am in India, and its been four years since welast met but we try to keep in touch via e-mail.
She came to India in 2005 on an official trip but it turned out much, much more for us.Me and my husband took her to his native village (a typical UP village which is not modernized yet) and she enjoyed it thoroughly.In fact this was the best time we ever had in our lives....the old-times surroundings..the green fields, the buffalow-cart ride, the Chaach made from the buffalow milk and the GUR fresh from the oven...the Rotis made on earthen chulhaas..everything had a magical feel back then.
May be it was just the magic of the moment...
We took a lot of photos there and they remain cherished memories for both of us.I am sharing some of them here..

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Photoshop sketch


I created this sketch on paper but it was a bit dull looking so I scanned it to my comp, added some colors to background, added some effects...and now it looks so... different!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Friday, February 13, 2009

Tribal woman


This one is also from my archives.Its a water color of an Indian tribal woman. She is new in the city,so the look is a bit like 'lost'...like she is afraid of the surroundings.She is newly wed, so the bright yellow saree and red cloth bag...She is sitting there ,with her modest belongings,waiting for her companion.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Women drivers!



I came across a hilarious video on a fellow blogger's place ...I am not sure how can I use it on my blog, so i will be giving you a link here which connects to her blog.I hope its alright to do that!
As for a woman driving a car, (with apologies to all women who drive well)I must admit that its usually a disaster..it happened to me, too.
After much dilly-dallying, I got driving lessons when hubby was gone for a long time. No, he did not actually leave me for good, but went on a project overseas!....So I braced myself to learn driving.Told myself "YES!You can do it!"..And got the lessons. But it took more courage than that to take out my own car for the first time!...Well, one fine morning I decided that was it.Got into the car which was parked backside facing the road and that too on a bend, not to metion the huge speed breaker that ran through the road just behind it!

So it happened that I tried to reverse the car but it wont budge beyond the speed breaker.I tried harder this time and it finally gave way, reversed in speed more than I could handle and i heard a screeching sound from the side of my passenger door! Oh! Did I mention the pole?!!
Yeah, I had scraped my door with that damn pole in the process!It was a nice dent and when hubby came to know about this, he made a joke out of it and told it to everybody that came across.Now you can understand my plight!Everybody laughing at me!....ha ha big deal!
So I dont drive now.I just hail a cab.At least it doesn't cost me my dignity!....

By the way, the link that I was talking about-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZlhpfCdyS4&eurl=http://jmw500.blogspot.com/
I think you can cut and paste it in your browser window and it will work..

hope you enjoy it the way I did!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

A young Indian priest boy

Hi
This is a water color portrait of a young boy..
In India, the Hindu tradition was that young boys were sent to 'Gurukuls'( Teacher's Abode) to stay and study with their GURU, or teacher,till they became adults and acomplished their educational goals.The goal was - all round developement of their personalities while they had nothing that could distract them..After they completed their education they were free to return to their homes and persue material world .
In some ways, it was like a boarding, but without any luxuries!
In some places, this practice still exists ( although not as tough as in older times)..and these little boys are called 'brahmchaaris'( A person who shuns wordly pleasures).They learn Yoga, Sanskrit and traditional values as well as the reguler education.

So i got a picture of this little 'Brahmchaari'in traditional hindu dress..and decided to paint him.He came out a fine rendering...
What do you think?


Tuesday, February 10, 2009

A little girl out in sun


Hi
Its an old water color that I did a long time ago...found it among the papers yesterday when I was looking for something else .It still looked good enough to share!So here it is...
Cheers

Sunday, February 8, 2009

The Fat Cat





This cat was not in mood of modelling for free...so it turned around and walked away when I tried to click it!But it was a stunner,neverthless!


Guess how I took this one!Was I sitting on a branch? Looks like it!
Its Kew Gardens, London....





These were taken at Brighton, the beach town.I was disappointed at not being able to see much of it, as we had very little time that day.It was worth exploring but I missed it as my companions ( son and husband!)were more interested in the 'casinos'at the pier where you try to push the coins which in turn push other coins and many fall down in the process!( what a way to spend your outing).....I was getting emotional about sunset, however, and got out to get some pictures.There were couples who were enjoying it , and they became my subjects.
Notice a solitary bird flying home...

snapshot of London 2



snapshots of london




I guess a blog should not be just about work....it should have a soul, too.
I am posting here some of the photos that I took on my recent trip to London.It was December-january and it was cold, really.But it didn't stop me from veturing out and capturing some beautiful moments.i am no professional photographar,but yes, I like to click around whenever I get the opportunity ..and some day, I might invest in a good equipment for some real thing!Till then ,this is all I have to share...

One is of Regent's Park, if I remember correctly.It was a cold morning but when we entered the park, sun shined for a while...and I did not miss the opportunity.My 9 year old son was very happy feeding our sandwiches to the ducks and pigeons and hoard of other species..Even letting them sit on his head!

Second one was taken in the same palce,but by my son, and its my favorite.Yeh, guessed right...romance!
Me and my husband taking a leisurley stroll ....