The Rose - Up close and personal

The queen of all flowers, beautiful beautiful in all its colors with the power to make every woman smile. Its sweet smell has the powers to soothe the soul and its praise has been sung by many a poet. When I came across this arial view, I couldn't resist transferring it to my sketch book. It seemed to me that every petal of the blooming rose contained a secret or a story to share!

And the award goes to...

Ahem! I meant the Brilliant weblog award. The Brilliant Weblog award has been conferred on me by La Belle dame sans merci on 08-Sep-08 for which I say 'Merci Beaucoup'! I am extremely thrilled!



In turn I would like to award the only 3 blogs that I visit on a regular basis - I am new to the blogosphere (though I created the blog way back in 2007 which remained blank until about a month ago)so pardon me guys! However the original rules for the recipients are as follows:

1.When you receive the prize you must write a post showing it,together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back
2. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs (or even more) that you find brilliant in their content or design
3. Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing they were prized with ‘Brilliant Weblog'
4. Show a picture of those who awarded you and those you give the prize(optional).
5. And pass it on!

And the award goes to:

La Belle Dame sansmerci for her 'in your face' style of writing on all topics. I find her articles fun to read and is sure to make one smile and sometimes even laugh their head off.

Unforgettable Journey for the bloggers analytical and detailed view of the topics that she chooses to comment on. She seems to have the knack of catching an angle that may be missed by the rest of the world. I always look forward to her blogs.

Crazy mum for her bold way of writing on various topics though a majority of them are about her kids. I also like the way she posts pics of her babies and the colourful layout helps. It makes you a part of their growing up experience as well.

Btw guys, I have linked you on My Space the blog that I use to ramble about non-art related topics! Oh ya!! I do that also!Am just as messed up as the rest of you :-)

Lord Ganesha - Chubby and Fabulous!

I wish I had sketched this much earlier. This is my first sketch of India's most loved God. In the past I have done two paintings starring him. He was the first God I caught on canvas!Almost everyone I know love him and he seems to pop out everywhere; in the form of beautiful statues, cute curios, key chains etc., I sketched this Ganesh during the week of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. What I liked about the original was that it was not the run of the mill picture of the chubby God. Lord Ganesh has also gone cool with the times and I hope I can celebrate the occasion with more grandeur next year. Ganapathi Bappa Moriya!

Been hit by the blues!

I wondered how amazing it would be to take a walk through the green woods surrounded by the morning mist. As the mist is clearing away I find this majestic bird preening itself on a tree and our eyes meet.....Hello beautiful blue!

I have been hit by the blues but not the sad kind. The color Blue seems to be present everywhere - Blue skies, the national flag, cotton candy flavored ice-cream and one of my good friends even has the Hindi translation of the word blue in her name. Lord Krishna's skin was supposedly a shade of blue and the peacock always seems to be present around Lord Krishna, as he carries its feather on his person. It also happens to be the national bird of India.This is one powerful color! A tribute to my favorite color using water colors for the first time ever. I did not have the best of brushes working for me and all this coupled with the fact that I was painting after almost 3 years resulted in the real blues hitting me a lot while I was working on this piece. Here goes...

And the cow jumped over the moon!

Well I tried with this one... The sight of cows grazing peacefully in green meadows always holds a happy,peaceful and relaxed image for me. I am sure most people would kill for the kind of life that is portrayed in the California Happy cow commercials. I used 2HB, 4B and 6B pencils. I am going to impose a temporary halt to this phase of barnyard animals with Miss Cow here. I hope to post more colorful sketches or paintings in the future. I hope you enjoy viewing this sketch. As for me I am off to buy me some Laughing Cow cheese :-)

A note of thanks!

Tons of thanks to all of you who have commented on my works and emailed or communicated via other means your thoughts and interpretations of my sketches and paintings and also areas for improvement. Most of you liked the sketch of the dog and I loved some of your comments that I have listed below:

The dog looked sad and seemed very emotional.

The dog is feigning a sad face to get a treat.

It is a golden retriever in one of its quieter moods.

I agree that it looks like it would break down any moment.... One of my friends also made me understand that most of my animals seemed a bit restricted - by a leash as in the case of the dog and the horse and the bird seemed to be just sitting there instead of flying. I promise to sketch animals with more cheery outlooks. I loved hearing the comments. Personally I thought that the horse was a better sketch than the dog, but I am glad that the dog was more popular with everyone. Please do keep the comments rolling in...Thanks again!

Barks and Neighs!

I have never sketched too many animals before. Better late than never - keeping that in mind I tried my hand at doing these. I sketched the horse this afternoon. I found the photo of a beautiful brown horse on the net and the dog was after a friends dog. These are my first ever sketches of dog (with the exception of the dog that I drew for a painting competition when I was in the 3rd grade)and a horse..And its all here for you guys to view and comment.