Thursday, October 29, 2009

BRUSHSTROKES THAT BROUGHT COLOUR INTO MY LIFE


About a lifetime ago, I picked up paints and an easel and some raggedy old brushes to try my hand at oils...





So that when the Sunflowers happened to me...My first attempt at getting the symmetry right...I failed miserably..but then realised if I got the aesthetics correctly, toss the symmetry out for a bit...Can you believe I spent nearly two days perfecting that core of the flower...My very first painting...



Soon enough I gained enough confidence to attempt others....

Thats an SS Sheikh painting, suitably improvised to fit my canvas size and as usual, i screwed up the sizes, so my focus of the painting varies from his, quite a bit...but I love the dog in this painting, looking at the bullock cart so yearningly...



Some others I feel are definitely better in style and technique..But remember all are copies of good artists....I realised my art lay in interpreting theirs in my way - no offence meant to them...


This one is a personal favourite...the foam that sprays as the waves hit a rock...and the growing darkness as the sun hides behind the clouds..



 
And then there are some of the later paintings, once I had mastered the techniques of colour mixing and dividing my canvas spaces right...


The deer caught in a clearing...startled by something..Its a powerful imagery...and as usual, I love the way sunlight streams in, that wasnt easy, but the result is also so wonderful









Ohhh... there was this one, that I had specifically created for my favourite aunt, as she built her own dream home...I never thought I'd end up in a countryside like the one I had painted for her, five years ago.




The Brighton countryside with the lavender tinted hills in the yonder, the cottages so similar..the colours just the same...just that I see in autumn what I painted in spring..







This one was done at a tumultous time in my life. That could be why this has a special place in my heart.      It's a much reproduced painting, but I love the blue hues, the choppy ocean and the efforts that are evident to steer the ship through the turbulence. The white foam rising from the sea was so wonderful to paint..making the sea look alive was the challenge.






And there were many more, some I forgot to photograph, some others lying around somewhere, when I do manage to photograph or locate them, I shall include them in this blog..For now, here's one more...My Amma's Favourite, one that occupies a place of pride in our living room...


In the hot, hot Kerala summers, a look at this cold frozen landscape perhaps gives Amma a sense of comfort..I love the lilac colours of the sunlight reflected against the white and the comforting warmth of the red brick cottage with its own water wheel...I remember how I struggled to paint the waterfall...Each ripple has to be created...But I definitely count this my best re-production to date..




So thats my little collection for now...Promise to add more...Soon, I hope...


11 comments:

  1. hey hey.. lovely to see a blog on your paintings... are u getting back to your paints? please do.. they wait just the way i do for you to get back to the canvas!

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  2. babe, u are a bundle of surprises! Pity didn't get to know u better...all I did was an acassional hi and a bye at Saileela. You completely rock. Am sure u have more than enough views to inspire you these days... Waiting for more!

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  3. You have talent Journomuse, and thanks for following my blog too.

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  4. Thank you Paul. Wonderful to hear from you, we journalists have bulk-mailed your blog 'Jack and Jill' and turned into cult TV characters. :)

    After 8 years of doing television in India, I can't tell you how tickled I was to read it, coz,much as I hate it, I could very well see myself producing a bulletin that had such reportage(psst..Thats about when I decided to say goodbye to TV..

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  5. My lovely Ketchup Girl...hasnt facebook played a great leveller?? Cant blame just Sai leela, got recruited to AajTak soon after you guys entered college..:) So there you go..I was hardly ever there..

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  6. This one deserves more than just a "I Was here" tag. Deeps...knew the vibrant you but not the colourful you. Great creations or shud I say re-creations!!And let me confess: "I've always been envious of those who can capture life in canvases." Now u too...waiting to see more.

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  7. Hey deeps. good to see the range of your work. please do find some time from your schedule to keep doing this. bestest

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  8. My dear Deepthy,

    We reveal sides of one another on our blogs that we did not know existed, when we thought we knew one another.

    This is a rare talent. Thank you, Deepthy. Now in Brighton, you have great opportunity. Of the few things the English do well, painting is one.

    Have a look at Turner, Constable and the great water-colourists.

    I too paint and one day I'll post a water-colour.

    Your blog is one of the few that I shall be looking forward to, over the next three months when I switch off from regular posting.

    Peace and love,
    - Joe.

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  9. Journomuse

    I wanted to comment on your Lewes post but I couldn't see how to do that.

    You're very fortunate to be in that beautiful part of England which I know so well. In fact I have a separate website - and blog - on the men of Chailey Parish (a few miles north of Lewes along the A272). Good too, to see the Guy Fawkes celebrations in that town. When we were young it was quite common, in the run up to Guy Fawkes' Night to see children sitting in shopping centres with their 'Guy', asking for "a penny for the Guy". That money was supposedly used to then buy fireworks. Of course, these days things have changed a lot. You can no longer buy fireworks unless you are at least 35 years old and have a clearance certificate from the Health and Safety Executive. As for the kids, they'd found that mugging is a far more lucrative alternative to freezing their bits off on cold flagstones, and because they are too young to buy fireworks, they buy pots of glue to sniff instead. Ah, happy days. Nice photos too, BTW.

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  10. Paul,

    Thanks..Guess I tinkered with the layout of the blog so much that it is now refusing to obey my commands.

    I did read somewhere about 'the penny for a guy' phrase...In fact, conversations with the English are peppered with so many lovely and quaint phrases that those who love the Queens English still use in India..was planning another blog along those lines, just that it will be a while, if I wait to have those conversations before I blog it..

    I didnt 'Realise toeing the line' and Crossing the Line came from 'colourful British politics'..

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  11. The tempest and the road to nowhere....such beautiful works...im glad i saw them before and feels wonderful to view them again on your blog.

    You know you have this beautiful gift of capturing things and putting it out so beautifully...whether it is on canvas, on paper or on air :)

    Sometimes it feels like you are running out of another medium to conquer...

    Wonderful to see these paintings and looking forward to see lots more from you.

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