Today’s Sketch - Infestation!

Today’s Morning sketch!

Random sketch!

“The time for passion and emotion is over. It is time now for knowledge ! To know to find out and to ponder perhaps in philosophic nostalgia, of so many aspects that you realize that suddenly we may not have time left for it ..

When you are younger, it bothers less what lies ahead - whatever it be there is inner strength and resolve to overcome or conquer it. With age the confidence vanishes as fast as evaporating camphor. There is doubt and hesitancy of accomplishment, and the fear of failure … failure in the presence of others .. ironically, at times, those that served under you ..”

By - Amitabh Bachchan

I dont have any other words for this kind of truth. Its so true.

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Today’s sketch!

Roses are red, Sky is blue, Beneath this beauty, some spiders are looking for you.

Owl Assassin - close up shot

Closeups!

I think I am done with this. Surely I need to work more on environment. Sigh!

Exposed to a fever called Android Jones!
Few days back I was discussing Andrew Jones’s art and his posters with my friend Anugrah and wished if I could have access to his art works. Lo and behold, next day there was a notification on Facebook about his arrival in India. I couldnt believe it at my first sight because it was hard to believe that any well reputed digital artist is coming here to make an impression. I dont want to discuss this in details but in my opinion Indian digital art is as good as Russians making cars (yes, I have included myself but its a sad truth). We are good but not good enough, it seems.
So ofcourse having him here for any reason like any cultural event like Kumbh Mela in Varanasi, inquiring about our cultural roots or any corporate relationship that paid him well to be here, were less important for me than he being visibly present over here. The last reason I feet like a farce since his skills, passion and his lifestyle says more broadly towards his love for art and spiritualism rather than money making. So just like India called Steve Jobs for his spiritual nirvana, I believe Andrew Jones is attracted for the same reason. I am not sure whats the truth is but this I am sure it will be another change in his working culture. He himself has said in todays event that life is totally different from what Indians posses and what Americans simply live, so its always an inspiration for them in terms of spiritualism.

Anyhow, I booked the ticket instantly as an early bird so to make a discount (and for my sister as well). Days went by and today was the day when I was thinking that something special would appear. I was expecting myself to change, to surrender myself to anything that spiritually touches me, that will arrive at me and certainly, it did. I am burning with a fever now called Android Jones and till the time I dont blog this, this fever wont find its antidote. Although at this time, I want to paint, but I am barely able to see anything since I was exposed to some bright projector light in the very dark amphitheater.

But it was an amazing experience as I was expecting. Initially Andrew was introducing himself by showing his “out of this world” paintings. He divided his journey in many ways like conception, synchronisation and some other i forgot at this time ( poor me, I was too lazy to bring any diary with me and I was jotting it in my sister’s diary) and he was constantly engaging us with his answers when dedicated query session begun. Mainly questions were related towards the career growth and being a better artist. For me i have already read and heard enough (from other blogs and books) and it felt to me as those guys are disillusioned by this vast career. So their were questions were generous and logically correct (unlike mine which was kind of preposterous).
But his insight towards being a better digital artist is little different from any other digital artist we may find. Yes, no one can deny working hard and harder to reach where you want to see but some other topics like fear factor, paying up his own loan taken to complete his art graduation, human’s brain tendency of having a reptile mind, monkey mind and then a neocortex layering on our brain were great analogy towards art making. He also expanded his knowledge towards digital art vs traditional and how the spectrum is changing and his advantages of being a digital artist. So like any intellectual, he was well prepared for what had been thrown at him.

What did I ask? Since I had been reading about him from the early days of my career, I was well aware of his growth and where do I stand. Also Andrew already had already discussed a lot about his passion, his art making and career development, there was hardly anything left to ask. But I couldnt let my digital mentor go away without any small chat, so I simply asked about his political views about his American system. I started with normal “Hi Andrew” which I could never had done if I havent made myself prepared to ask anything…. anything as trivial it could be. He replied back with another “hi” and then went off with his long answer and the reasons he hated Americanization, Capitalism etc. So when he finished, I replied that your country is not left alone. People around turned their head to see me in a great despair. Lol!
But I told him the reason I was asking is how the system is flawed and how it makes us restricted to work on our dreams. Its easy to make an art, but making a living out of it is hell and every artist goes with it. So I just thanked him for showing his courage and inspiring us for the future. He just said “your welcome!” and this only made my day.
I didnt expect that there is more to come. After his long workshop and his views on Corel Painter and his techniques, he went on signing his personal work prints for us. Its the very first time I was getting a print of any artwork signed by the artist himself. There are hardly any big comicons over here with awesome artists, so its a rare achievement for me so far.

After this he was so humble to have a quick word with us and we getting a photo with him. I also went ahead, he placed his hands on my shoulder (my blessed shoulders are even more harder now to take the burden of artmaking… ha ha!) and posed with smile. He was totally unaware of the local amateur photographers and who were associated with which poser. So he was just smiling and looking everywhere like any big celeb. I shook my hands with him and thanked him again for a visit to India. He said “Your welcome” again. I think I cannot sleep now.
I really wish if there were some more prints would be available so that I could buy them instantly, for my friends as well. But I guess I have to be content with what just happened for now.
Good night for now and Good morning for the western world. :)

I watched a movie zero dark 30 tonight (I always get it confused with a game’s name called perfect dark zero) and after its ending, was astonished and somehow sad by the way and speed life moves on. I still remember the day when Osama was declared as a terrorist before 9/11 during Clinton’s administration. I could have recongnized him even though he was not referred as a big name today. Press and media was giving him attention he wanted or needed, but not at the international level. Kenya bombing was done on a big scale and it brought him under the major notorious highlight. At that time I was almost a kid, started going to college and thanks to some magazines like Time, I was exposed to international news and crisis. It was also my favourite subject at that time and I was pretty much keen on every topic on world politics. Be it World war 2, Israel Palestine Conflict, Indian Chinese conflicts, Argentina civil wars, Iraq-Iran trouble or Iran US arms deal. I mainly found myself attracted to current world affairs, although I did read about world’s history, but soon my romance was over with it.
At that time internet was not a library set in our home with a click away, but we only have to wait for magazines, newspapers and channels like Discovery. They were good enough to generate the curiosity inside me but never gave me a good lengthy explanation with photos or videos like internet has revolutionised it. So anything happened it was covered at that moment, then it died down with the subsequent amount of time. If you wanted to read and scratch the layers once again, it was way too tough. Finding a book on specific topic was also exhausting and cumbersome.
So taking a look back at the moment where the things got developed during mujaheddin era and till now, here, when Osama is dead, the time has sincerely paced fast enough. Its been long enough since Saddam has been captured and brought under jurisdiction, but that news feels like yesterday, almost fresh. I can remember the place where we were, when the news broke in and the world was celebrating something about it. So have we come to any conclusion about all this? I assume no… because every one is fighting for his survival and when that survival becomes more than a survival game like greed, it starts to transform into more hideous state where it sees nothing but his/her growth. Every individual, every religion, every nation, every state, every neighbourhood is secretly trying to flex its muscle to gain something from its other so called rivals. And then the rivalry continues throughout the centuries to which the coming generations have to bear.
Thats why history along with the current affairs is all drowning in its own blood with the same mistake again and again.

This is not for kids, not because this is a mature topic, but for the reason of being nostalgic.

We all had camera and a roll. I had a hotshot one, Canon and it used to be the best companion during any of our trip. It was counted as a family member like without it no trip can be made memorable, almost like we are missing the fun loving member of our family. I am sure everyone who had a single camera at that time, felt the same about it. Almost neglected throughout the year, but a dearest thing when a trip was coming around. Then with it, came the real burden, the restriction, something to be scared of totally, the film roll. The real ammo without the memory gun cant be shot at anything. Be it Kodak or Fuji. It was painful to get the photos and expensive as well. But the real fun was to see them in the hands of everyone and share among the friends, relatives and everyone we wanted to. We specifically had to buy an album or got those from the local developers. No batteries to see them and pictures beautifully stored anywhere we want.

I assume Kodak at that moment made a fine choice by thinking that digital wont work, even though it backslashed them brutally. I too think at this time, digital is creating a mess, not only in my hard drive but on the web as well. The amount of sharing has gone insane. So insane that the beauty of photography is lost. I may sound as cynical and a nagging petitioner since I am not a professional, never handled an SLR in my hands, but being a spectator, the challenge of limited film shots always enticed me. Some of my friends were good photographers during my college days, and even though they took this job very seriously, the expenses and monetary challenges really weakened them. Many of them have left the photography for their personal reasons, but I can contemplate and understand it to be financial insecurities. Not pressing this hard but little meanings in few stories do elaborate a lot.

At the same moment, that made them equally talented, frugal with their resources. The final output I use to see by them was either full of tears or being proud about it, near to be arrogantly boasting about it. It was like there are millions of subjects, but 36 rounds to shoot them to the memory of the paper. A toughest job without a doubt.

Then came the news of the last roll from Kodak. I was so thrilled by another news, that it will be shot by none other than a man who has survived more than thirty years of freelancing photography, but also the thrilling, adventurous subjects around him. The wars, the heat of Rajasthan’s deserts, Taliban’s brutality, Civil wars and some of his own shyness. I myself sometimes feel so burdened with the insecurities that comes with freelancing, but given the environment and situations around him, he can be more than a mortal. I have read about many war photographers, and some of the winners of war photo prizes are not alive, not because they are too old but they have seen so much in other’s tragic life that they had reckoned themselves better to commit suicide and vanish from this anguished and far far troubled world.

I am an avid follower of Steve’s blog (http://stevemccurry.wordpress.com/) and it never bores me. The amount and variety of the world that can be seen from his vision is so immense, that I enjoy his subjects. Yes, many of them were shot at the time of Mujahedeens, Russian conflict, when India was never thought to be global super power. His portraits are full of emotions and deeply linked with their lives. Staring at them is another kind of fun, even if I am glaring them in a small screen.

Although I never wish myself to be a photographer, but I dont cease myself to hand myself a camera and keep pressing the button mindlessly. I know, I may be an artist, but I feel admitting that I dont have enough sense of composition, special photographic skills and technical abilities. Its not that hard to learn for me since I had taken a workshop once, but I feel like being more traditional than equipped with modern easiness and comfort. I prefer to keep painting my dreams and thoughts around me, no matter how arduous it seems to be for me.

Man lives by science as well as bread. -William James Vivisection.

Goodnight everyone!

Work in progress! Feels like ages working on it. I am all busy with commercial projects and hardly getting time to work on this. Hopefully, I will finish this within this year as its a massive narration! So happy to post in bits and pieces now!

My first random sketch from my tablet. The software is Autodesk Sketchbook X and its feature rich. The only problem is with the pressure sensitivity. I guess thats not the only problem when you have worked a lot on Photoshop. However I am glad to upgrade my electronic arsenal with a new IPad. Although it was gift meant for mom, but 90% of the day it belongs to me.
I wish the sketch would be better but being for the first time, it was crude and off the mark. After working on polished stuff on wacom tablets, this still feels pretty much immature. but I am sure like any other hardware, it has got a lot of potential.
The best about it is that i dont have to be sitting on the PC to blog, type, read and do misc chores, other than work, so my spine has been blessed! Right now I am typing from my bed and feels so cozy under the blanket.
Okay, a bad news, my car has broke down. So one machine in hand gives me comfort, another a headache. I think thats the peril and joy of the modern and technology filled life. We love something new and discard the old and obsolete one. Maybe, I am the only one who loves my 12 years old Santro. Spent a life from college till here, so surely many things are bonded with it. The first accident, the first big challan at Railway station, first tyre changes which was done recently, an now more recently a breakdown. Hope it remains with me forever, but thats near to impossible.
I have to wake up in the morning to get the things done fast. So much to do in so little time. :)
Goodnight World!

“How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.”

I Sincerely have no more words left to what describe about the 2 images. Its always you to decipher this.