Stayed home sick today, but I had my pal Gurdas Mann to cheer me up!
Let him cheer you up too.
He's awesome, but a lot of the cds tend to be
too synthesized for my tastes, though I can't help but listen because it is Gurdas Mann after all, but these two live recordings are great! Must find some cds more like this. Any recommendations?
Attended Mohini Banerjee's Bharat Natyam Arangetram and her brother Vivek Banerjee's Tabla Rangapravesh at UCLA Saturday. These are possibly the two most multi-talented kids I know of. Mohini is also a music student of Lalita Sharma, who I also took vocal lessons with. That makes them all like family, so I feel really proud. It's a pleasant reminder of how much we are all capable of if we put our minds to it and work really hard. Managed a few quick watercolor sketches during the performance. I'm still working out where to go with these types of fast sketches. Must do more work...
Here is a mix of 3 and 5 minute water color sketches from a lunch time figure drawing class.
Did these watercolors in the dark at Blue13 dance company's performance of Karishma. A lot of times when I do these, often sitting at some performance by myself, I can hardly see anything, and it all looks like junk in the dark. It's always a pleasant surprise to find what I was actually able to capture once the lights come back on. It doesn't hurt that the performers are so talented either!
Here are some random heads.
I saw Niyaz, Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz perform at a benefit for Relief International who are working to help victims in Lebanon rebuild. The show was at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood. It was a a great cause and a very fun concert. Satnam Ramgotra played some great tabla! I managed to get in a few watercolors during Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz's performance.
Here are a bunch of water color sketches from a performance called Hooray for Bollywood. These were really fast and in the dark. I tried to do the same as those last few pen sketches, but with water colors. There were all kinds of acrobats, fire, snakes, swords, some great musicians and a lot of excellent dancers. If you get a chance to check this show out, definately do.
Went to see Kiran Ahluwalia perform at the Santa Monica Pier. It was lot of fun and I even managed a few quick sketches.
Checked out MC Rai at the Temple Bar Thursday night. It was an awesome show! Between acts I scribbled these sketches. Crank the volume up, visit his site and see if you can sit still.
Did some water color gestures. The first three are two minute poses and the last three are five minute poses.
Went to see Greg Ellis in an amazing solo percussion performance at the Pacific Arts Center in Santa Monica. Some quick pen sketches.
Did some really quick pen sketches at a concert by Salif Keita and Ashley Maher with her Big Global Band on the Santa Monica Pier.
Here's a painting I did at lunch time at the Culver Studios.
Top sketch is from outside the Troubadour where I saw the Wood Brothers and Xavier Rudd. Great music and a really nice way to flush out your brain after work! Thanks Sandeep!
Next night I went to the Gig to see Shalini Rehil with her band Blu Soul, Lovely (now called The Throws), and Amit Apte perform. The watercolor sketches are really quick and rough. I decided not to add more later. I just wanted to leave them at what I had finished at the venues.
Check out these streaming videos from the performance, what an awesome idea!
Shalini Rehil
The Throws (formerly Lovely) (featuring a great Neil Finn cover too!)
Amit Apte
Got there too late to see Charissa Nicole, but I can at least the video just like you.
Went to the Festival of Chariots at Venice Beach over the weekend and painted this painting of the main stage another of some dancers.
Went to check out Kristina Wong at the Ford Summer Play Readings. It's very interesting to see how different types of artists work on their pieces. She performed some excerpts from her piece called Wong Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, which was extremely funny! Can't wait to see more. I also saw White Manifesto by Philip Kan Gotanda which was also very well written. It was pretty dark in there, and I was too busy paying attention to do any sketches, but I did manage this one of some musicians in the courtyard.
Also, forgot to post this little sketch from Comic Con in San Diego from the previous weekend. Tired from all the cool art and meeting talented artists all day, I sat down and painted some of the people around me at the Hyatt bar where people flocked after the convention.
This one is dedicated to my little pal Yulli Garcia who helped me finish it. I went to downtown LA, where during summer they have a program with different types of dance over several weeks. Friday was Bhangra night, so of course I was there. A bit tired from work, I sat down and figured I'd do a painting before joining. Once you start one of these things you have to finish it, even if your mind starts to wander. You don't want to rush it and make it look bad either. So I went ahead and decided to be somewhat ambitious. I felt the beat in my body and just painted. About halfway through, I wasn't sure if I could keep my concentration, when I noticed two little eyes watching. You can't get lazy with an audience. Now I really had to make sure the piece turned out right!
So I kept painting, and every now and then I'd falter and little Yulli (soon to be in the fourth grade) knew just the right number of dancers to add. Turns out she's a Salvidor Dali fan and an artist herself. I'd like to dedicate this piece to Yulli and her fine artistic tastes. Thanks!
