Quake Remembered

One year later, reconstruction and rehabilitation continues. Many are still without homes. Below is a poem my father wrote last year expressing his thoughts about the earthquake. A lot of people from around the world have sent money as well as personally going there to help. Many are still there helping. I didn't go back myself, but I feel fortunate that I am in a position to continue to help financially. Thanks to all those who have not forgotten.
Pakistan MeiN Zalzala

BastiuN ki bastiaaN veeraan ho kay reh gaeeN

Chand lamhoN meiN qayaamat ka samaaN yooN chhaa gia

Her taraf bikhrey yooN beybas bay-karaaN insaan haiN
Aaur hazarooN apney hee ghar meiN dafan khamoshe haiN

Un-ginat masoom bachay khoon meiN luthray hooway
Un-ginat insaaN apahaj jism meiN jhakray hooway

Bhook aur pias kee shiddat saiy murjha-ey hooway
Rooh kaiy dard-o-azzeat saye yooN kumlaey hooway

Baye- saro- samaaN kharey haiN zindagee kay mor par
Mun-tazir haiN baye- basee maiN rah-matey aghyar kay

Aap kay jaz-ba-ey deeN jaz-ba-ey eesar sey
Kuchh madawa ho sakay ga zulmatey adwaar ka

Ejaz.

Grand Ave. Festival and Eagle Rock Musical Festival


Checked out a lot of music today. I wanted to continue the ink and watercolor thing, but my pen just wasn't flowing..so I just switched to watercolor only or I never would have got anything done today. Got to find a proper fountain pen...not the ones with cartridges!

I started at the Grand Ave. Festival. The first two are of MC Rai (who I've raved about before) and his band. The third one is of Dakah Hip Hop Orchestra (you can see some of the mcs, dancers and orchestra members). I didn't get any sketches of Kinky, but they were amazing! I couldn't stop moving long enough to paint! After that, I went to the Eagle Rock Music Fesival and saw two fun bands. The fourth picture is of a band called Restaurant and the last is called the Element Band.

Wednesday 3's and 5's Ink and Watercolor

Here are some watercolor figures. I drew them with ink and then quickly added some watercolor on top. The first one is one of the last ones I painted during today's session. On it, I had started laying down some lines and then stopped. It looked like enough so I finished it with watercolors. This is where I want to go.

Grandfather


Here's a quick pencil sketch, with ink and then a watercolor and ink sketch based off it. It's pretty humbling to start getting somewhere with one way of working, then start on something else and have to go through that whole process again. It's going to take some work to get this going! I need to get this line as loose as the quick watercolors and yet retain facial features etc.

Malang



Here are some sketches based off a single photo. I've been working on watercolor figures, painted from life for a bit now. Now I want to roll this back into what I did before and move ahead. This is more line than what I want, but it'll take a bit to get there. The top two were drawn directly with ink then painted. The bottom two were painted with watercolor and then line was added. I'm also experimenting with the way I caricature the face and body. The second one on the top is my favorite.

Wednesday Figure Drawing




The model came a bit late, so I started with a sketch of the benches, then two volunteer "models" (fellow artists), and then all the rest are of the model. I actually find that I like these sketches more a few hours after making them rather than right away. I think it's time to pick up some more art supplies..see where I can take this!

Sketchcrawl Pasadena



Alina organized a sketchcrawl in Pasadena today. I got to see a bunch of friends I hadn't seen in a while, as well as some great friends from work and I met many dly new artists. Here are some watercolors. The first is of the Pasadena City Hall Building, and the others are of people hanging out in an outdoor mall courtyard.

Mohini and Vivek


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...

Blue13 Karishma


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!

Hooray for Bollywood




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.