What? That's not a sketch...






...yeah I know. I want to work on my photography skills too. I bought a video camera as well as a new still camera, so I really want to get the hang of them. So, to that end, here are some attempts. Thanks to my talented pal Chris for some tips, and hangin' out at the Arboretum with me a couple weeks ago, and my friend Ammar for introducing me to his funky claw tripod months ago. After struggling to get that last shot without using a flash (my hands just aren't still enough for long exposures, so I finally rested it against a pole), I picked up that a funky claw tripod (not the actual name) up today for future use. As usual, feedback, tips appreciated and feel free to join on the next adventure! There's more on my flickr page.

Figure Drawing




This weeks figure drawing session was very productive. I remixed a lot of my colors. Several of them are much more opaque because I mixed white acrylics with watercolors. These are 3's, 5's and a few 8 minute sketches.

Not too late...

"The creation of the new state has placed a tremendous responsibility on the the citizens of Pakistan. It gives them an opportunity to demonstrate to the world how a nation containing many elements can live in peace and amity and work for the betterment of all its citizens irrespective of caste or creed. Our object should be peace within, and peace without. We want to live peacefully and maintain cordial friendly relations with our immediate neighbours and with the world at large." -Jinnah
Happy 60th!

Rock the Bells San Bernadino



I went to Rock the Bells, an amazing hip hop show in San Bernadino. The lineup was amazing. Out of all the performers, I managed sketches of Mos Def, a member of the Roots, Cypress Hill (all in the second last set), Public Enemy (third set of sketches) and Rage Against the Machine (first two sets). Public Enemy and Rage Against the Machine were by far the most amazing performances. These two are Hip Hop with content and not the usual ego stroking nonsense. Rage's set was up there with the most intense and amazing performances of any band I have ever seen. The lineup went on far beyond the few acts I managed to sketch. I was pretty far from the stage, so the sketches are kind of quick and vague. By the time Rage went on, people had jumped the gates and poured into the isles, creating a mosh pit about 6 seats away from where I sat. We ended up balancing on folding chairs, to see the stage..and that's how I sketched them. Couldn't let a little madness keep me from that.
This song says it all:

Venice Sketchcrawl and Festival of Chariots



I went to the sketchcrawl that Alina put together at Venice Beach. It's always fun to hang out and draw with fellow artists. I can think of few places around LA with as many interesting things/people to draw as Venice Beach. I started off by sketching a girl at the cafe, then on to the Festival of Chariots which happened to be today as well. I drew various performers, including these very talented young dancers.

M.I.A. at the EchoPlex

Went to a fun show by M.I.A. on Tuesday at the EchoPlex. It took us 6-7 hrs to get in, and the show was really short, but it was great! Hopefully next time she'll perform at a bigger venue and for longer. It was pretty dark, and I could only see a bit over the crowd, but I did manage a few sketches. Special thanks to the kind waitress for her encouragment!

Wednesday Figures




This weeks figure drawings are a mix of 2, 5 and 1 minute (second panel) sketches. For most of the 2 minute sketches, I added a few watercolor washes after the fact, so they are more like 3 and a half minutes. Some started with pencil, most are straight watercolors.

Santa Monica to Malibu

So, I walked along the ocean today, from Santa Monica, to Malibu and back. It feels good to feel physically tired from actually doing something physical, instead of from sitting at a desk all day. Here's a quick sketch I had to do to try and redeem myself for a sketch that turned out really bad on Friday night (well, this one is at least better than that one!). Also, check out my new website at http://www.madguru.net/. As I try and develop some web and graphic design skills, I'll play around with it some more and try to have some more fun with it. For now, it's functional.

Wednesday Figures





Here are some 3 minute figure drawings. This time around I put down pencils first and then added watercolor on top. For some of these, I just had pencil lines and a few watercolor strokes when the session ended, so I finished painting those ones later on (an hence took longer than 3 minutes). The top ones were the last ones of the session. I ran out of papers, and just painted on the cardboard from the pad. I'm trying to work on some structure. I hope that after a while I can start to intelligently mess with the anatomy. Working on that intelligence part...

Cheb i Sabbah, Riffat Sultana, Taal, Gingger Shankar, Atini Bauseh, Satnam Ramgotra and more at the Levitt Pavilion


Went to see Cheb i Sabbah, Riffat Sultana, Taal, Gingger Shankar, Atini Bauseh, Satnam Ramgotra and more at a free show at the Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena. It's been a few weeks since I mustered up the energy to go out after work, so this was a lot of fun! I was very tired, but I did managee a sketch of Cheb i Sabbah and one of the Atini Bauseh dancers. If only I had the energy to paint more of the performers. Oh well, next time. Just felt good to even do this much!

Wednesday Figures


This weeks sessions was super short. I was only there for a little bit, before work pulled me back in, but I managed to get some sketches in. I sketched these out with pencil and then continued with watercolor all in 3 to 5 minutes each. I dunno why I messed up the shoulder blade in the first figure on the second image..oh well.

Wednesday Figure Drawing



Hmmm...I wish I could draw every day...I could sure use the practice. Here are this weeks figure drawings. Gold and green ink with watercolors. I think I could benefit from some pencils and watercolors next week. It's time to start working on exaggeration without quite as much abstraction. After this work project ends, I've got to do at least three times as much drawing with a concentrated effort to improve.

Wednesday Figures




It's always good to come home and realize that there is actually something good in the drawings you did earlier that day. Often when I do them, it's hard to see that. I guess it's because I'm always thinking about what I want them to be...always reaching for it, never quite getting there. I suppose it doesn't help that the artists I look to for inspiration are so unbelievably good.

Save Vinay Marrow Donor Registration at the Red Wood and Amu



I went to a very special event at a bar called the Red Wood in downtown LA. It was a marrow donor registration drive to get more South Asians registered to help the many South Asians who have a 1 in 20,000 chance of finding a matching donor. Specifically, this event was for Vinay who has only a few weeks left in which time he needs to find a match. Please visit his site to learn more. Also, please register to become a potential marrow donor. I did so a while back. It's pretty simple. You fill out a few forms, give them some samples by swabbing the inside of your mouth and that's it. Minority races in particular have a really hard time finding matches, and the best way to help, is to register yourself. Please spread the word and check out the links in this post for further information. This is a very urgent need, in order to save lives. There are many drives coming up and you can arrange your own marrow drive as well.

I did a few sketches of the musicians who donated their time to support this effort. First were Anand Subramanian and Arthi Meera. I got a chance to draw their debut performance as Fair and Kind. I also drew two members of Karmacy as well as Ananda Sen and Sim Grewall. I didn't manage to sketch DJ Yashraj and a few other accompanying musicians this time around.

Earlier in the day I caught a screening of Shonali Bosi's film Amu. Without giving the story away, it follows a young Indian woman from Los Angeles' journey back to New Delhi, India, and what she learns about herself and the 1984 massacre of Sikhs. It shines a light on a horrible crime that has gone unpunished, and hopefully people won't be blind to the parallels in so many other incidents in every country.

I think she did an amazing job of taking us through Amu's self discovery and really presenting a story that explores many aspects of a very complex issue (not only the 1984 massacre, but people's reactions towards such incidents). It was not heavy handed or overly dramatized. It touched me very deeply, and expressed so many ideas in a way that I felt, instead of telling me what to think. Anyway, go check it out!

Black Crowes, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and

I went to see the at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood for "Guitar Center's King of the Blues Grand Finals." The grand finalists were amazing as were the headliners. Here are some sketches of Hubert Sumlin, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and the Black Crowes. The sketches didn't turn out so great. I was pretty tired, but what an amazing show! I try to draw even when I'm a bit out of it, because, well these days I'm almost always a bit out of it, and I really want to get better...btw the Crowes site is really cool.