Nov 29, 2009

Group pic!

A sketch I had made eons ago for my friends..sadly it went into the never ending pile of 'personal projects that never got done!'

Forgive me if you are unrecognizable!
My caricature/portrait skills are iffy at best! (Thats why there are names! :P)

Reminiscence..

Talking to a lot of old friends today made me realise a lot of things.
Firstly- I got so busy talking on skype with 2 people while simultaneously talking to 3 other people in 3 differnt messengers, that i did not do any work at all! :P
2ndly- That sometimes friends hold much more value than we give them credit for. Especially old friends! these are the people who knew you for years, who studied with you everyday, who got to know you even when you didn't want to be known. After all the times, trying as well as the good ones, it is quite a friendship that has resulted. These friends, who despite you being a lazy ass, make the effort to call and talk at least once a week, who make the effort to get to know the new friends you have made at this new place.. these are the friends worth having.  And these are the friends who grow closer with distance, and yes absence makes the heart grow fonder, just as it makes the heart sometimes forget easier.
I really need to be less of a lazy bum and write more, call more, make a leetle bit of an effort and be a better friend!
Miss you all back in Bombay!

Nov 27, 2009

Crossing Chickens!

A board game developed for the same illustration project..
Based on Snakes and Ladders, with a little difference!
the chicken crosses the bridge to go UP, and slides down a slide, when it comes Down!

(BTW it can be actually played, just get some dice and playing pieces!)

Nov 26, 2009

Why did the Chicken Cross the Road???

One of Life's unanswered questions that continues to plague mankind... one that has thousands of answers yet not one single one that can be termed as the right one..

My attempt at answering this age-old question with a few illustrations..

This was my Final Year Illustration project, a book titled 'Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?' with as many answers as I could find from the various sources, online or otherwise.


Some of the pages follow..
 I hate it when the Title gives away the Plot!


To cross or not to cross, That is the question.



And God came down from the heavens, and said unto the chicken, "Thou shalt cross the road" and the waters parted and the chicken crossed the road.



She was reacting to a traumatic incident in her childhood which she will now share with us in detail.



Newton- For that one chicken crossing there is an equal and opposite crossing happening simultaneously.
Did the chicken cross the road,
Did he cross it with a toad?
Yes the chicken crossed the road,
But why he crossed I've not been told.



Donot concern yourself with the chicken that crossed the road, the answer lies with the chicken that did not cross the road.

To go boldly where no chicken has gone before.



I came, I saw, I crossed!

That's all for this time around folks!


This and that..

Human nature is so funny.. no wait, it can't be called funny, maybe interesting is a better word. You really have no idea what to expect sometimes.. not from others, not from yourself.
HUmans themselves are such fickle creatures, they change like a chameleon's colours, and often what is on the surface is exactly what is not real!
Everyday throws something unexpected at you, and sometimes, even if you had planned for it in some long ago time, you don't react they way you expected to. Sometimes its difficult to even explain your reaction. Are you happy? sad? confused? that is a word I seem to rely on a lot. nowadays. When its difficult to explain, even to yourself what exactly you feel like that particular day.. happy, sad, depressed, irritated? What when it is all that, and yet none exactly?
And when someone inspires some strong emotion in you.. be it love, hate, anger.. expressing it sometimes is not an option, for whatever reasons..whether it is for your own reasons, for someone who is close to you, or just because its not the right thing to do.
Life seems to be filled with such moments daily.. and there are always endless more thought provoking sessions.

Daily doodle!

In the BMW once more.. I really need to get out somewhere else!! :P
People



That famous green NID bus in its usual spot! I love the colour!

Supah-Man!

Yes! I confess! I like Superman! The movies, the comics.. I watch Smallville too!

A sketch inspired by a question in my class on why I actually like Superman.. maybe its just that lock of hair which falls so beautifully on his forehead? (yes, it does look quite nice, especially in the movies!)

Nov 24, 2009

Happy Birthday Sonali!

A birthday comes and the first thought that crosses the mind is, 'What do I give her?'
Well I had to scratch the grey cells for this one, but finally inspiration came from the subject herself, and her love for sleeping!
Sonali will nap even if she gets 5 minutes free, and she is a pain to awaken, as she never actually awakens when u try to wake her!
A comedic take on a surprise b'day party gone awry. Imagine if she never woke and realized that you had come to wish her? And thus this mini-comic was born...
Hand drawn in a notebook, then photocopied and watercolored before the tearing out and sticking on colored paper and shaped into a book.








Sarkhej sketches

The doodling done when at Sarkhej for the Heritage week celebration.
Waiting for the performances to begin...






Study of the Architecture...


Finally they begin.. Introductory speeches!


The performance begins..


Parvati Baul


Jodhpur musicians


Sikh musicians


Random doodles


Some sketches at the BMW, Mess during dinner, and a few from class...
Sketching at dinner...






In class once again:



Nov 23, 2009

Heritage Week celebration




Sarkhej at night, such a beautiful sight I didn't expect to see.
Lit up by lights galore, some electric and others with a rosy glow,
Music to soothe the spirit or lift you up in the moment,
and the chilly night, sprinkled with twinkling stars,
'twas a night to remember.

World heritage week being celebrated in Ahemdabad as well led to us managing a trip to Sarkhej to attend a concert with Sikh musicians, Baul singers and Rajasthani songs.
A cold night with pigeons providing background score to the music, with good company, and a sketchbook, was a wonderful experience! A future concert has been announced for next month 18th and 19th, and I'm all ready for it already!

A few photos, and sketches to be scanned will follow..

The lamps all over the place, floating candles in a chai glass, kept on rose petals!


Flood lights illuminating the structure, and the pigeons!






Nov 22, 2009

Old comic: Markandeya

Since we are discussing so many comics, and am going to be involved with making some more for another 5 weeks, I thought this would be a good time to review the comic I had made last year as an assignment in JJ for illustration class.
It was a comic on Markandeya. and had a lot more text than visuals, and communicated purely with the words rather than the image.
Anyway I thought it was a good idea to look at it to see how much I have improved! :)







(Yes there are many goofs in it, was a very last minute colouring job, and Yamraj is quite hilarious! And the many shortcuts I have taken are also visible, the repeated Markandeya's, the lousy panels, lack of gutter space etc.)

Nov 21, 2009

Selfish people, selfish me.

Having had a heated discussion with a friend has resulted in a lot of thinking once again.
It probably happens when a person doesn't debate or argue, but rather almost tries to shove their opinions down the other's throat. But I'm not here to criticise that person, but just my take on their views.

Indians should be more selfish, and think about their own priorities more.
Well, that is the topic for debate today!
Let me state the arguments:
Indians give priority to most things except themselves, they should be more like the westerners and be a little selfish and think about themselves more and others less.

But let me point out my objection to this.
Forget the fact about Indian or Western, forget whether it is a man or woman, or anyother restrictions you could impose. Just think about each individual, with their own unique thoughts, personality, vision, mindset and so on.
If each of these individuals inhabiting this earth were to think and act out of completely selfish reasons, for their own personal gain, would it not affect at least one other individual that had nothing to do with this person?
We each donot live in a bubble of our own, each and everything we do has some repurcussion on the lives of somebody else, intentionally or unintentionally.
If each one were to act in their own 'selfish' way, and never consider anything or anybody else, how would we survive as a society? What is that which makes us different because we as humans can think? The fact that we need to think of such things! Otherwise we could just be like animals and only the survival of the fittest would continue.
But the very fact that we have established a society, where many different individuals co-exist proves that we have the insight to look to the future, think where our actions may take us, and make the necesary adjusments, or compromises to live together.

More arguments! That we pander too much to others, and at every point of our lives there is someone we try to please, appease, impress, or satisfy, be it parents, family, friends, peers, collegues, teachers, or even society.
This may be true. I am not saying that it is completely right to subject oneself to the constraints imposed by all other factors all the time. But there is also that immeasurable quantity, emotion.
Do we not love our family? So if it means coming home a little early, or making a phone call once in a while, does it not justify the pleasure of seeing them happy? Does a parent not love their child? Is it not that emotion which makes them give up so much of their happiness for their offspring? The compromises my own paretns have made for my brother and me make this clear to me, and if it were me, I hope I would have been strong enough to take the same decisions.
If you profess to love someone, would you not take their feelings into consideration? If that person say, does not share your feelings, would you still try to change their mind? Of course yes! But at the risk of losing them entirely? Does their opinion not count for anything? Do their values stand for nothing? How much of yourself can you impose on them? The last factor to consider.. what if they are completely opposite to you in every way? would you go to the extent of trying to change the person they are to be with them? Then in my opinion, that is not love or even affection, but some mindless desire to be with that person because of your perception of them being somehtign they are not.

So many questions.. none that can be answered with a single statement, none that will be accepted by everyone. That itself shows us the difference in each and every person in society, and the fact that we should at least accept that there are other opinions out there which matter, other than your own, and that we all may or may not be right.
I may meet a person tomorrow who may share completely opposite views to my own, and I accept, I may not be right at all, and all my theories may be thrown out of the window, but they still exist, as much as your do.

Nov 19, 2009

Comix: the sequel

The 2nd day was as much a flop as the first day was succesful..
We had to basically explore panels, spacing, gutter, angles and so on with a simple action.
My interpretation of the action had the action (Vibration of  Cell phone), as a thing which caused an entirely unrelated story to happen, involving two characters and a chess game.
Anyway let me post the pictures before I give the game away..
(I have discovered that I just cannot, repeat cannot draw chess pieces without breaking my head against a wall!)

Synopsis:
Two old men are playing a game of chess, one looks a little khadus, or mean, while the other seems a simple enough person.
the first person is reaching for a piece to make his move with a trembling hand when suddenly the table starts shaking.
He panics and thinks, Earthquake!
The next set of panels show that as the bald man gets increasingly peturbed, the other seems very calm.
Finally the vibration is revealed to be the buzz of the other man's phone which he them calmly answers.

Reviews, comments and criticisms welcome!

People

Well, here are some examples of what I really do when class is going on..
Sketches of 5 of my classmates..
the rest will come next time.. need to spend more time in class to draw them .. :P
There is Sudhakar, Gunjan, Anirban, Sonali and moi.
(So technically, that just 4 of my classmates)

Doo the doodle!

Comic book class:
Some random doodles

Flop Show comics: TM

This is where the blog starts to go downhill.. and keeps going that way..
Having been inspired by my classmate Gunjan, and of course all the comic book exposure, has led me to believe (mistakenly), that I too can be funny, draw little comic strips, and make people laugh.
Now, though I know in the light of day (or rather in the dead of night) that I am not as funny as I thought I was, sleep deprivation causes me to launch this fantastic new venture anyway..
I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, and the regular 'ole guys and gals out there, Flop Show Comics (TM)!
Yes, this is where you can see the worst of the worst, the most terrible drawings of Sekhar, (the co-ordinator), my poor over-drawn classmates, and the fresh meat delivered daily with some of Sekhar's jokes, and some of mine.
Lets begin, with the unveiling of the logo!

and show how the process began..

The contributing factors, including random points heard in class...

And Finally, preparing for the first issue!

and then proceed to the very first bad joke..



(Its an inside joke, so this excuses you from not being able to understand!)

Next,





Don't worry.. There might be more on the way.. after all, I have just begin...