Having Fun With Gouache and Ink

 

The last couple of weeks I have been making a series of pen drawings accentuated using gouache and ink. 

Some of these drawings use paper collage in the background.

Both gouache and ink are pretty fluid media, and very responsive to how you handle them. 

Being water soluble makes them easily adaptable, but unlike watercolours, once dry they are permanent. I found both media well-suited for botanical drawings. What do you think of the outcomes?

Making Handmade Journals In Lockdown

 

Since the pandemic is going to be around in some part of the world or the other till the entire population gets vaccinated, random lockdowns are going to be a way of life that we will have to get used to. Those of you wondering why I am rambling about all this on an art post, here's the reason. These frequent and often long spells of lockdown can get extremely frustrating. And no better way of dealing with that than creating things out of the simple, everyday things available at home. For art is healing.... so this post focuses on how to make handmade journals with the limited materials on hand.

Handmade junk journals are called so because they are made out of recycled materials. And there are no rules - you can choose whatever you want to play around with. You can also use your journal for varied purposes - sketching, collaging, gluing pictures, writing, even painting and mixed media artwork. Mini-journals are even better as they are easy to carry around and finish up quickly.

So here's a quick video of mine that shows how an ordinary flyer can be turned into a folding mini-journal. 

In case you don't have flyers, use old newspaper pages folded up twice or thrice to make them sturdy. Just glue everything down and you are good to go. Once your journal base is ready, use paint dabs, printed papers from magazines, and even old book papers to make up the background.

I used this mini-journal (that you see in the video above) for sketching and botanical drawings, some of which you can see below.

By changing your paper folds, you can turn out different kinds of journals. 

The one above and below is an accordion-fold journal I used for painting. It was created out of an elongated strip of card stock, simply by folding it in a zigzag.

The junk journal video in my last post was made from sticking random papers in a folded cardboard cover. Yes, it is that simple and yet the results can be amazing!

Most of all, journaling is a good hobby as it calms the mind, and gives us some very valuable me-time. Find a journaling practice that fits your personality. It is indeed a wonderful way of keeping your mind positively engaged in these pandemic times.

And in case of any queries, feel free to mail me at  creativerumblings@gmail.com or connect with me on Instagram (@creativerumblings) or Facebook. Happy journaling, everyone!

Junk Journal Flip-through

 

Some posts don't need too many words; this is one of them. Presenting a flip-through of my first junk journal that I put together from scratch. 

Suffice to say that working on and with this #junkjournal helped me survive the winter months and the pandemic madness, and helped me stay focussed on the art and away from negativity.

I will share the process of making these junk journals with you in future posts. Hope you enjoy the video.

Pond Herons At Sunset

 

I have been missing from this space for a while but I have been working in the shadows, almost through all of last month. And the results will be out for all to see soon.... there is an exciting announcement coming shortly, maybe later this month.

But for now, here's sharing the latest mixed media piece - a pond heron study I made using paper collage, some cut paper shapes, acrylic paints, and freehand pen drawing.

This piece was inspired after encountering a large bunch of pond herons while walking with the hubby at sunset one evening. That beautiful setting made me want to create an artwork to remember and revisit those moments.

Mixed Media Outings

 

Happy 2021, dear readers! Hope you all had a wonderful start to the new year, and here's wishing you all a healthy year ahead.

Like every other year, my output has been impacted by the season. And my postings have dwindled since last month. I'm taking things slow, catching up on my reading, baking, and other random pursuits.

Meanwhile, here's bringing you a compilation of some mixed media pieces done over the last couple of months.

These were all previously published on my Instagram account. (Follow, follow.... don't wait till tomorrow.)

Most of these pieces are part of a junk journal that I'm currently working on, while the one below was inspired by a picture posted by a friend.

Hopefully I will pick up the pace in this new year, and will soon share more pending projects that I complete later this month.

Owlie Party

 

I have been drawing a lot of owls lately. All of these made their debuts in the last couple of months on my Instagram.

It all started with this paper-collaged fashionable fellow.

Encountering screeching owls flying overhead on our evening walks, only fuelled my imagination more.

And finally, this sleepy owl was made for an Inktober prompt last month.

Hope you like my owlie party as much as I loved creating them! :)

More Journal Snippets

As an artist, I find myself using journals to express myself very often. A journal is like a diary, only more visual. You are already seeing pages from my Nature Journal every month. So thought of sharing a few pages from my Transition Journal that I finished earlier this month.

The above picture is the front cover, and the picture below features an amalgamation of some individual pages along with the back cover.

In these difficult days when our world is in the grip of the pandemic, maintaining a daily/weekly/fortnightly or even monthly journal is a good way to release some pent up stress, sadness and frustration. Try it, dear readers!

Mixed Media Squares

For today's post, we need to go back in time a bit. Let us revisit these previous posts of mine from February 2016 - Faces and Figures, and The Making of a Flower Girl. For a recap, those artworks were made in mixed media using a variety of techniques like stamping, collaging, and finally some intuitive mark making. 

I landed up making quite a few of these 10"x10" mixed media squares, and tucked them away in some corner of my supplies cupboard. Some personal upheavals later that year made me forget about these completely, and I did not post about them here. Till we moved houses and cities last year and I recently rediscovered them while searching for something else. 

Lined up together they looked so pretty that I decided to dedicate a much-deserved post to them finally. So I will not go into the details of the process (for that you can see the previous posts from February 2016), but let you feast your eyes.

Can you identify this singer? My hubby's favourite!

I simply love this cat portrait.

Here is another view of the ladies. They definitely brightened up our lockdown days. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

The Great Chomper

In these last couple of months of lockdown and staying in, one has hardly had any human visitors. Just occasional interaction with the neighbours from a distance.

But one summer day we discovered someone new roaming in the neighbourhood. She came straight towards our giloy plant, plucking off all the fresh leaves at one go. After finishing chomping on the giloy, she made a beeline for the red hibiscus.

And thereby hangs the tale of how this painting was created and named. Our bovine visitor now comes by occasionally, and is always seen chomping on new varieties. Though the giloy remains her favourite.

Home & Safe

Here is the fourth and the last drawing from my illustration series Lockdown Freedom. This series features a creature (my signature bird in this case) who is free from the global lockdown, and leading a life doing what they please.

Even as the lockdown gets extended every few days, it is time to realise our responsibilities and minimize our outdoor adventures. For home is the best place to be; ask our birdie who finds her nest to be the coziest spot on the planet.

Since the lockdown is also about frugal living and using only the basics, this series has been painted using only the primary colours (red, blue and yellow) and their various combinations, along with just black and white.

Hope you all enjoyed this series, conceptualized and executed despite a lockdown. My takeaway from the series has been to turn crisis into something productive; to resolve to clutch on to the positives, inspite of all the negativity coming our way. For in the end, only hope floats!


#lockdownart

Vibrant Vines

I have said this before - inspiration can come from the most unexpected places. To reiterate that sentiment, the artwork I'm sharing here is inspired by bottle gourd vines in my garden! Imagine.... of all the things on the face of this Earth, how can a vegetable growth be an inspiration?!? :D But the vines look so lush, with their rounded leaves and delicate flowers, that I couldn't help capturing them in a sketch.

 

Line drawing on a collaged background, in the style of artist Robert Kushner, one of my favourites on Pinterest.

Remember the cut-up page I mentioned in my last post? This sketch was made on the reverse side of that cut-up page. The top picture shows how the sketch looks against a plain background while the bottom picture shows how the sketch actually looks as a page in my journal.

Dare To Dream

Since the soaring temperatures of last month fried my brains, I just couldn't get any creative work done. :D A couple of downpours later, now I'm back with another spread from my journal.

So this journal includes positive messages and thoughts on each page, that one can go to and derive inspiration from. While I call it my transition journal but it really is a celebration of life itself! And that is exactly what this spread is all about.

It incorporates this lovely idea I came across on Pinterest - of cutting up a page according to the shape of your artwork.

Gives an amazing new edge to the predictable page presentation. Who says all pages need straight edges? :)

The dreamy girl on the left is inspired by a similar visual I saw. I love the effects one can create using a single shade of colour and some simple line work. Isn't it pretty?

I'm prepping for a furniture redo project that is close to my heart and on the lines of this previous project I did. Hope to finish it soon and share with you all.

And in the meanwhile, why don't you tell me what you dare to dream about? Go on, give me your responses pronto! :)

Feathered Friends

This post is totally dedicated to the feathered friends who have been visiting our garden, and keeping us engaged with their antics and birdsong.

Since the days are scorching, we put out a bird bath for our little visitors. That has only added to our joy, and theirs.... as they drink, take dips, and splash around. I can never tire of seeing them, hopping all over and chirping away melodiously, even on the hottest days.

And then they inspire such artwork. Line drawing on collaged background is how I started, but every creative piece takes on a life of its own, and before you know it, one lands up adding other elements. Really like the end result. Hope you do too, dear readers.

So how are you spending the summer? Do remember to put out some water bowls for our feathered friends.

Happy 2019

As another old year winds to a close, here is my mantra for the glittery, shiny, joyous new year that is just round the corner.

Hope I can live by this mantra in the coming months, with hope guiding my path with its light, as I savour each moment of the journey.

Wishing all my readers, followers, friends, and well-wishers a creatively fulfilling 2019, with many new beginnings.

Welcoming Change

Hola there! Hope you all have been doing great, and having fun. All of you who missed me here for the last couple of months, I have some news for you.

Huge changes are lined up (not related to this blog or work), and I need both time and energy to deal with those. So chances are that my appearances here will remain sporadic for the remaining part of this year, and some part of next year.

While I know that I will keep coming back to the creative life for recharging my batteries, but I can't see any major projects underway for a bit. But I'm sure you'll probably get to see some journal pages that I make in the middle of my chaos, as I transition to a calmer and more joyful state.

Hope you all hang in there with me, and keep the creative spirit alive!

Weekend Evenings

I live for the weekend.... well, who doesn't? I love the relaxed, laid-back vibes that a weekend brings, without any tensions of waking up early or following a homework schedule. The clock takes a back seat as each of us indulges in their own favourite pastimes. Painting, crafting and music fills up our home on weekends.

While weekends give us valued family time, they are also ideal to celebrate the journey that we are together on. So many a weekend is spent with a glass of red wine, nibbling on smoked cheese and olives, with some great music playing in the background.

This collage, like its companion Mornings, is made up of handmade paper, teabag paper and newspaper scraps. In fact, as I was putting together this collage, I actually managed to include an old favourite number in the visuals (Hint: It is an English song from the late 60s). Can any of you guess which one it is? :)

 

Lotus Pond Series

Finally I get to bring you my first painting series - 'Life in a Lotus Pond'.... Started in the summer of 2016, this is the first time I attempted a series. What is the big deal in painting a series, you may ask.... Making paintings in a series is just meant to be an opportunity for the artist to show how one can play around with an idea, and bring it to form in different ways, while keeping the essential elements intact.

I had been wanting to paint a lotus pond for a long time but not in your usual realistic style - there were already too many of those out there. So I tried a process of layering and detailing, trying to see if I could make it all work together. I didn't want the painting to look noisy and crowded, but I was a little unsure when I started as I had not done something like this before.

As my lotus flowers progressed, I placed an owl on one of the lotus leaves.... and that is where the idea for the series took off!! I wanted to have images of lotus flowers interspersed with the various creatures that one could find in a pond.

It was meant to be a fun series, and I am so happy that that is exactly how it turned out. And then, within an year, something magical happened! I showed my paintings to a dear client-turned-friend and she immediately picked up the first 2 pieces. Next I knew, she commissioned 2 more! I was on a roll... :D

So while I am juggling some more ideas and will be working on more paintings for this series, right now 4 paintings have already found a new home...

...Even as 3 finished paintings are ready and waiting for a wall.

Do let me know how you feel about this first series of mine. There is also another series waiting in the wings but more about that in a later post. In the meanwhile, if you are keen to commission anything on these lines or pick up the available pieces, write in to me at creativerumblings@gmail.com and we can discuss options.

Monsoon Mornings

Hello July! But what is this....is half the year gone past already. I remember starting summer, and then everything is a blur. Happens to the best of us, I guess, especially when a teen and a pre-teen invade your space all the time! All thanks to the school vacations (exasperated eye roll please).

Anyhow, this month onwards I can reclaim some moments of peace.... And as the skies pour their blessings, my mornings will be enjoyable again.

So here's a mixed media collage that celebrates mornings spent in my garden sipping my favourite morning beverage. Though basically I'm a coffee person but my mornings have to begin with tea! Complicated, no? This was my first attempt at using teabag paper for art. It's a rage globally and works just like fine watercolour paper. Can you recognize where it is placed in the painting? I've also used handmade papers and newsprint to add to the effect.

This collage also reminds me of a sketch I did long back. Isn't it kind of amazing how the same elements crept back into this one too. Perhaps explains how artists tend to repeat their motifs throughout their artistic journey (I'm thinking of Hussain and his iconic horses). Here's looking forward to a creatively satisfying month. Though half my plans never seem to work yet hope is eternal, isn't it? Especially when gorgeous monsoon weather seduces your creative ideas!

Update: Check out the companion collage Evenings.

Going Ahead...

Even as the shortest month draws to its end, I have been struggling to make time for my creative outings. Too many goings-on in my personal sphere including things like house repairs and kids' exams have translated into many incomplete pages in my sketch book, leave alone attempting any larger paintings or projects.

So this month I'll share the one rare completed drawing that I did recently, especially since its message is encouraging in many a situation.

Yes, at times a dash of humour helps us tackle difficult life situations in a better frame of mind. Don't you agree? Well, I surely can't wait to get to better opportunities... And oh yes, I love the cat!  :D

 

April Bouquets

So that special month of the year is here, my birthday month. That calls for celebrations.... and all special occasions deserve some bouquets. Sharing with you these collages of floral bouquets made in the abstract style a few months back.

These flowers are not still life portrayals of real flowers. Rather just a pure play of colours leading to imaginary flower groupings.

An exercise in loosening up, a slapdash style that focussed on negative painting and was fun to try out.

 

So which one should I place on the table on my special day? :)