Folksy Figures

These last few months I have been trying out a new style of work inspired by European folk art, with a focus on the figurative. This style is reminiscent of the many picture-laden books that formed my childhood library collection, and adapts well to storytelling.

Artist at work 

 

Painting and collage elements come together to create this mixed media style. It allows me to let my imagination take me places, as I introduce or remove elements as per my whims and fancy.

Amidst the cherry blossoms 

I am enjoying the freedom that comes with this style of painting, and looking forward to creating more pieces.

New Series: Conversations

 

Bringing you this month my new ongoing series titled 'Conversations'. Set amidst urbanized nature, this series explores our interactions with our natural surroundings, and with other creatures of the planet. It presents my perspective on how the urban and the natural can harmoniously coexist.

Conversations - 1

This ongoing series is deeply inspired by real-life experiences. The first painting is an ode to our evening tea sessions on the terrace, where amidst the solidity of the surrounding trees and the fragility of the potted blooms, we interacted not only amidst ourselves but also with many feathered friends.

Conversations - 2

The second painting takes the interaction with the avian world a step further, focussing on a one-on-one conversation.

Both these paintings are acrylics on paper, and sized 11" x 7". Do write in at creativerumblings@gmail.com in case you wish to purchase or commission a painting.

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.

Nature Journal 2020: November-December

 

January often gets to see some spillover projects from the previous year, and this year is no different. The Nature Journal 2020 project that I started last year, is finally complete. Here's a glimpse of the double spread for November-December.

November-December pages

Also, here's a quick look at the front and back covers of the Nature Journal 2020.

The front and back covers

That brings another year of nature journaling to a close. The next one will now happen in 2025! That seems so far away.... Meanwhile, hope you all enjoyed this edition. 

Click on the 'nature journal' label in the right scroll bar to see all the journal pages together (both this edition and the previous one). You can see a flip-through of Nature Journal 2020 on my Instagram.

#naturejournal2020

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! :)

Hair-Raising Tales: Part 2

 

Remember the Hair-Raising Tales I posted in September? Illustrations inspired by my daughter's crazy wild hair that drew a lot of laughs! Well, the hair-raising tales are back on popular demand. This time I was inspired by lockdown hair.

Yes, that time in our lives when the salons were closed, and our hair grew and grew.... totally wild and free. Here's presenting a couple of hair-dos that many of you may identify with. Only that I added my own funny spin to them.

Presenting the bun-cushion.... when there is so much hair on our heads that our beehive buns could double up as a cushion!

And this second drawing represents jungalow hair.... so much hair that it is as dense as a jungle out there! 

Hope you enjoy these illustrations as much as you enjoyed the last batch of hair-raising tales.

Nature Journal 2020: October

 

Since the Inktober challenge (see my last post) and other random things kept me occupied through last month, I had to put together the Nature Journal page for October in a rush at the end of the month.

October is the changeover season, when the summer staples are on their way out and winter seasonals are planted. In the midst of this, Shiuli or night-flowering jasmine stands out as the autumn staple.

I'm planning to do a double spread for the November-December pages of the Nature Journal. Let's see how that works out!

#naturejournal2020

Inktober Impressions

 

Hey, readers! So how many of you are Inktober fans here? Well, it was something I had been hearing about for a long time but finally this year I decided to participate in the fun!

To give you some background, Inktober is a month-long drawing challenge started by American artist Jake Parker way back in 2009. It involves making drawings using ink as per a prompt list posted at the beginning of October every year. Now there are many different versions of this challenge floating around Instagram, each with their own set of prompts and hashtags.

So here's presenting you all a peep into my Inktober grid. Though I joined in late (after over half the month had passed), I really enjoyed working on some of the prompts. The above grid shows my drawings based on sleep, table setting, and pomegranates (left to right) while the grid below displays my illustrations for gourds and mushrooms (top to bottom).

Meanwhile, those of you who are still not following Creative Rumblings on Instagram are missing out on some good stuff. I'm sharing more stories out there and posting more often, while the blog only gets to see a delayed compilation. So hope to catch you on Instagram!

Nature Journal 2020: August-September

Since I was in mosaic heaven last month, the August page of the Nature Journal got delayed. Then I decided it would be better to present the two months together as the layout worked nicer that way. So here's bringing you the August-September pages of Nature Journal 2020. 

Hope you enjoy the double spread of natural snippets. As I lose myself in my green wonderland to converse with my many non-human friends. :) 

#naturejournal2020

Hair-Raising Tales: Part 1

Let me declare right at the outset that this post is dedicated to the darling daughter. For this is her special month.

But more importantly, she and her crazy wild hair, have been the inspiration behind each of the hair-related illustrations that I came up with. 

This is one post a lot of women should identify with. Especially since we all are familiar with bad hair days, and how they affect our moods. 

Heck, one can hold bad-hair episodes directly responsible for all our off-colour, grumpy days! :D

Hope you enjoy these illustrations. Do let me know which ones are your favourite.

Update: See Hair-Raising Tales: Part 2 

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!

Nature Journal 2020: July

Sharing with you all the July page of the Nature Journal 2020. The lack of rains in our part of the world for the first half of the month led to extremely hot and humid days. Thankfully, the rains arrived towards the end of July. 

However, this pattern of intense heat followed by equally intense downpours points to a greater issue, namely the impact of climate change. I believe it is surely creeping in upon us, and the pandemic is just one fallout of the same. What are your thoughts on this, dear readers?

#naturejournal2020

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.

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

Valentine Heart Inchies

Since February is the month of love, I had to post a Valentine special!

So here's a glimpse of the challenge I set up.... To fill up an entire page with little heart inchies, thinking up myriad ways of representation using the ❤️ symbol. Now if that doesn't spell love!

I had a whole lot of fun doing this challenge, and got ideas from the kiddos to help me along. The aim is not to repeat patterns or colour schemes. Go on, try it out yourself with your Valentine and loved ones.

Abstract Portraits

Even though we are well into January, thought I must begin the new year with something special. So here is wishing my readers and followers a wonderful new year and a fulfilling new decade as we start off with 2020. And these wishes come from my family to yours....

Attempted these abstract portraits of the fam; tried to depict some typical individual characteristics in all of them. Hope I have been able to bring those out...

And now that it is 2020, there is yet another project I need to work on - the revival of the Nature Journal. You may remember the month-wise nature journal I created 5 years back in 2015. You can click on the 'nature journal' label to see all related posts. Back then, I had planned to redo the exercise in 2020, simply to capture some interactions with the natural world every month. Over a period of time, these pictorial notes give us a sense of seasonal associations, and point towards changes in patterns that we observe around us. Thereby giving a forecast for bigger changes...