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!

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! :)

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!

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.

The Blue Lotus

Sharing a quick pen-and-ink wash, finished over an afternoon, as my first offering of the new year.

Hope my work is able to override predictable patterns and defined boundaries this year.

So how is the new year treating you all? :)

Indian Summer Series

As the cuckoos return to herald summer, enchanting us with their dulcet calls, here is bringing you my second series of paintings.... inspired by and named after, the Indian Summer.

This series celebrates the associations I have made with the summer season over the years - a riot of red gulmohars, competing with the bright yellow of perfumed laburnums; a flurry of activity amongst all our avian friends as they woo their mates, build new nests, and raise a brood; occasional dark clouds overhead as sudden gusts of wind bring in some much needed rain to soak the parched earth. These are the images I have tried to capture in this series.

My daily walks in the park made me observe the little details - like the cuckoos and crows chasing each other all over during the nesting season, the sudden appearance of the grey hornbills as their shrill calls caught our attention. Since all these activities came alive right before my eyes, so naturally they flowed out on to my artwork.

The series is still a work-in-progress, as I add more pieces to the story. However, since my pace is slow, I thought of sharing the outcomes midway.

Right now I'm finishing up the cuckoos and gulmohars, and plan to move to the hornbills and laburnums. So do keep checking back for the updated artworks.

By God's grace, two of my pieces from the series are already adorning a dear client's walls.

In sharing this series with you, I am also celebrating another achievement - of marking 10 years of this blog - a huge personal milestone for me. When I tentatively started writing Creative Rumblings, it was only meant to be an online journal of the teeny-weeny arty efforts I made around the house. But it is with nothing less than amazement that I see how it has grown over all these years.... Not only has it turned me into an artist, but it has given me the wings and the confidence to display, showcase, and sell my artwork.

So a big Thank You to all my readers, followers, and well-wishers. Your encouragement has brought me this far, and I know your good wishes will take me further. If anything from the Indian Summer series interests you, or you would like to commission something special, write to me at  creativerumblings@gmail.com and we can work up some magic together!

Avian Tales - Part 3

Remember my earlier posts on how the birds around me were getting me to whip up these little rhymes on them? You can read those posts here and here. Well, here comes more of the same...

Only this time the focus is on these creatures we discovered in our local park a few years back, and totally fell in love with. We have managed to follow their annual rituals (read hibernation and welcoming newborns), zeroed in on their favourite perches, and known how to spot them amidst dense foliage because of our sheer joy on seeing their antics.

So presenting to you all the owlie family :)

Sitting on a tree
Wild and free
We spotted these 3


Stopping by to rest
We glanced at their nest
And Junior said,
"My daddy strongest!"









Hope to bring you more tales on these feathery fellows in the coming months. 

#aviantales

Hollyhocks

As the mercury slowly climbs and spring melts into summer soon, here's my attempt at capturing some blooms for posterity.

Hollyhocks stand bright and upright in our neighborhood park, their pretty faces bobbing in the mellow breeze.

My garden is also a riot of colours before the summer heat dries everything up. Enjoy spring while it lasts...

 

Birds Don't Need Trains

Didn't I tell you I was besotted by birds? Well, here is some more avian love... My little birdie poem has been prompted by the very interesting materials that went into making the background of these mixed media pieces. Can you guess what all is in there? Read on to discover....





Birds don't need trains
Only wings
Somewhat like planes....
But birds are living things!



They choose and decide
Where to fly
And don't need schedules
Or maps to go by...










Well, the lovely background includes train schedules printed in the daily newspaper, bits of a world map from somewhere, tea-stained scrunched tissue papers, and some regular handmade paper torn from an invite.

#aviantales

Avian Tales - Part 1

For some inexplicable reason I'm besotted by birds and can't help drawing them endlessly. Here are some of my birdies, with their stories to boot. Hope you enjoy these....

Since I am

A thorough gentleman,

I will always carry

Flowers for my beloved.

A baby magpie

Came home one night

And slept in a shoe box

Till next morning

When it learnt to fly

And reunited with its folks.

#aviantales

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? :)

 

Magical Mushrooms

With widespread rains finally lashing the city yesterday, here is the perfect drawing to celebrate the season. Toadstools or mushrooms crop up every monsoon after a spell of showers, adding some drama to our daily walk in the park.

Pity these pretty things don't last more than a day, unless they are the large variety that grow next to trees, like the ones in the picture below.

Over the years I have collected some of these dried-up mushrooms from my walks. They now liven up my terrace garden as props for the plants.

 

Birdie Drawings

When you are open to the beauty in your surroundings, you can see magic in the smallest of things.

My bird drawings come from that place of magic and beauty.

Can you identify any of the birds? And which one is your fav?
 

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.

Blue Elephants and Pink Whales

Few days back while browsing through Facebook, I came across these lines (you can read them on the left of the collage below). Fabulous expression of how we should let the inner child take over when we are working with colours.

Just reading those words made me want to work with more freedom, without a care about rules. And I simply love the outcomes! ❤💕

These bright, eye-catching drawings will look perfect in a kid's room or a play den. If you are looking for such artwork, write in to me at creativerumblings@gmail.com to discuss options.

So what is stopping you from finding red bears in purple forests? ☺

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.

May Lilies

The month of May is always marked by a bunch of these yellow lilies brightening up the garden. But the sweltering heat this year has ensured that there are still no signs of any blossoms. Though lilies do well in hot and dry conditions, but Delhi summers can get to be a bit too much even for these gorgeous blooms.... As the skies sport an occasional cloud cover, hope the May lilies oblige us this year as well in the coming weeks.

From an arty perspective, I am having great fun with my backgrounds these days, using a variety of media to create effects. What do you think of this new stylised background?
 

Seedpods

As a short spring rapidly turned into summer, the seasonal flowering plants in my garden began to dry up. Pottering around the garden cleaning up one morning, I landed up gathering seeds from the plants and marvelling at the various kinds of seedpods in my palms. That led to documenting some of them for posterity.

Pretty happy with the way the seedpod drawings have turned out.... though I did take some liberties with the colouring shades. Can you identify any of them, as in which plants they come from?

 

Botanical Drawings

Lately I am leaning a lot towards botanical drawings. Given the paucity of time for my creative endeavours, these are quick, relatively easy to make and satisfy my creative cravings.

However some get long-drawn in their completion - like these flowering aloe vera.

Scraggly, thorny, unkempt aloe bushes on my neighbour's terrace suddenly sprouted these dainty long stems and bright red flowers, heralding the end of winter and the coming of spring. Sights like these reaffirm that faint flicker of hope and faith in the human heart. Which is why I named it Rise....