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!

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.

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.

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 

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.

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! :)

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? :)

On Turning 10

Yes, today is the day when 10 years back I tentatively published my first post on this blog, starting off a magical journey. A journey after my heart...

So here is wishing Creative Rumblings a happy 10th birthday, and many more creative years ahead.

Thank you to all my readers, followers, patrons, clients, friends and well-wishers. This amazing journey would not have been possible without your support.

Virtual cake and champagne, anyone??

Many Hands Make Light Work

Sometimes a random quote can set off your imagination, translating into images and ideas in your head. That is exactly what happened the minute I set my eyes on these words — "Many Hands Make Light Work". I could instantly visualize the quote...

Glad that I could transfer the image in my mind's eye on to paper pretty accurately. In fact, it has turned out better than I anticipated. You may want to zoom the picture to see the vegetable prints that have gone into making up the background layers on the palms. Onion, okra, turnip... they are all in there! :D

And yes, the whole family pitched in on this one, giving me their palm prints. :) That was a fun way to work alright!

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...

 

Woods Poster

Hey there, how is the new year treating everyone? I hope all my dear readers, patrons and friends started 2018 on a creative and adventurous note.

Well, as this is the first post this year, I thought I'd share something that would egg us all on to make the best use of the year ahead.... 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days - that's a lot of time. Let us make it count - accomplish our dreams, live out our desires, and spread some happiness along the way!

This poster features some of my favourite lines by Robert Frost. Hope they resonate with you too. Write to me at creativerumblings@gmail.com if you want a copy of this poster for yourself.

Happy Thanksgiving

India has been making news globally but not always for good things. Earlier this month, the episode of the horrendous Delhi pollution that left us choked and coughing, covered in a blanket of yellow-grey smog, really made me worried about the planet we are leaving behind for the generations to come.

This is not the Earth we inherited.... then why are we ruining and vandalizing it? Do we have no responsibility towards our children; how will they survive when the very air they breathe is poisonous! 

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am grateful for we still have much to be thankful for - the rising sun, the spells of rain, the growing greens, the chirping birds, and everything else that is bestowed upon us by Mother Nature.

Only, we have to learn to respect, preserve and nurture these gifts. Especially in a day and age when our kids are getting pollution holidays....

Hope you liked this gratitude postcard. You can see some of my earlier ones here.

Mini Books for Kids

So 14 Nov is celebrated as Children's Day in India to coincide with our first Prime Minister's birthday (I've written about it here as well). Hence I thought it appropriate to share something prepared by my daughter recently.

She made these mini books totally by hand, after learning from a YouTube video by herself. Even as she made them, she figured out that these would make great autograph books - easy to carry around and just enough space for a signature.

Do let me know at creativerumblings@gmail.com if any of you would like to order these for your kids, or as return gifts or party favours. Sizes, cover designs and paper quality are all customizable as per requirement.

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.