Project Nature: Update

Nature Project


As you know, for the research of the Nature project I have been doing most of the following:

• Visiting the parks, farms, and zoos.
• Plein- air studies - rough sketches and drawings
• Taking photographs of the flowers, fauna, hills, animals - everything around us.
• Saving pictures from the 'net and securing permission from the photographers.

I am happy to post that my recent trips resulted in some creative ideas and fun sub-projects. I got to learn some amazing facts about the wildlife and get a curious insight into the lives of domestic animals.

About Myself

Growing up in a hilly and untouristy part of  Himalayas sowed the seeds of  affection for wildlife and especially animals. Hours long walks through the forest followed by the climbing up the hill just to reach the school, seemed like a daily picnic that could beat any of those modern day hikings.

I never realized those unsupervised hide-and-seek sessions in the forests would lead to a life of  independence, curiosity, and decision making.

Just going with the flow was the  only way of life. And that encouraged us to lead simple lives, enjoy even simpler things in life, and securing many years of great health and tension-free lifestyle that we have now come to recognize and appreciate.

Later in life, this spontaneity transformed into greater respect for the nature as I grew up. The fascination that once educated and entertained, later, turned into focus of reverence.


About Nature Series

As life coaches you to choose better as you get older, this decision to bring the nature into the center stage of the creative process, seemed justified.

But as I explore, I am further humbled by her magnificence. Its huge. Its beautiful, Its generous. Its everywhere. Its overwhelming generosity presents many questions including the most important one:

Where to begin from?

Let me start with the sense of gratitude. I am thankful for everything Mother Nature has gifted us with. This abundance should be our cue. Take only as much as you can return back with interest. And then go with it.

More on it as it comes...

Come Join Me: New Project Nature

I am working on the latest art series themed Nature.  In this series plan is to create a number of artworks that will give a glimpse of the offerings of nature.
Paintings will range from flowers to landscapes, abstract interpretation to realistic animal portraits and everything in between.
Once finished, it will be submitted for public viewing, publishing, and sale.


Timeline

The painting will begin asap and the series will end by June, 2015.

The preparation of the work involves following:

• Visiting the parks, farms, and zoos.
• Plein- air studies - rough sketches and drawings
• Taking photographs of the flowers, fauna, hills, animals - everything around us.
• Saving pictures from the 'net and securing permission from the photographers.
 

You are Invited

Please come  join me in this project.  If you have any ideas or photos that you would like me to paint, please feel free to contact me. I will be very happy to discuss it with you in my studio, online or over the phone.

You can share your pictures.  You will receive the photo credit.
Also, I will post the cross reference to your blog or a social media shout-out, whichever you prefer.
Any details about the image will help adding more dimension to the work. So, please feel free to elaborate on what, where, and why about the image.

You can share pictures taken by others as well. If sharing pictures for which you are not the photographer, please make sure you photocredit the person and secure the permission for the use of the images.



What kind of images will work best?

• Exotic animals, flowers, fruits, especially those I don't have access to photograph myself
• Natural scenery - interesting compositions, colors, water, unusual angles 
• Your own pets 
• Anything that you think can relate to beauty of nature

Contact Information


You can leave a comment here, or on facebook or linkedin.
You can also email me at bhavna.misra@gmail.com with Nature in the subject line.

I would look forward to hear from you!

Hand Lettering, Language, and Art

 Dream Big!

Growing up, like most kids, I would doodle and draw all the time. The margins of the notebooks were filled with smiling faces, bright eyes, random shapes, spirals, cubes, and figures. Expressing through arts, as they call it, was a happy outlet.

It definitely helped me focus better and think clearly. Maths was my favorite. Having to write less and expressing more was best balance that my right and left brain made through maths and drawings.

Playing with words and letters was another favorite. Writing the alphabets in different possible ways was an exercise to explore how to convert a word into a picture. Adding a visual appeal to what's been written in plain and simple words seemed like a right thing to do. Many letter were quite prominent in getting the preference such as B.  There were more than a fifty different ways to write B. And I tell you, this was over the top fun. It pleases me to know there are training schools that teaches you this natural artform. (Check course Lettering 101)

 Have a pen, will draw!

Classmates would ask me to write their names in different letterings and I was more than happy to oblige. I remember one of my classmates, how she would insist on touching the surface of the paper to feel the letters written. I would laugh it off but she insisted that it felt different when its written well. Oh, how I would like to believe her! Looking back, I wanna tell her how right she was. To me, its very comforting to see something written well.

My Name

(Two Point Perspective)

 
Even without a training, we look at something, we know when its aesthetically pleasing to the eyes.  That's sometimes called to have an artistic eye.  We all have it. How much we relish it, is a personal choice. To gauge the artistic talent, many teachers find it a useful tool to check the hand-writing. Its not accurate, but its a good starting point.

Say it with a song!

I am triligual. I can read and write three languages. When using one, my mind automatically translates it into the rest of the two. I can read in one and speak in the other without breaking the flow. Long time ago, this got me a job of news reader, in broadcasting. But that was a different story. Here the point is, its a privilege to be able to express with the aid of words and pictures.

Speaking of languages, I often contemplate the idea of learning sign language but haven't yet. I hope I soon do.  

In the meantime, I ask you to try playing with your words. Make your words sing to you, doodle if you like, create a visual story. Give it a try.  You'll enjoy it, I am sure!

The Joy of First Time : Pen Portraiture

I have always imagined drawing with pen quite hard. Due to multiple reasons, which I would list below, I didn't try to render much in pen.

1. Fear - pen won't erase, so if you make mistake, it can't be corrected and you'll have to work all over again.
I cannot tell you how deep-rooted this fear was! We all learn to write in pencil and gradually move onto the ink. Assuming as we grow, we learn how to write without making mistakes or learning to correct the correct way.
But for the art, most of us don't take the risk of making mistakes. I heard from many experienced artists how they do the first draft in pencil and then switch to pen. Serves some of us well.


2. Myths - pen art is not art. Can you believe that! Some still contest the real art is what painted upon and not just drawn. Well, to me, anything created with sincerity is okay to share with others. Let the debate go on, you focus on wherever your creativity takes you.

3. Lack of value range - this was something that kept me off for so long. What a myth! You and only you can keep yourself from giving the depth to the artwork. There are different techniques but sure a full range of shades.

But it just happened. Because its a milestone for me, I will share my story. Before hitting the bed, I had to choose the best reference picture of the model. One looked more promising than the other but second one has a striking unavoidable appeal. So, I decided to do underdrawing of both. Sleep can wait. This idea cannot! whichever looks better will turn into a final painting.

I had my supplies lying around and I decided to draw the rough sketches before going to bed. Shortly, first drawing was ready and I started the second one. By the time I finished, I realized, I was using pen, inadvertently. Oh woah, I don't use pen, I told myself. But I did and it was a big deal for me because the result was astonishing!  The output was darker, clearer, and bore striking likeness in much fewer marks as opposed to the charcoal, the usual medium for this purpose. Oh my, I had pleasantly surprised myself.

What can I say. This has made me a very happy person. In the days that followed, I am not able to put the pen down. One more, just one more!

My hands are tired, my wrists hurt, but the sketching is very enjoyable. You should try it! Here are some detailed pics of what I made as a full portrait out of this new love.

 Look, Ma!

9 x 12

Pen on paper

Details of above

I am not sure what's making me more happy - breaking the myth, seeing the light or is it pure joy of learning something new.

Either way, I am happy to share it with others. Tired muscles behold! You have a lot to do. :-)