He’s be cursed, Hibiscus…

…for being such a delicate and enticing flower!

I had been looking at them for a while, every time I crossed the path to the school. I’d seen them bloom. I’d seen them radiant every afternoon.

Shamelessly, I plucked one little one from our garden last afternoon, resolute that I’d found my muse for the day. I played around for about 10 minutes, holding my little treasure, putting it under sunlight with its back towards me, then with its glaring face, then its profile, then peeking at me, then cold-shouldering me, then looking up, then looking down, and finally smiling straight at me, saying, “Now pick up the pencil and begin!”

I did – and one wasn’t enough. Irresistibly iridescent.

No reference photo, no inspiring painting – this is purely my mind’s game one April afternoon!

Smitten,
Roopika

P.S.
By the way, you can have a look at the yellow one's face here!

Where stories unravel...

Those shadows are understated - the sun is at its sunniest best this afternoon. I decided to push myself a little and go out, around the campus and sketch a little something here, a little something there. I ended up walking straight to the "Round Hut" in the Junior School.

It's a lovely little straw-and-mud hut that we listen to all kindsof stories in. Stories from children and why one of them hurt the other last evening. Stories of children and their silliness, shenanigans or secrets. Stories for children and how white-winged fairies swung them around with their magic wand. Stories about childhood stories that teachers look back fondly on as anecdotes or life's lessons. And every other kind of story that this one little hut often tends to evoke.

...And I'm back!

I can't paint - oh, I just can't paint.

Three days ago, I decided to vacate my art-shelf in the cupboard and put it to better use. I'll remember it as one of those fleeting fancies of life, I told myself (almost) tearfully.

It seemed like ages ago that I last picked up the paintbrush and it certainly has been a really long time that I painted something that I was a tad proud of. I didn't know where to pick up the thread from - I had lost it! The lack of practice translated itself into a complete lack of confidence. The earlier notes would tell you about how wishful (and dramatically ambitious) I was (and continue to be) to begin a floral series (just can't keep the awe-inspiring intricacies of flowers out of my mind). I must confess, when I sat to get back to painting now that the long stretch (two FULL months - the perks of being a teacher- yeeehoooo!) of summer vacation's finally begun, I sketched the ever-inspiring Iris. I began painting it, too. But that was that. Soon enough, I realised that I had to give it up. Read the first couple of lines of this note, and you'd know what thoughts my mind was resonant with.

It was only when I became conscious of the fleeting calendar that I decided to 'fight back' this obnoxiously nauseas feeling. I decided to get back to the basics - these sketches came, all in an hour and a half. The idea was to familiarise myself with the feeling of the process of being patient (difficult -SO difficult!) and thoughtful while putting in the brush-strokes rather than the final outcome.

This felt good. Really good.

For some reason, I chose to explore landscapes (thanks to David Bellamy's watercolours - he's SO inspiring!). My mind was cloyed with all the floral reference pictures that I had been satiating my hunger for, all this while. So I got back to painting without an underdrawing (pic.1), painting for colour (pic.2) and finally painting with a limited pallete (pic.3 - monochrome!). It was so much fun, that I couldn't sleep till the wee hours of the morning. Yes!!!!!

The floral series is on its way. I promise. But before that, I need to get the rust off my fingers - and mind.

I'm back :)