Ulti Chhatri

2012 IS HERE!

2012-01-11T21:10:00.002+05:30

HI ALL!
It's 2012, the year the world has been raving about for a long, long time and living up to it already, it started with quite a blast for me, literally. My laptop fell and my hard disk gave up and died. Urgh. Still getting over that :(
Apart from that utterly delightful news, THERE'S LOTS OF WORK TO SHARE!
You have been warned; this will be a really, reeeally long post :)

First up, my second The Small Picture comic courtesy Manta Ray Comics, titled 'GAON-VILLE'. I worked with the ever-so-amazingly-clever Arjun Kolady, who scripted the piece, with Dileep Cherian's thoughtful edits.
The piece was first seen published in the daily Mint, on December 14, 2011. Higher res version, here.

I recently collaborated with a Delhi based fashion blogger, Surabhi Chauhan AKA Lovestruckcow on a series of fashion illustrations of the best six in Indian fashion during 2011, 'Six Best in 2011' for her blog LOVESTRUCKCOW.
First up was for the Goa based designer, Savio Jon and his Spring Summer 2012 collection.

Second, Suneet Varma's Couture 2011 'KamaSutra' collection.

Third up, the amazing Kolkata based Sabyasachi and his Fall 2011 collection.

Fourth, Alpana & Neeraj with their crazy awesome Fall 2011.

Fifth, the larger-than-life Manish Arora's Srping Summer 2012 collection in Paris.

And last, Rohit Bal's Couture 2011. Excuse me, I've been watching too much Samurai Jack :)

I had crazy fun working on these, and I do hope it shows :)
All of the illustration blog entries can be found right here.

Ok, so I've been following Hellen Jo's absolutely RAD badassery for a good two years now, and she makes drawing on Post-Its look irresistibly delicious. I could not stop myself. So here they are, my first set of Post-it obsession. I've been listening to a lot of Lana Del Rey & The Black Keys' latest album recently (And an unending supply of Gaga), as must be evident below. Also, some Studio Killers love!
The scans do not do justice to the fluorescent markers & glitter wax crayons abused for this noble cause.

Also, the scans might not even look like post its anymore. Here's a picture of my sketchbook with all of them, AND IT REMINDS ME OF THIS.

Me and my parents went to a trip recently, Mussourie+ Poanta Sahib. It was freezing cold, I got a mega-swanky-ass hotel room all to myself and I finally met the extended family after ages :'D The joy!
These are some of the sketches done during the course of 7 days.
First, some train sketching! Hello, sleeping uncle :)

Below is my dad, sleeping like a baby. He slept through the entire journey because he wasn't too well. Also, I love drawing him, I could do it forever :)

Some street sketching in Mussourie.

Poanta Sahib, the living quarters.

Men in pagris of all sizes, loads of fun to draw! :)

The langar sewa, evening chats and lots of vegetables to cut :)

Langar sewa, people making chapatis and making fun of how I was standing and sketching instead of helping them out :P

My sketchbooks are becoming better friends with my precious brushpens, and here's some of the sketchery they've been whipping up! Lots of ladies ahead :)

And last but not the least, some Chumbak work :D
A 'Pehelwaan' boxer design. I had SO much fun working on this :D Now I can proudly wear it around too. to get yourself one, here.

And, a quick mock-up.

Then, to an 'OM' keychain :) Below is the design and a picture of the final product :)

Do leave feedback and have a louwely, prolific year ahead :)

Of Halloween, Chumbak-ing & More Gaga

2011-12-08T13:54:00.001+05:30

HOLLA!
Long time, I know! Been busy working on tonnes of things and documenting my diploma project yet here I am again :)

My niece, the Halloween baby Humairaa just turned a year old on Halloween. everytime I see her she looks cuter and now there are four tiny fountain ponytails and a whole lot of mischief to add to it all! This was a little illo I made for her birthday :)

One morning I logged onto my Twitter and saw a bunch of drunk Lady Gaga tweets dancing all by herself! My hands ached to draw a Gaga and here's my first, quick 'Drunky Gaga' illustration. Also, her father calls her 'Loopy'!

And now for some work I did for them loverrly, loverrly folks at Chumbak (there's no way you don't know about them, right?)! I had a whole lot of fun working on all of the stuff!
First up, a pack of Bollywood themed playing cards, 'Bollywood Masti'!
It took me a lot of time to figure who to include and how to stylize and yet be able to have a common language throughout. Also, it took a while to conceptualize on the Jacks (the famous Bollywood villains). But we overcame, and I'm pretty happy with the result :) You can get yourself a pack (or two) here!
For larger resolution, here.

I worked on two A6 notebook designs, 'On The streets of India' & 'How to Kiss Bollywood Style in 4 ways'!

To work on the details and the gags was good fun and the 'kiss' notebook is even a mug! The notebooks, here :)

There's also a keychain design I did based on 'The great Indian Auto Ride'! I was skeptical about the details in the final product, but they came out great! Below is the design, and a horrid, blurred picture of me holding the final keychain. To get yourself one, proceed here :)

Lastly, I worked on 'Incredible India', one of 'The Small Picture' features by Manta Ray Comics. The Small Picture is a full page comic that appears every Wednesday in the daily Mint. The piece was scripted by Leela Alvares, who I worked with in collaboration on the artwork.

The piece was first seen published on 19th October, 2011.
For larger resolution, here.

More stuff to come very soon!

Feedback of all shapes & sizes welcome :)

Have an amazing day!

A DRESS A DAY: 30 days of fashion

2011-11-09T21:07:00.000+05:30

Hello
The plan was 30 days. 30 designers. 30 outfits to be chosen and drawn. Why? Plain joy.
AND IT'S DONE :D
Scroll down to see through all days and do see enlarged versions for details!

DAY 30// STELLA McCARTNEY+ NORITAKA TATEHANA
I took a while to figure which designer to do for the last day and ultimately settled for Stella McCartney. The garments are from her 2011 pre-Fall collection. The shoes are by the amazing & crazy Japanese designer Noritaka Tatehana.
Original pics: Garments L, C, R. Shoes L&R, C+ centre reference.

DAY 29// DRIES VAN NOTEN
I came across their work recently and have been following ever since. This is a mish-mash from garments from their Spring 2012 Ready-To-Wear collection. The shades are from the Linda Farrow X Jeremy Scott collaboration range and I threw in a white Hermès Birkin bag and a Gaga paw for joy :)
Original pics: sunglasses, top, shorts, shoes.

DAY 28// JEREMY SCOTT
Jeremy Scott is high fashion's most fun, crazy and an incredibly talented man. Along with his fashion label, what I absolutely love is his design for Adidas Originals. And I'd KILL to get my hands on those wing high top sneakers! Part of the illustration features the denim bra and skirt, from his Spring 2012 RTW collection, which Rihanna dons in her latest video 'We Found Love'. The bomber jacket and the LOVERRLY shoes are from his Adidas originals range. The Linda Farrow X Jeremy Scott Mickey sunglasses featured in Lady Gaga's 'Paparazzi' video! I Spend MAAAD amounts of time getting the details right, do click on image and see the enlarged version :)
Original pics: garment, jacket, shoes, sunglasses.

DAY 27// DIANE VON FURSTENBERG
AN EXTREMELY LATE UPDATE, I KNOW! But I have my reasons, which will feature on another blog post SOON! :)
I love the way Diane Von Furstenberg looks but I think she'd be a mean boss, hence the illustration! This garment is from her Spring 2012 RTW collection. I think I ended up having more fun than expected on this!
Original pic, here.

DAY 26// JEAN PAUL GAULTIER
Gaultier's latest collection, the Spring 2012 RTW, was an lovely 50s fashion homage, not just visually but the way the show was carried through too! The models held placards of their look numbers and there was no music, only narration. I wanted to draw something simple from the collection, because I JUST DON'T HAVE ANY TIME! But I could not stop myself from drawing this gorgeous silhouette. I'm happy with the way it looks though I did exaggerate it on the top quite a bit :)
Original pics: garment, gloves+ jewelry.

DAY 25// MOSCHINO CHEAP AND CHIC
Sigh. Moschino always does it. Their collections are awesome. And this time, the Moschino and the Cheap and Chic shows were crazy! The former went spanish meets tribal while the latter was a farm fashion fantasy. I chose the latter. How could I resist drawing this show opening number?
Original pics: garment, carrot headpiece.

DAY 24// FENDI
Fendi's latest collection, Spring 2012 ready-to-wear was full on sci-fi, high fashion science lab academic meets daywear. Basically a whole lot of fun to look at! This is a garment from the collection that I really like.
Original pic, here.

DAY 23// HERMÈS
I fell in love with Hermès when I first saw their website. It is a whole lot of fun! I chose to draw something from their Spring 2012 ready-to-wear, half of which consists of white garments that look like they're dying to be stained. Also, the shoes looked disturbing and remind me of socks with sandals. Anyway, it gets better once the orange starts coming in.
Also, anybody who knows me well would have thought how I got this far drawing dresses without a single appearance of the Alexander McQueen Plato's Atlantis shoe, so here it is :)
Original pictures: Garment, bag, shoes.

DAY 22// HERVÉ LÉGER
Max Azria out with another beautiful slew of bandage dresses! I chose the Fall 2011 collection because it was more understated than their latest collection and had nicer colors. To admire the detail of the work they put in each piece I HAD to draw it, and it was quite a task. But I'm glad it resembles the original garment, or so I would believe :)
P.S. - More on 'Bandage/ body-con dresses' on the Hervé Léger wiki page.
Original pic, here.

DAY 21// BALENCIAGA
Balenciaga's latest offering, the Spring 2012 collection was loverry. I love anything with an exaggerated shoulder silhouette (thanks to Gaga), and this collection offered plenty. So here it is! Also, I think I made up the coloring detail on the shoes a bit. Bah, all good :)
Also, another style change, I was getting real bored :D
Original pic, here.

DAY 20// VALENTINO
I've never really followed Valentino Garavani and his collections, and I didn't even know that he retired in 2007. However, when I think of Valentino, I think of fixation with the color red and the haute couture gowns. So I picked a gown from the Fall 2002 haute couture collection that Anne Hathaway (who I detest) wore to the 2011 Academy Awards. Also, since Google images bombarded my mind with the image of Anne Hathaway wearing that gown I wanted to make the model I drew as different looking from her as possible :)
original pic, here.

DAY 19// LANVIN
So here's to the most adorable man in high fashion, Alber Elbaz. I love what he does for Lanvin and for this, I thought I'd work on the collection on which Lanvin collaborated with H&M. The collection sold out after only a few hours of its launch and had some pretty fun promotions. And the wonderful Anna Dello Russo walked the runway for the fashion show. I love Russo and decided to draw the garment she wore and added the watermelon headpiece she wears!
Original pic: bowtie, garment, shoes.

DAY 18// L.A.M.B.
I love every single thing about Gwen Stefani. Right from her No Doubt days, to her solo career and the fashion line, named after her first solo record, L.A.M.B. I recently went through the L.A.M.B. 2012 Spring collection, and it is just as cool as Ms. Stefani herself. I drew this outfit because it looked like a whole lot of fun :)
Original pic: garment & bag.

DAY 17// PRADA
Miuccia Prada definitely switched the 50s Hollywood glam machine on with the Spring 2012 ready-to-wear collection. There was a lot of vintage car prints, and she went ALL OUT with the shoes, and the result was nothing short of incredible :) I ended up mixing the garments, and picked up the shades from the Prada Spring 2011 'Minimal Baroque' collection.
Original pics: shades, top, skirt, shoes.

DAY 16// LOUIS VUITTON
Ok, Marc Jacobs did an AMAZING job with the Spring 2012 collection, with the elaborate merry go round setting and a beautiful, almost fragile looking range. This is a garment I chose to illustrate, which I thought would be nice and simple, but when I looked into the details of the garment, I went mad and I had to do everything from scratch; which took me fuckloads of time, but I guess it was worth it :) I love the character I ended up dressing and happy with the details of the dress, the croc skinjacket and the organza skirt. Let me know what you think though. DO CLICK TO ENLARGE, because all that detail just killed me.
Original pic, here.

DAY 15// BURBERRY
I wanted to draw a signature Burberry trench, but I didn't. I think I'm lazy, and sick. What I do love is though, is the Burberry Prorsum 2007 Spring ready-to-wear collection for which Kate Moss featured in a print campaign. Either way, when I saw this I thought of a happy fashion blogger walking through NYC holding up a large Starbucks coffee in her hand.
Original picture, here.

DAY 14//JIL SANDER
Ok, if Jil Sander actually saw the illustration (I wish) I've done of the garments from her Spring 2011 ready-to-wear collection, she'd probably feel severely misunderstood. The minimal aesthetic in her clothes strikes me the most. Though I don't understand all of it, I mostly like what I see. was tired of making plain, model-y pose-y things for the past few entries so I wanted to turn it around a bit. Also, a bit of the stylization comes from the fact that I am really ill today; my nose leaked and my eyes burned while I stared at the computer screen. So I owe this one to my sickness! :D
The garments I've drawn are a combination of this & this :)

DAY 13// CHANEL
Chanel, as of today, brings to mind only one person: Karl Lagerfeld. And he is a fucking genius. I just saw the 2012 Spring ready-to-wear show yesterday and was blown away by the gorgeous, massive aquarium setting and the 85 different pieces that were in the show. The models sashayed down the runway while Florence Welch sang on through the show. This is one of the pieces from the collection that stay true to the signature vintage Chanel look; and I added the Chanel vintage Jumbo C bag, (which I drew much, much smaller) for good measure :)
Original pic, here.

DAY 12// GARETH PUGH

I had seen some of Gareth Pugh's work in music videos and from the recent gorgeous Absolut bottle he designed to resemble one of his designs. And I think it is ABSOLUTELY RAD! So here goes, one of the more wearable looking pieces from one of his more wearable looking collections, Spring 2011.

Original pic, here.

DAY 10+ 11// PHILIP TREACY+ CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

Ok, so I missed two days of the draw a dress series. Thankfully Philip Treacy makes only hats/ headpieces, and Christian Louboutin makes only beautiful red undersole-d shoes. So I put them both together for this piece!

For Treacy, I HAD to do the lobster headpiece Gaga wore. And I recently came across these discomfort inducing Louboutins that were made in collaboration with the surrealist filmmaker David Lynch as a part of a range called 'Fetish'. One look at them and I swear you'd say, 'Ouch'. Anyway, here it is:

Original pics, Philip treacy lobster hat & Louboutins.

DAY 9// THIERRY MUGLER

I've seen the George Michael runway video with the crazy bike handle and metal dresses, and knew as much Mugler as much as any 9 year old Indian kid would. I adore Lady Gaga, and her stylist, Nicola Formichetti. So I did my homework when Nicola got appointed as the creative director of Thierry Mugler, now Mugler. Gaga premiered her song 'Government Hooker' from her last album for the show, and walked the runway & the show could be livestreamed ALL OVER THE WORLD. This is one of my favorite garments from Mugler fall 2011.

Original pic, here.

DAY 8// YOHJI YAMAMOTO

The first time I heard of Yohji Yamamoto was in Gwen Stefani's song 'Harajuku Girls'. Then a film on him, 'Notebook on Cities and Clothes' was screened in my college. And Yohji blew me away. His understated, classic sense of style always stays true to his aesthetic and I chose a garment from his Spring 2006 collection (The dinosaur dress).

Original garment (sans converse shoe), here.

DAY7// VIKTOR & ROLF

They are simply AMAZING! 'nuff said. This be a garment from their spring 2011 ready-to-wear collection that had beautifully structured garments and used shirt cuffs in an unusually amazing, truely Viktor&Rolf way.

The collection, here. Original garment pic, here.

DAY 6// JEAN CHARLES DE CASTELBAJAC

This designer is the most fun I've come across in a long, long time!

I love his spring summer 2011 collection: Uber Tropikal Airlines; it has a whole lot of animals, uniform, some Beth Ditto and FELIX! This is the garment I chose to draw:

Do see his awesome website!Original pic, here.

DAY 5// VERSACE

No fashion house spells grandeur and legacy the way Versace does. So when I was thinking of what dress to choose to draw, I thought of very popular, last collection of Gianni Versace: The Fall 1992 bondage collection. This is one of the garments from the same. Lady Gaga wore the garment recently for her Cosmopolitan shoot.

Original pic, dress and the shoes.

DAY 4// DOLCE & GABBANA

When it came to D&G, I could only think of one thing: The fall 2010 sequined jacket. It was included in the menswear and the womenswear collections, I liked it in the men's collection more. Fashion blogger Bryanboy wore it with pride, so did Beyonce while rubbing her baby bump at the VMAs this year. So, ... TADAAH!

It was a wee bit painful to work on the sequins' rendering, and I'm not too happy with it but I think it looks passable!

Original pic, here.

DAY 3// CHRISTIAN LACROIX

Ok, so we all came a conclusion that dressing up a superhero/ comic character or working on their costumes would be fun. I love Rogue from X-men. And I like Christian Lacroix. And this beauty from his Fall 2008 couture collection. I grunge-d it up a bit.

Here it is, RogueXLacroix.

Kaveri's StormXLacroix.

Original pic, here.

DAY 2// DIOR

This is a garment from the Fall 2011 Haute Couture Dior collection that featured Philip Treacy hats and what Katy Perry wore to the VMAs :) I had a whole lot of fun working on this!

Original pic, here.

DAY 1// ALEXANDER McQUEEN
I love his Fall 2009 collection, and wanted to work on a garment from that. And here it be!

Kaveri's and Arushi's McQueen, here & here.

Original pic, here.

Have a good day and don't forget to leave feedback :)

Gaga Rules Everything Around Me

2011-09-19T10:55:00.000+05:30

Hello!

It had to happen. My hands were ACHING to draw another Gaga. I hadn't done a finished, nice Lady Gaga illustration in a long, long time. And Kaveri had been, for too long, telling too many people I'm married to Gaga. So well, here it is :)

ANNNND, does anybody remember Bechain Nagri? It is back with a boomboomBANG, LOADS of new sketchbook prints and new illustrators on board! Check THIS space for more!
Also, I worked on more prints for the new range, and it is all mad, cute, annoying schoolkid series.

Also, me and Kaveri went to Kyoorius DesignYatra, with loads and hoards of Bechain Nagri sketchbooks for sale! The response was amazing, and we had a pretty hard time keeping up with the sales sheet and the moolah-management. This was a poster we both worked on for the event, based on a sketch Mana did!

Ha! Do leave feedback!
And have a wonderful, wonderful day while I go and get me some much required sleep! :)

Of Tributes in Music & Fashion

2011-08-30T22:50:00.005+05:30

Hi all.

I heard of Amy Winehouse's death through a message on my phone a friend sent me. And it came to me a such a shock.

More so because though I had been listening to her music for a long time, it was those days I was checking up on her site on any update on a long due new record. And then it was just blank.

I've been wanting to draw her for too long now, I thought of many compositions. Then this happened.

I loved every bit of working on this. Also, 'Wake Up Alone' from her second and last studio album, Back to Black is my favorite song by her. RIP Amy.

I've been working on some vector art as well! Portraiture is something I don't consider my forte. And portraits in vector, well. This was a noble start.

I stumbled upon Graffiti6's music and loved it! So here is Jamie Scott's portrait! Their up and coming album 'Colours' is amazing, must listen!

Also, Nicola Formichetti. He is god. And is constantly on a move to change the face of fashion. Whether it be Mugler, Uniqlo or styling for Gaga, he never fails to amaze. So here it is, a portrait of him.

It started out as a mindless, fun sketch in one of my old, old sketchbooks and became this! I might add to it and make all the character profiles :)

So yes, shoot shoot with feedback :)

Have a nice day!

22 years, 1 Film // Eye Am Watching You

2011-08-14T12:29:00.009+05:30

HELLO!

Ok, I admit I've become highly un-creative with my post titles. To be able to come up with that! :P

Either way, the long wait is OVER! My film is DONE! And it feels better because IT IS MY BIRTHDAY and I'm at home!!! :D

Here goes,

Eye Am Watching You // 4 min 33 sec

The story revolves around a seven year old, Reema and her conscience.

Based on a partially true story, through the eyes of my convent- bred mother.

Eye Am Watching You from Jasjyot Singh Hans on Vimeo.

You can see some of the rough layouts and rough composition stills here :)

Here are some of the screenshots!

This film has taken an incredibly long time to get done and I've learnt a lot on the way as an illustrator, as an animator and as a storyteller. However, this remains my first effort, so do let me know what you think :)

Feedback of all shapes, shades and sizes welcome :)

Have a lovely day!

Women & Sketchery!

2011-06-26T18:46:00.011+05:30

HOLLA!
Haven't posted in a long, long time! Late realization, I know!
I've been working on a whole lot of work some of which I can't put up just now, so I shall put up some other stuff with which I've been dirtying my sketchbooks/ Photoshop/ Illustrator with!

This was an experiment with this gorgeous, addictive Photoshop brush I found in a deep, dark corner of ze Internet!This was done while listening to 'Someone Like You' by the wonderful, wonderful sounding Adele! Pentel Black+ grey babies put to some good use!

Me and my saxxy friend, Kaveri love stopping by at Emily Carroll and Vera Brosgol's Draw This Dress blog! This was modelled on an Alexander McQueen dress. I had a lot of fun working on this and stuck to a simple, clean style.

Another random day with Illustrator! Soem type scribble that resulted in this, finally. Any hardcore graphic design feedback NOT required, thanks :)

And THIS! My mum has been wanting to start a blog for too long and has feared that nobody will read it if it had no illustration accompanying the text. So she asked me to work on something for something she had written about Indian men and their loose bladders, a common site in India. Here it is! Show support on her baby blog, HERE!

Also, work on my film is progressing (finally)! Will share some more stuf from it very, very soon!

Feedback of all shapes, colors, sizes welcome!

Have a loverrly day :D

ULTI CHHATRI TURNS 3 :)

2011-05-06T17:09:00.011+05:30

Hi all!

Ok, so I admit I'm bad with birthdays! And I forgot my blog's birthday this time! Silly me!

So, MY BLOG TURNED THREE on the 5th of May! YES: ULTI CHHATRI is 3 YEARS OLD :D

And I've been SO thankful to see so many wonderful, wonderful people visit and leave their valuable feedback.

Here's some of the work that I've been wanting to post for a long, long time but never got around to!

Here's my illustration for the much awaited Madness Mandali's Kavikala, a poetry- illustration mashup publication :)

And here is the rough sketch to figure out placement of elements and text.

And this is a vector piece I worked on for the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Marathon Contest. The brief was to make an eye catching visual that had to include 'Run breast cancer out of town.' as a part of its design and represent New York in some way. I wanted to work on something to do with the ridges, but ended up using the skyline and the Statue of Liberty torches :)

Do leave feedback !

Have a great day! :D

My Threadless Debut!

2011-03-30T11:31:00.006+05:30

HELLO!

Ok, So I finally managed to make an entry for the 'Threadless loves Noir' challenege. What I need is help, for you lovely people to go on the page and vote for my print! You miiight be required to make a Threadless account, which hopefully shouldn't take too long!

HERE IS THE LINK: I SCREAM PSYCHO.

About my design: The first thing that came to my mind was the Psycho shower scene and I happened to be eating ice cream :D So this is my sweet homage to Hitchcock!

Please DO VOTE and spread the word through your Facebook/ Twitter! :D

Also, do leave feedback! :D

Grizzling Love!

2011-03-25T20:07:00.003+05:30

It isn't pouring love, it is grizzling. And it isn't even monsoon yet!

OK. sorry.

Yesterday wasn't just a Thursday! It was a GRIZZLY BEAR THURSDAY! I stumbled upon this lovely blog that features various artists' work.

The only condition, it's got to be a Grizzly bear :D

I worked on this vector piece for the blog and she was nice enough to feature me! Here it is :)

I had SO much fun working on this!

Do let me know what you think! And if you know a place where I could get badges made, I wouldn't mind :D

Have a nice day!

The Bechain Entry into Summer :D

2011-03-17T16:35:00.012+05:30

HOLLA!

Another obscenely late post, I apologize!

Well, if you ask me what I've been upto, I'm STILL trying to finish my film, of which not much is getting done and I'm very sad about it. So, to make myself happy, I'm doing random things :)

Well, but this is some of what the film will look like :D

Older posts on film: here and here.

This is a part of a line of sketchbooks/notebooks that a friend's friend wanted us to work on and I agreed. Each artist did five covers and the rest happened so fast, I still can't get over it ! :D

We all settled for the name 'Bechain Nagri': Bechain (Hindi) = Restless/Excited and Nagri/Nagar(Hindi)= town/place. I would not dare put the final translated name together :P

Well, so we had a lot of sketchbooks on sale, during our college fest. A cart was brought, decked up and off they were! Here is what some of the madness looks like :D

And these were my prints:

A little celebration followed on the first success of 'Bechain Nagri' and here are all of us wonderful people who were a part of this :D

If you want to see the other awesome sketchbooks, know more/ want to order (shipping facility will be on hopefully soon), or just want to take a look, do join the Facebook community! :)

Ha! So yes, and also, some random wacom+type things including an important message I give myself everyday:

I'm very proud of the fact that the 'day' looks like ketchup :P

Feedback of all & any kind appreciated :D

Have a great day! :)

ClothesDrop :)

2011-01-30T23:16:00.011+05:30

HALLO!

I told you I will put some vector stuff up! There will be more soon.

Meet the two lovely Illustrator ladies:)

This was done for a leetle contest on Deviant Art. The character isn't mine; her name is Kikloh. The brief for the contest was to make the character in any weather and use a frame to symbolize the weather. I had to choose Summer ;)

This was for a 5 AM Wacom coloring trial.

Me and Kaveri were discussing how Him was the coolest villain in the Powerpuff Girls and how it would be absolutely awesome to stylize him. So well, here it is! I don't much love the thin outline, I guess I didn't plan to do so. Actually, I'm not too happy with it at all. I still need to work on a background which will have to be some purple smoke-cloud thing but this is it for now.

And last but not the least, the film that has been on my mind for a while now. Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky. I've been wanting to draw something for this for too long now and this just happened yesterday! I'd like to do something more finished looking soon :)

Work on my film is happening too! I hope to finish it by February :D :D Please pray it gets done!

Feedback of all sorts appreciated!

Have an awesome day :)

Illustration Friday - Chicken

2011-01-17T17:02:00.007+05:30

Another Illustration Friday update after AGES :D

Here is a little illo I did on my food chart, a big portion of which, as visible is coffee :) ... and... a lot of other things. It isn't the healthiest diet on Earth, so it is time for a change, I say! And change shall come, shall come! Well, ALSO, Illustration Friday's this week's topic happens to be CHICKEN! :D

What greater joy!

Also, my louwe for vector art is growing. More to come soon on that and the film :)

Do leave feedback!

Have a waanderful day :)

HAPPY NEW DECADE!

2011-01-03T00:26:00.007+05:30

I'm tired of listening to all the happy new year wishes so I'm trying to change it a little.

Well, anyway...

A HAPPY 2011 TO ALL OF YOU!!!

Ha, so 15th December was my dad's birthday, These are two of some of the portraits I've attempted of him:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA!

ANNND, These are my film's treatment stills :D :D :D The name is fixed. It will be called... .....

*drumroll please*

EYE AM WATCHING YOU

Finally, I get to post updates from this project! YAYY!!! Oh, do let me know if they look ok, OK? Or leave some valuable feedback :)

And this is the official, official model sheet for the film.

Again, here's to a wonderful year ahead full of loads of, erm.. good things :)

Feedback of all shapes, moods and sizes appreciated :)

:( + :)

2010-12-02T19:24:00.005+05:30

Ok, a customary note of apology before I start a new post. Hence the sad smiley on the post title. I've been lazy. Unusually lazy+mildly depressed. Yes, making an animation film can be neurotic. It sure is fun, but not just that. More updates on that very very soon!

I'm going to post a few things that aren't really related to each other but that's what I've been upto lately. Any form of distraction that allows me to escape into a space away from my film is an immediate friend. And what better friend than 'graphiccompetitions dot com'. Sigh. Hence the smiling smiley on the post title.

An entry for the Hugo Visual Mixtape Contest. The brief was to get inspired by a set of given songs and create a visual for them in this format, with the Hugo Man bottle being central to the idea. The songs were very Disco+Techno. Hence the visual. Illustrator+Photoshop love.

These are my entries for the ONE condoms wrapper design contest. It was a lot of fun making cheeky entries for this incorporating the logo in the design with a caption! And before you do ANYTHING else, VOTE for my entries. I mean, RATE them. I mean, give them a good RATING. The best one available! I will love you if you do that:D

HERE be the link to all my entries.

The idea of an 'Ever Running Comic' isn't new. So a few enthu college people decided to get together and work on our own version of it! Two pages per person added every week to ourDeviant Art profiles. I was the second one to continue; so I worked on pages 3 & 4! Awesome fun! Here are the pages ONE & TWO. My two pages included some humor, some drama and some Alexander McQueen shoes, (on page 4;) . A silent tribute.

Ha. All feedback appreciated:)

The Spirit Channel

2010-10-27T14:04:00.005+05:30

Ok, this is a bit late but I logged onto DeviantArt recently to realize the site header was purple; a surprising break from the ugly green-grey that they have, I thought to myself. I HAD to find out what it was for. It was then that I stumbled upon the DeviantArt CEO, Angelo informing me about SPIRIT DAY, which was on 20th October; and I made this.

I call this 'The Spirit Channel'.

Channel as in between the two faces facing each other. The 'two' faces. The negative space in the hair on the left, ... right? Get it?!?

Ah. Nevermind:/

Anyway, Happy anti-bullying and have a lovely day!

Do leave feedback!

Vector Art Monster!

2010-10-20T00:22:00.009+05:30

This was my entry for the Wacom 4th Anime/Manga Character Design Contest.

The topic: Monster! Yes, it was just that.

Took me a while to do; this is the most detail I've added in vector art. But it was fun to do:)

Name: Gogundaria

About the monster: Ferocious. Hot pink in color. Six inches in height. Has a soft corner for girls and all things cute.

Loves: His purple boxing gloves and bunny slippers.

I didn't win but I don't regret it because the entries that won were just plain awesome!

Lots to get inspired from.

More to come on this sadly updated blog!

Please do keep visiting.

All feedback welcome:)

Building Relationships

2010-09-23T07:43:00.005+05:30

Ok. That is probably the worst title I could come up with for a post! Apologies:P

These were some very, very quick sketches done at the Airtel Relationship Centre, Bengaluru, India. I pulled out my sketchbook and started off. Even made a 'fan', who asked me to do a quick portrait! As boring as the place was, the sketching was good fun & I realise living without a brush pen is plain impossible. sigh! Here are some of the sketches

Feedback of all sorts appreciated:)

Illustration Friday - Dessert

2010-09-07T22:07:00.003+05:30

Ok. This is the longest I've stayed away from Illustration Friday. Sometimes I don't like the topic, sometimes I like it but can't work on it & sometimes I just don't know what the topic is.

However, this is a topic hardly anyone can resist. So off I go! I again had the fortune to go to the most GODLY dessert place I have ever, EVER come across! It's in Mumbai, India and is rightly called 'Theobroma'. Sigh.

The illustration has all that I hogged on; from L to R:

Chocolate Overload Brownie: Crusty on the outside, dangerously gooey on the inside, with a heavenly butter-brown sugar base.

New York Baked Cheesecake: Will make you want to RUN to NYC without a doubt. I wouldn't say more:)

Ambrosio: A dessert so pretty you wouldn't want to eat it, but you will. Dark chocolate with a layer of thick raspberry jam-jelly in between. A bit of white chocolate on top, to make life better.

Custard filled cupcake: Least sinful of all, a squidgy, soft sugar coated cupcake with a horibbly soft, custard filled centre, perfect after a light lunch. sigh.

And then, eventually, there's me;)

All the dessert lovers, MUST leave feedback+their dessert stories:D

Gaga OohLala.

2010-09-01T18:23:00.005+05:30

It all started one day when I was trying to look up for some Lady Gaga fanart and could hardly find anything that looked creative or original. Most of what I found was painstakingly done realistic portraits of her existing pictures.

So I sketched this out and finished it on Adobe Illustrator CS3. Took me a while to figure the software but it was good fun:)

(P.S. - The images look reaaally small in the thumbnail so please click on it to see the enlarged version)

Above (from L to R): The initial sketch, the traced outline, the filled in version, the filled in version with variation.

Once I finished this I guess I just got a bit carried away and did this tessellation with the form.

I think I'm becoming a sucker for vector art. Though nothing replaces my pencil and my brush pen:}

All feedback appreciated:D

Have a lovely day!

A Step Into Adulthood & Another Birthday

2010-08-21T14:03:00.004+05:30

So, my birthday just passed on the 14th and I turn a tender 21. I am officially an adult and can officially get married. It kind of creeps me out a bit.

People sent wonderful wishes and I spent most of my birthday (and the day after that) replying to all of them:) However, it was checking my mail inbox that I found the most precious wish of them all and could not help but share.

I couldn't thank you more.

Also, I think this is the first time I've drawn myself with my lovely locks open and flowing:D

Have a lovely day!

Eye Am Watching You - Layouts and more

2010-08-02T18:25:00.004+05:30

I feel horrid because I haven't updated in a while. Work on my film is progressing at a snail's pace, or worse actually. However these are some of the situations the character is in. The layouts are sketchy just so I can figure out the space in the scene.

Let me know what you think:)

Ooh. Vectors!

2010-07-13T12:18:00.006+05:30

Now I've known vectors for a few years now. I recently started using Illustrator and COULD JUST NOT get over the fact that no matter how much I zoom in, I don't see pixels. It is fascinating. It makes me so happy, my eyes water. Vectors are awesome. I love them. And I have been looking at a lot of HOT vector art. One evening I just got kicked and started off directly with the pen tool and my mouse. I would have ideally traced out a rough sketch, but this was just random.

Turns out I love doing this and Illustrator doesn't hate me too much either.

This is what I managed.

I HAD to do this character from my first (and sadly only, yet) comic book.

More of this character, 3D : Here.

Comic : Here.

Let me know what you think. Also if there is some nice vector art link you want to share, go ahead.

Have a happy day:D

Eye Am Watching You - Rough Stills

2010-07-10T17:59:00.004+05:30

Rough sketches for my to-be first animation film. Sounds scary, doesn't it?

The story is about a 7 year old girl, Reema. She is all a 7 year old is, only with a little more mischief. The story is about her realization and coming to terms with her conscience, who as told by her convent principal, is always watching her. At first, she is terrified at the very thought of it. The first time she sees it, she is in shock. It seems to NEVER let go. But over a number of events, she acknowledges its presence, not as something else, but her own. Not just that, she starts spreading the noble message as well.

Well, here's the three sketches.

I will try to keep posting more as I proceed:)

Do leave feedback!

Tee O Tee.

2010-07-02T06:33:00.006+05:30

I shall start with a sigh. Haven't updated in ages!

*sigh*

During the course of my internship, I learnt a lot of illustrator. I'm quite glad because I've been wanting to for a while now. Got back to college two weeks back. Took me a while to get used to the horrid weather, set up my room and then I got down to designing t'shirt prints for the intra-college fest t'shirts for this year.

Fest name: Monsoon Fiesta.

Print requirements: 3 colors, including the base color.

After all the entries are received, a voting happens. Let's hope atleast one of my designs get printed!

Here they are!

Ze front of the first design,

the back,

and the placement on the t-shirt.

And here's the second print. An ode to Bollywood and Raveena Tondon rain dancing and managing to get a whole generation of men glued to the screen in the legendary 'Tip Tip Barsa Pani'.

the back,

and the placement.

This is my first time making a print for a tee. So DO leave feedback!

Have a great day:)

Portrait is a Funny Word.

2010-06-07T09:48:00.006+05:30

Ok. So I've been working hard on quick portraiture. I think I really need to work on it. So alongside my internship, if I can get time, I sit and try to make faces look like people; Or the other way round, erm.. I'm not sure

I start humbly by attempting my sister's portrait, which I have NEVER been able to draw. I show it to her and she blurts out,' I DON't look like this!'

I agree.

So sketching her while she sleeps is just easier. I'm happy, so is she.

Some super quick ones.

And some sketches:)

Joy. I love life, again.

Sketchbook courtesy: Tenzin Yeshi

Another Trip: Amritsar and More

2010-05-21T10:37:00.010+05:30

I went to Amritsar a while back. I kind of have fallen in love with my brush pen, and think the feeling, inspite of a few mood swings, is pretty mutual. These sketches are what I did sitting at home and some in Amritsar. I'm trying to get myself to work on my live portrait skills, because I think they've been neglected for too long and I've been reasonably horrible at it. So here it all is!

Some more portraits to follow soon:)

My Dad and his Ray-bans

Do leave feedback:)

It's Another BlogBirthday!

2010-05-05T22:37:00.003+05:30

Wow. It has been TWO WHOLE YEARS since I started this blog; Not just that, this happens to be my blog's 100th post as well.
I never though I'd get so much feedback and get to see such amazing work coming from such wonderfully talented people all over the world. It's a journey surely worth continuing and learning as I go along. A big, big thank you to all the people who took out the time and commented/ browsed through the blog. I shall try to be more regular with my posting in the coming years.
So cheers to the two that passed by and many more to come:D

Haven't been able to update the blog on time because my evil office where I'm interning blocks blogging:P

Illustration Friday- Ahead/ Lady Gaga Begins.

2010-04-25T12:15:00.006+05:30

An illustration I finished re-hee-cently that gets recycled for Illustration Friday:D

I'm in love with Lady Gaga and think she really is currently ahead of all in pop music for now; and has stepped it up. This is my first proper-proper illustration of her; inspired by her 'Paparazzi' video and her MTV VMA 2009 performance.

It is more like an act where she is lying on the ground with a pool of blood next to her.

I'm not tooooo happy with the way the background came out because I had something different in mind. Let me know what you think.

Top to Bottom: Final to outline to roughs.

Feedback, welcome:)

You Are Being Watched- Concept Still.

2010-04-24T00:59:00.006+05:30

A concept tilt still from my wannabe first film (which is still in its preprepre production stages) about a 7 year old girl coming to terms with her conscience. This was a visualization for a scene where the girl sits on the table to eat and sees the food she doesn't like, as she looks up, she sees a certain friend watching her from the other side of the table; and this was also an option for background treatment.

The two strange demarcations along the length are to show as the camera tilts up, it goes up three units, or is supposed to go, for now... well.

Let me know if there are any suggestions on how I can vary it; any feedback welcome, as always:)

Stop Sleep Motion.

2010-04-14T22:40:00.003+05:30

We juuuust finished shooting our first BIG project; which happens to be a group stopmotion/claymation film. It has been a mad ride, and looks like it is only going to get more mad. On mind blocked days with no hope inside a stuffy room, I'd take out my sketchbook and brush pen (or play Plants Vs Zombies; more often). During the shoot someone or the other would ALWAYS be asleep. Any surface would do. Floor, a sunken mattress, a chair, two chairs or sometimes even three! See for yourself.

Ha. Looking at all this is making me sleepy. Goodnight.

Feedback appreciated.

Alice Goes to Vegas.

2010-04-11T02:32:00.004+05:30

A sketchbook cover reject for a college fashion show themed 'Alice in Vegas'. I still like it though:P

The front is the March Hare; the back, queen of hearts.

All feedback welcome:)

Illustration Friday: Dip

2010-04-05T12:57:00.004+05:30

Yay! I'm glad Illustration Friday is coming up with topics I can relate to grub with! So here's another one; a shameless display of current needs.

Sigh. I could make a whole series on this:)

Do leave feedback!

Summer Is Here:'(

2010-04-03T13:16:00.004+05:30

As must be clear by the post title, I'm not too fond of summer. In fact I hate it. Hate is a nice word, I detest summer. So here's to being optimistic and dedicating it to a lot of ice lollies.

Illustration Friday - Expired/ 'Hello, Can We Meet Again?'

2010-03-22T11:22:00.005+05:30

I don't remember too much of my childhood, even though I'd like to believe it still isn't over. However, there remain a few things about it I simply can't forget. I remember the park near my house, it was too big for me; where mum used to go for her evening walk. Me and my cousins would tag along often, fascinated by the swings. There we sat on the lovely green grass and spent hours playing with tiny ladybirds. Most of the time I wondered how anything so small could be so amazingly pretty. Now I spend hours wondering where they all went. I don't see them anymore. Not even in the same park. Vanished.

It took me a while to realize the amount of time that had passed by since I had last seen a sparrow when I saw one the other day. I remember when I was small they would stop by often, bathing in a tiny pool of water, fluffing themselves clean; chirping away to glory.

I'm not going to pretend to be an environmentalist.

I'm not going to go around telling people how to behave with animals.

Extinct is a strong word. They can save it for tigers.

Yet all I'm left with is a few childhood memories and a pencil in my hand.

I'm sad; knowing I don't have a chance to relive the expired; I'd give my all to.

Barista Buddies

2010-03-21T00:21:00.004+05:30

Sketching started sitting in Barista with coffee on a stressed, bored evening.

WaterMan

2010-03-13T23:37:00.005+05:30

Another morning spent peacefully with my set of watercolors.

A refuge from Life.

Do leave feedback:)

Illustration Friday - Brave/ PimpleburstMania

2010-03-06T16:57:00.005+05:30

An Illustration Friday entry after ages.

A sketchbook cover I dirtied with make believe pus. A sketchbook cover my friends made and sold as a part of a course. Don't even ask me why it's called brawn. lol.

My obsession continues with Eruptions and the same character as he pulls his nerves together and braves to do what he does.

Is anyone else out there fascinated by volcanoes of these kind?

Do leave feedback!

Experimenting All the Way

2010-03-02T03:39:00.003+05:30

My Experimental Animation Project is finally complete.

Animated with waste industrial felt rolls, empty coke bottles, some ink and a lot of shadow; soundscape created from environment and parts of a song 'The Big Bubble' by 'The Mole'.

Experimental Animation from Jasjyot Singh Hans on Vimeo.

Feedback of any sort will be appreciated:)

Another trip to Chennai

2010-02-23T00:57:00.010+05:30

This is a late update. Have been busy with my stopmotion project. Unusually busy. But I've been wanting to write about my second trip to Chennai which happened quite a while back as I went to my sister's to chill. As much as I found the place strange earlier; I couldn't help but love the flavorsome city. There was too much to do, and me falling sick was trying to make it worse. I thankfully recovered, but only at the end of the trip. The place where they lived was absolutely beautiful. Right next to a hill with a shrine on top of it. The wind, the 'fruit shop', the beach. There was too much to take in. All put together in a lovely coconut that Chennai is. My sister has now shifted to Bangalore; and we will miss the city, always.

Here are some of the sketches I did there with my brush pen.

A shady couple on the beach:)

My brother-in-law and my sister at the beach.

My sister at home switching from channel to channel; an age old habit.

A construction happening somewhere on the hilltop shrine.

People praying as I shamelessly sketch.

More people and a lot of wind. And a couple.

I follow a couple in the dark as I try to draw them while walking.

And some more of my favorite thing to draw, people.

What a lovely experience. Made possible by my sister and her husband. Thanks. A lot:)

Love.

Climate Changes

2010-02-18T03:42:00.003+05:30

My entry for the British Council Cartoon Contest for Climate Change.

Topic chosen: Melting of Ice Caps.

The event was judged by two amazing cartoonists, Ajit Ninan and Martin Rowson. I happened to bag the third prize.The craziest part was when Ajit Ninan pulled my cheek on stage as I went to get the prize and I also got an autograph of Martin Rowson on a book of his I had. I was almost in tears. This goes on to become one of the coolest things that have happened to my life:)

An online poll on the British Council website is on so you can vote for your 5 best entries. Vote HERE.

Do leave feedback on my entry though:)

Like Tea and Water

2010-02-04T13:42:00.007+05:30

I drew a girl. Another one. She wanted to be colorful but fate had other plans. I saw a plastic cup of leftover tea and colored her up from head to... erm.. calves. She still looks just as happy:)

A day when you just don't want to use a pen or a pencil.

Feedback of anyanyANY sort welcome:)

FloatMan

2010-02-01T14:04:00.004+05:30

My set of watercolors continues to be my best friend as I find inspiration in more unclothed floating beings on a hopeless day to restore faith in life:)

Have a sexy inspiring day!

Erupting in 3D

2010-01-29T13:39:00.006+05:30

My Maya model is finFINfinished! Well, apart from the rigging and other stuff, which remains undone.

This is what it looks like and I am obscenely proud of myself because truly, I never thought I'd get even this far:P

For all who don't know the character, it happens to be the character from my first and only comic book, Eruptions, which I completed as a part of a course.

You can catch the comic book here.

Do leave feedback!
Have a good day:)

Illustration Friday - Clumsy / All the Utterly Horrible Things That Can Happen to Your Precious Double Half Fried Egg

2010-01-22T02:04:00.009+05:30

Ok. It has been a while since I last posted on Illustration Friday. But 'better this year than never', right?

Me and a few others were sitting and wondering what all could go wrong with the eggs in your first meal of the day; if you happen to get up on time for it, that is:P

All the haunting memories of the days I've had to eat my eggs NOT the way I want it start flashing. And I pen it down immediately.

The most tragedy struck breakfasts are generally when you ask the hostel mess chef to prepare double half fried eggs. If you're lucky, that's what you'll get, if you're not, which is usually the case, these are some of the things you could be in for... Though I do blame personal clumsiness for some of them:P...

Scenario 1: Both the egg yolks will be broken already.

Scenario 2: The egg yolks will be riiiight next to each other, so if you want to eat the yolk by trying to get one of them to reach the spoon safely, you know the other will break.

Scenario 3: The chef blatantly ignores you and makes for you double full fried eggs instead.

Scenario 4: You've managed to get the yolk separated. You carefully put it on the spoon, get it to your mouth, shivering and hoping it wouldn't break midway.

Scenario 5: All your fears come true.

Scenario 6: You feel like having an omelette and by the time you sit down on the table to eat, you wish you had asked for double half fried eggs; again:'(

Have a lovely breakfast and a happy day:)

This has got to be the post with the longest title yet on this blog. I mean, who the hell names a post 'Illustration Friday - Clumsy / All the utterly horrible things that can happen to your precious double half fried egg'?!?

Life in Current State

2010-01-08T09:48:00.006+05:30

It is exactly what the post title says. After so much time spent staring at the computer screen watching Maya progress at the speed of nothing, I try to make myself feel better by looking at others' work on the blogosphere. Then I'm a mix of being mildly inspired and greatly depressed and as I open up my sketchbook, clutching onto a pencil, we blankly stare at each other for about half an hour and then I just wham my head against the table:'(

Any cure?

Another one goes by.

2009-12-31T01:36:00.005+05:30

A new year. A fresh start. New resolutions. Not sticking to them. New friends. Old friends. And the feeling of the new-ness disappearing creeping in. Yet again.

This year has been an amazing one for Lady GaGa and well... me, in a lot of strange, un-understandable reasons. Some of them, I wish to pen... err.. type down.

So here's to a year of:

Two lost pendrives.

Watching the world and work evolve.

Sorting good friends from better ones.

Not losing any. Any. ANY weight.

Drinking fruit beer straight from the packets.

A dying keyring. RIP.

Lost of books bought.

Loving living in a single hostel room.

More confusion regarding future post college.

Going down south and finally seeing a bit more of the country.

Trying to keep sanity intact. Trying hard.

LOVING ADIDAS.

Realizing fonts can fascinate.

Downloading A LOT of music.

Realising 'Happy Bunny' is my idol.

Hoarding sketchbooks and not knowing what to fill them up with.

Being a regular at picking up a copy of Rolling Stones magazine every month.

Getting to know what 'de-veining' prawns is about and realizing its an absolute bitch.

Flu and cold and cough and aching and fever. And trying out medicines and capsules of all dimensions.

Looking at people I knew and not recognizing them anymore.

Owning a pair of HOT patent sneakers.

Amassing more & more junk and finding absolutely no space for them to be kept.

Lady GaGa obsession.

Loving early morning gurudwara trips.

Knowing for sure people won't, JUST WON'T sit through a film's end credits in a theater even though they last merely five minutes.

I like my new bunny suit.

When I wear it I feel cute.

Realizing a whole freaking decade is over!

So well,

A SAXXY NEW YEAR TO ALL from me and the blog:)

P.S. - The illustration has me surrounded by medicines and little mucous-monsters:)

Illustraton Friday : Undone

2009-12-22T19:19:00.004+05:30

After a long, long time, I update again. This time, for Illustrationfriday.

It was a secret plan. Rajat used to flee from the tea shop, where he used to lend a helping hand for a few rupees. Meeta, with her hair undone, away from the bucket and the broom. Sarita, who didn't like washing uensils at all, but had to would come along just as quickly. And the little stray pup wouldn't mind joining in for a little bit of fun. They used to play in the valley all evening till dark, leaving their odd jobs just how Meeta liked her hair as she chased the wind in the unending valley.

Have a lovely day:)

Scribblebook

2009-12-12T10:14:00.008+05:30

A fancy little note book my friend gifted me once upon a time:)

I used it to fill it with stupid Maya software notes. And scribbles, and more.

Dipankar, a batchmate, longs for a kiss and admires his sexy, big lips as sultry Maya seduces him:D (bottom right)

And Ranjita, a PG batchmate of mine, sits on the computer with her lovely long locks serenading the chair she sets herself on.

And my unsuccessful attempts at getting used to a brush pen.

Life must go on. Mustn't it?

Float Continues...

2009-12-06T14:20:00.001+05:30

Ugly grey softwares uninspire and life once more finds faith in a 6B pencil, a sketchbook and a plain set of watercolors:)

A sketch done at one such time.

Characters in Technicolor

2009-11-26T14:47:00.006+05:30

Finally I managed to scan in the final scenarios of my character design course.

Heres some of them; most of them, actually..

The Tailor, Rajubhai, inspiration taken from real life characters of the same profession.

The Frog and the Nightingale, a poem by Vikram Seth.

Characters taken forward from the poem and visualized.

The 'Create-your-own-story', Character inspired from the helper in a nearby gurudwara.

Name - Satwinder Kaur

Age, 41

The setup.

The slip offs and professional clumsiness,

And the lousy lousy end:)

Do leave feedback!

Have a saxx day:)

Illustration Friday : Unbalanced

2009-11-15T16:43:00.002+05:30

As would be slightly unclear, I'm still not sure who is more unbalanced, the woman or the weighing scale:)

Illustration Friday : Skinny 2

2009-11-05T17:21:00.005+05:30

Ok. This might sound funny but when I was young (and small and much more innocent), I applied simple logic to a lot of things, including the meaning of the word 'skinny'. So off my mind went...

Skinny = Lots of skin = Fat

So here's to childhood, it's assumptions and the twisted language called English.

Do leave feedback:)

Illustration Friday : Skinny

2009-11-03T16:35:00.003+05:30

It's been a while since I've updated the blog, quite some. Have been rather busy, or uninspired.

But the hostel dog(ess) Babita has finally delivered her new litter of puppies! The other day, she came running and all happy, and 'skinny' as hell. She has hidden the pups somewhere, probably doesn't want many people to know. She still is perpetually hungry, but less whiny:)

Everyone awaits seeing the pups as people have already started guessing their number and color!

So here's to another winter, another litter of puppies and another wave of joy to come:)

Illustration Friday : Flying

2009-10-13T10:20:00.002+05:30

The hostel dog Babita is pregnant. Again; after quite a while though. She is generally in a good mood these days and slashes her tail at the sight of people, gets more food than usual and eats it all up, lazes around more often and looks like she's dreaming of flying away with her yet-to-come little ones. Her bump has grown and if you touch her belly, little things kick back. I generally pat her on the head while passing by. Can't wait for the new litter of pups to come. sigh.

Illustration Friday : Welcome

2009-09-12T09:51:00.004+05:30

As I pass by the bakery on my way to the stationary store near my college, the chocolate tarts welcome me into their beautiful, ever so devilishly deelicious world.

And as often as I let it not tempt me, sometimes it just becomes an obligation to welcome the pretty little thing into my mouth.

To evil chocolate tarts and calories:)

Illustration Friday - Strong

2009-09-10T10:56:00.007+05:30

After aaaages I finally get myself to work for Illustration Friday. This week's word - Strong.

She didn't look the kinds; but she actually was strong enough for the bullies around her to start begging for mercy.

Yo Girl Power!

Do leave feedback.

Have a great day!

Designing Characters 3

2009-09-01T19:50:00.003+05:30

The last assignment was to come up with a little story of you own and shell out the character in it.
My story is about a 'sewadarni' (worker) in a gurudwara. Every morning she sweeps the whole gurudwara, though she isn't the best at her job. Or perhaps it is out of choice. She sweeps clumsily so people slip and fall. After all the chaos and giggling at it, she ends up landing on the area she had just swept and slips herself as the others have the last laugh. The character is still in its initial stages and a lot a lot a lot of work is left. Here are some early sketches and the basic model sheet.

Have a lovely day!

Designing Charaters - 'The Frog and the Nightingale' by Vikram Seth

2009-08-30T22:28:00.007+05:30

For the second week of the course we were supposed to come up with a short story/poem that is character centric and had scope to be animated. After two days of juggling betweek Oscar Wilde's 'The Remarkable Rocket' and Vikram Seth's 'The Frog and the Nightingale' because I didn't want to work with a human character, I settled for the latter.

So I developed the characters in the poem over a week. I am still finalizing the geography of the characters and making the 'Bingle Bog' come alive. Anyway, here's the poem.

Once upon a time a frog
Croaked away in Bingle Bog
Every night from dusk to dawn
He croaked awn and awn and awn
Other creatures loathed his voice,
But, alas, they had no choice,
And the crass cacophony
Blared out from the sumac tree
At whose foot the frog each night
Minstrelled on till morning light

Neither stones nor prayers nor sticks.
Insults or complaints or bricks
Stilled the frogs determination
To display his heart's elation.
But one night a nightingale
In the moonlight cold and pale
Perched upon the sumac tree
Casting forth her melody
Dumbstruck sat the gaping frog
And the whole admiring bog
Stared towards the sumac, rapt,
And, when she had ended, clapped.

Ducks had swum and herons waded
To her as she serenaded
And a solitary loon
Wept, beneath the summer moon.
Toads and teals and tiddlers, captured
By her voice, cheered on, enraptured:
“Bravo!” “Too divine!” “Encore!”
So the nightingale once more,
Quite unused to such applause,
Sang till dawn without a pause.

Next night when the Nightingale
Shook her head and twitched her tail,
Closed an eye and fluffed a wing
And had cleared her throat to sing
She was startled by a croak.
“Sorry – was that you who spoke?”
She enquired when the frog
Hopped towards her from the bog.
“Yes,” the frog replied. “You see,
I'm the frog who owns this tree
In this bog I've long been known
For my splendid baritone
And, of course, I wield my pen
For Bog Trumpet now and then”

“Did you… did you like my song?”
“Not too bad – but far too long.
The technique was fine of course,
But it lacked a certain force”.
“Oh!” the nightingale confessed.
Greatly flattered and impressed
That a critic of such note
Had discussed her art and throat:
“I don't think the song's divine.
But – oh, well – at least it's mine”.

“That's not much to boast about”.
Said the heartless frog. “Without
Proper training such as I-
And few others can supply.
You'll remain a mere beginner.
But with me you'll be a winner”
“Dearest frog”, the nightingale
Breathed: “This is a fairy tale –
And you are Mozart in disguise
Come to earth before my eyes”.

“Well I charge a modest fee.”
“Oh!” “But it won't hurt, you'll see”
Now the nightingale inspired,
Flushed with confidence, and fired
With both art and adoration,
Sang – and was a huge sensation.
Animals for miles around
Flocked towards the magic sound,
And the frog with great precision
Counted heads and charged admission.

Though next morning it was raining,
He began her vocal training.
“But I can't sing in this weather”
“Come my dear – we'll sing together.
Just put on your scarf and sash,
Koo-oh-ah! ko-ash! ko-ash!”
So the frog and nightingale
Journeyed up and down the scale
For six hours, till she was shivering
and her voice was hoarse and quivering.

Though subdued and sleep deprived,
In the night her throat revived,
And the sumac tree was bowed,
With a breathless, titled crowd:
Owl of Sandwich, Duck of Kent,
Mallard and Milady Trent,
Martin Cardinal Mephisto,
And the Coot of Monte Cristo,
Ladies with tiaras glittering
In the interval sat twittering –
And the frog observed them glitter
With a joy both sweet and bitter.

Every day the frog who'd sold her
Songs for silver tried to scold her:
“You must practice even longer
Till your voice, like mine grows stronger.
In the second song last night
You got nervous in mid-flight.
And, my dear, lay on more trills:
Audiences enjoy such frills.
You must make your public happier:
Give them something sharper snappier.
We must aim for better billings.
You still owe me sixty shillings.”

Day by day the nightingale
Grew more sorrowful and pale.
Night on night her tired song
Zipped and trilled and bounced along,
Till the birds and beasts grew tired
At a voice so uninspired
And the ticket office gross
Crashed, and she grew more morose -
For her ears were now addicted
To applause quite unrestricted,
And to sing into the night
All alone gave no delight.

Now the frog puffed up with rage.
“Brainless bird – you're on the stage –
Use your wits and follow fashion.
Puff your lungs out with your passion.”
Trembling, terrified to fail,
Blind with tears, the nightingale
Heard him out in silence, tried,
Puffed up, burst a vein, and died.

Said the frog: “I tried to teach her,
But she was a stupid creature –
Far too nervous, far too tense.
Far too prone to influence.
Well, poor bird – she should have known
That your song must be your own.
That's why I sing with panache:
“Koo-oh-ah! ko-ash! ko-ash!”
And the foghorn of the frog
Blared unrivalled through the bog.

And here's the characters...

I finalized the one in purple.

Do leave feedback:)

P.S. - I am sliiightly partial towards the frog.

Designing Characters - Tailor

2009-08-28T17:05:00.010+05:30

Wow. I'm updating after ages. Have been very very busy with my course on Character Design that lasted three weeks. Got a lot of work done and that makes me feel less useless:)
The first week we were supposed to go to different tailors; sketch, study how they work and almost everything about from how they are and what you think they are capable of. Based on those sketches and a number of body structures that we worked on, we finalized one of the structures that would suit the profession. So here are the model sheets and some situation sketches of the same. More to come. Soon:)

My tailor's initial structure. Didn't quite fit the profession, I guess. Hence got chucked.

Tailor naked model sheet. Well, almost naked.

Basic Character Model sheet.

Some expressions...

Other action explorations...

And some situation drawings of him at his workplace.
Hope you like it. Do leave feedback.
Have a byootiful day:)

2009-07-31T16:22:00.002+05:30

This little friend has not been updated because of a nasty fever, cough, cold and a terribly busy course. Hence no new post for a long long time. Apologies from my side:(

Update will happen. Soon.

Louwe:)

Scripting My Way Through

2009-07-16T11:22:00.006+05:30

This is an illustration done for a class assignment during Visual Scripting where we had to choose a passage from the book and make a collage/ poster/ illustration on it. This is the passage from Khalid Housseini's 'The Kite Runner' in which the main character, Amir's first book gets published and a while later he gets a call from Pakistan in the latter part of the book. Interestingly, this marks the beginning of the character finally stepping up to anything. The text in the illustration are the last words of Rahim Khan on the phone call.

Here it is...

“You look pale,” Soraya repeated, placing the stack of papers on the table.
“I have to go to Pakistan.”
She stood up now. “Pakistan?”
“Rahim Khan is very sick.” A fist clenched inside me with those words.
“Kaka’s old business partner?” She’d never met Rahim Khan, but I had told her about him. I nodded.
“Oh’” she said. “I’m so sorry, Amir.”
“We used to be close.” I said, “When I was a kid, he was the first grown up I ever thought of as a friend.” I pictured him and Baba drinking tea in Baba’s study, then smoking near the window, a sweetbrier scented breeze blowing from the garden and bending the twin columns of smoke.
“I remember you telling me that,” Soraya said. She paused, “How long will you be gone?”
“I don’t know. He wants to see me.”
“Is it…”
“Yes, it’s safe. I’ll be all right Soraya.” It was the question she’d wanted to ask all along- fifteen years of marriage had turned us into mind readers. “I’m going to go for a walk.”
“Should I go with you?”
“Nay, I’d rather be alone.”

Have a good day!

Do leave feedback:)

The. Heat. Is. Killing. Me.

2009-07-08T19:41:00.001+05:30

Winter. come. stick to me.

Illustration Friday : Shaky - A Tribute to Puppy Love

2009-07-05T15:47:00.010+05:30

All of us go through this, right?

When a girl passes by, with her beautiful hair sashaying behind her, you legs can't help but get shaky. lol.

ball point pen,watercolor and paper stump on cartridge.

Do leave feedback!

Have a lovely day:)

The Fluoroscent Love Clone Affair Stamp.

2009-07-01T12:36:00.006+05:30

I always had a thing for bright and neon and fluorescence. But recently it's just taking over. These be evidences. And then the clone stamp in Photoshop. I think its an affair. Or a fling. Well, I'm not quite sure.

My faculty.
Original Name : Dhiman Sengupta

The nympho and the takers.

Well, Lady GaGa influences. Hence the 'Disco Stick'.

All sketches done during class.
Fluorescent on newsprint.
Do leave feedback:)

Illustration Friday : Drifting

2009-06-23T09:16:00.004+05:30

'Time passes, as I keep drifting.'

A sketch in watercolor on cartridge paper.

Do leave feedback:)

Illustration Friday - Unfold

2009-06-15T18:41:00.002+05:30

I always found origami very fascinating. I tried hard but could never figure it out. One of the ways I thought I could get it right was by 'unfold'ing the whole structure, but by the time I would, it seemed impossible to get it back to what it was!

Though I was successful in getting the origami swan back to the sheet of paper...err... well, almost.

Sigh.

That Old Sketchbook.

2009-06-13T00:18:00.007+05:30

Funny how as we grow up, we change. Our eating habits change (in my case, they just grow), our lifestyles change and so does our choice of music. Well, so much for thinking I was over the Black Eyed Peas. Their much much anticipated album, the E.N.D. is finally out and I'm already weak in the knees. I don't know how they do it, but I'm addicted. So I look back at these sketches I did a seemingly long long while back. These were album covers I wanted to 'draw' for their albums, Monkey Business and their latest yet-to-come-out-at-that-time album, the E.N.D. and I pictured how I wanted them to look. Now that I look at them, I can find a gazillion flaws in them, some very very unacceptable, but I love them for the love I made them with. Brimming with nostalgia as summer vacations get over, I pack my world to take back to college for yet another expectantly eventful year waiting ahead.

Illustration Friday : Craving

2009-06-05T20:26:00.006+05:30

OK. Finally an Illustration Friday topic where I instantaneously think of what I'm going to use. Yes, I am craving for a huge, luscious, creamy, beautiful, godly slice of wonderful wonderful cheesecake!
Any will do, lemon, blueberry, mango, cherry, mocha, kiwi or more!
So, any givers?

The one above is the version that I drew recently, the bottom one being an old drawing:)

Dingbat the Singing Cat

2009-06-04T19:19:00.003+05:30

Recently, my dear dear friend Kaveri Gopalakrishnan told me to about this site, Mooshy Moo, someone else had told her about. Its of this band that makes free music. It more or less falls into to the electronic genre. I'm not really a fan, but I happily downloaded all I could find and I must say, I'm hooked on to it. One of the songs, as the title reads, 'Dingbat the Singing cat', from Dalt Wisney's album 'Lifetime Psychedelic Dance Lessons' is absolutely addictive. While I was listening to it, There was this visual that came to my mind. So I drew it out. I didn't really picture it like this in my mind, but I'm OK with how this came out. Ah. The joy of drawing model-y things. And yes, This happens to be practically my second attempt at drawing a cat. Oh, and the song is fun. The lyrics go something like this :

'Dingbat, the singing cat,
She disappeared and that was that'
and now folks can sleep, sleep,
sleep till the break of day.
Meow, meow, meow.'

Ah. I end up writing too much. I need an editor.
Do leave feedback.

Illustration Friday : Cracked

2009-05-26T17:27:00.008+05:30

Ok, This is perhaps my longest blog post. Anyway, for this week's Illustration Friday, I could only come up with this idea. It kind of traces back to my childhood. Well, as a kid, I was a hungry kid. very hungry. I wanted food. Hell with the world. Thankfully now its not the same. Ha! It involves some more hunger, some hard work, and finally being able to have 'cracked' the egg cracking***. Here goes...

Little Jassi got up one evening to realize no one was at home.
Momma was out for her evening walk and daddy for the cricket coaching.

Little Jassi was hungry. And bad.

'Ah! The fridge! But it will be locked like momma always keeps it when she goes out.'*

*yes, she used to do this. otherwise I'd eat everything inside it.

But like hunger found a way to his tummy;
Little Jassi always found a way to the top of the refrigerator...

... and be victorious.

As the golden light from the refrigerator glowed, little Jassi would soon find heaven.
'The appliance is calling to me...'

'But then... I can't cook vegetables and fruits are too healthy. Hmmm... What could I do?'

'I know... EGGS! They're easy, and I've seen Mum do it.
And how difficult could it get anyway?!?'

So he popped them in the frying pan. After all, who doesn't like scrambled eggs!?!
But something felt not-so-right.

'Uh...'

'YUCKH!!!
I made scrambled egg shells! Can't eat this... what now?'

'Ah! all hard work down the drain!' Little Jassi exclaimed as he did what he had to...

"TRRRINGGG!!!"
the doorbell rang.

'Oh my god! Now what do I do??'

'Ahem ahem...'

But Mommy dearest knew something strange had been cooking.
Little Jassi had left dead giveaways!

Like this...

... and this...

...annnd this...

'OK little one! WHAT, may I ask, have you been upto?'

'I... uhh... I...w...ww...was... just... uhh... h... hhh... hungry...'

And little Jassi was excused thanks to the I'm-so-sorry puppy dog face.
As he ended up with food in his stomach and a lesson in how to crack eggs!

And he, after a fine gap of eight years, finally got it.
Happy cracked-ing:)
Please do leave feedback!

**Sorry mom, for making you look so tyrranous, you don't look like this. But hey, I gave you pretty swell sneakers there! Love you:)
*** certain parts of the incident have been slightly altered or eggagerated.

Illustration Friday : Contagious

2009-05-19T19:38:00.003+05:30

Wow. this entry is happening after soooo much procrastination its not even funny. As each week passed, Illustration friday rolled out really cool topics; and I was absolutely uninspired to do anything on any of them. After knowing what this week's topic was, there was only one word that came to my mind. And then... I 'yawn'ed. So I quickly took a pencil and it took me two days to figure out a yawning mouth's movement. I hope I have managed to get it right.

This was another little idea that came to my mind, as I remembered school days and how boring some classes were and how we had to sit through them, so I decided to draw it out too.
Hope you like it.
Please leave feedback!

And boy, Yawns sure are contagious.

*yawns*

2009-05-13T12:28:00.002+05:30

This blog is on a holiday.

yayyyyy!

Kiss but Don't Tell.

2009-05-06T18:36:00.004+05:30

This be the illustration for an article for the college film and video annual (?!?) publication, called 'Cut Here' annnd Shreyas' Graphic Design classroom project. The article, 'Kiss and Tell', that this illustration is for is written by Akhila Krishnan and is about kissing in cinemas, how it has been portrayed over the ages all over the world, has come a come a long way to, well, still being thought of as something taboo (atleast in Bollywood), and to indivisuals who started the trend and what it has shaped itself as. The illustration is still in its refinement stages and theres a long way to go till it gets pooblished; or atleast till Shreyas makes sure it is purrfect and fit to become a part of her project.
I hope it gets done soon:)
Leave fiddback.

Of Late Nights and Women.

2009-05-04T21:48:00.003+05:30

Yes, it was a plan, to make myself sound really shady with the title. And yes, I do feel guilty for not updating little blog for quite a while now. It's 'haulidays'! And due to my royally messed up time cycle, at home I can't sleep when I'm supposed to and am pretty much, well, brain dead. These sketches were done on one such night from a book on female action models. The light and shade treatment was more of an extension of a freehand drawing course excercise and I ended up sleeping by some 4 am after a happy little sketching session. JOY!
Hope you like it.
Do leave feedback.
And have a lovely day:)

The Sooper Tam is Leaving!

2009-04-11T17:03:00.006+05:30

A friendly venture between Kaveri and me resulted in a blast of color, strangely 60s resembling style, a dash of Thangka, and a lot of louwe for our beloved senior, Shreyas R. Krishnan, the Sooper Tam, who is very verry soon leaving on a jet plane for her diploma project.

This poster was done to publicize her pre-diploma display, or simply her 'pre-dip', a dying tradition of college revived from time to time by people believing in the olden-golden ways of learning where students display allllll the work done by them throughout the course of them being a student here.

Ha! makes me realize how time flies... and I watch us stepping into the shoes of seniority.

Little elves get nostalgic as Film Club weeps watching the Sooper Tam leave...we will miss you being around:)

Illustration Friday : Talisman

2009-04-04T12:02:00.003+05:30

Nice how kids just figure some things out themselves...

A mini comic for illustration friday's topic this week, 'talisman'.

Do leave feedback.

have a good day.

P.S.- you need ice-cream. And so do I.

*birrd shites*

'eeek!'

Editing and all that jazz.

2009-04-02T23:44:00.004+05:30

Currently we are having a course in 'Editing'... I didn't expect it to be such a theory-heavy subject but well it is, and a lot of it for that matter! But its quite an eye-opener... and quite the contrary in some cases...
Taken by a Bengali who hails from Kolkata, a FTII, Pune graduate whose name happens to be Arghya Basu ( though it is pronounced as Orgho)... this course is also making me use my sketchbook a lot, which is nice for a change... Ok I wonder why I'm giving his bio-data, anyway, but these are my partially vaguely successful attempts to get a portrait of the man right.

EE on cartridge.
Have a nice day:)

Illustration Friday : Poise

2009-03-28T12:16:00.003+05:30

Yay!!

Finally an illustration friday topic that allows me to draw (as some of my friends would put it) skinny, hot models. So, there it is!

J.O.Y!

do leave feedback and have a great day!

Illustration Friday : Subtract

2009-03-21T23:39:00.002+05:30

Don't you think I'm quite good-looking/handsome/pretty/attractive, if only you could subtract a few pounds ?!?

*sigh*

WatercolorWoman.

2009-03-16T15:20:00.002+05:30

Been very very uninspired lately... and my watercolor set and sketchbook had been rotting in my bag for so long... I kind of like how this took shape... wanted to get the whole floating watery effect. It is only a little relieving to realize I'm not completely out of touch... phew!

Domestic Violence Reshaped.

2009-03-09T10:02:00.005+05:30

This is the redone version of the illustration on 'domestic violence in rural India' for a publication project by NID for the Ministry of Welfare for Women and Children. The illustration stretches over a double spread, the black extending to the next page. I guess it works more than the previous illustration...I guess.

Comic Book Ends!

2009-03-05T15:40:00.002+05:30

Ha. It's been a very very exhausting journey to the completion of what you see. Hope you like it. Do do feedback-ing.

Comic Book : Three, Four, Five.

2009-02-23T18:04:00.008+05:30

The third, fourth and the fifth in the actual sequence...hope y'all like it!
Another five pages to come.

Comic Book : One, Two.

2009-02-23T17:40:00.004+05:30

These are the first and the second pages as in the actual comic book sequence that I did.

Many more 'AARGHs' to come soon...

Do leave feedback!

Violence Strikes.

2009-02-17T11:39:00.003+05:30

This is an earlier version of an illustration I recently did on the subject of 'domestic violence in rural India'.

I do not know what fixation I have with using only black and white in almost all illustrations that I'm doing these days, I guess it is a phase...It is also kind of similar in terms of the composition to something that I did a while back that also happens to be up on the blog in a previous entry and I refuse to disclose which one it is...hehe.

All feedback welcome. Have a good day!