~r a w speak~: Sketches

For a change, this post is not about my narcissistic attempt at being a writer. Here, I'm posting some of the sketches that I did in one of my previous lifetimes.

Being an only sheltered child, left me being at home most of my childhood. So I sought refuge in books, indoor games, and drawings. I was never good at drawing, and still am not, but boarding school gave me an opportunity to hone my sketching skills. I passed the Elementary and Intermediate Grade drawing exams conducted by the JJ School of Arts,Mumbai.

Though I could never get along with colours, (so painting was out of scope) I realised that I can use the pencil to good use, beside scratching my back, & cleaning my nose & ears. :)

I don't have any drawings made during my school days, but these sketches were completed sometime between the years 1990 & 1999.

---------------------------------

1) Diva (1990 or 91): This is perhaps the only sketch I have from my boarding school days. I must have been in Std 8th or 9th at SSPMS, Pune. A classmate showed me a newspaper cutting of a lady singer and I decided to sketch it. You can see the sketch, and the original to its right. Yes, I still have that old cutting. :)
It's a pity that my sketch shows the singer to be slightly healthier than the original. But hey, I was just 13 or 14yrs old then. I didn't know women gave so much importance to their midriff.

---------------------------------

2) Ash (1994): A then angelic, innocent looking Aishwarya Rai was just making her presence felt on celluloid, and I was turning 18. Nice motivation for a teenaged imagination? :)

---------------------------------

3) Rembrandt - Self Portrait (07 XII 94): I was in the first year of IHM, Ahmedabad, sharing an apartment with 4 guys, who would later become my best friends. (We even named our group from the first letters of everyones first names. Vivek, Rahul, Jitin, Mohit, Ashwin, vis a vis V R JAM. Cheesy, I know. But it worked, and yes, this was before the days of 'Dil Chahta Hai'.)
I remember bringing home art magazines from the British Library, and there I saw the dutch master, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn's self portrait. It still is my most difficult, and most favourite sketch. Sadly I can't find the original for comparison, and I'm sure this one is not a match on the maestros’, but it is my tribute to the great man.

---------------------------------

4) Elephant (04 I 95): Another sketch from one of the art magazines that I used to bring from the library. I don’t know whether it is an african or an indian elephant, though I would put my money on it being african, considering the size of its ears. Because of the dense population in India, and there hardly being any place for humans to walk, Indian elephants have adapted themselves by decreasing, both in size and population. The tigers and lions are also making way for the humans. I always knew animals were more generous than humans.

---------------------------------

5) Age (05 I 95): A wise old man. I was always fascinated by old men with long beards. There is something nice and wise in a lond bearded grandpa compared to a clean shaven one. :) No offence to the clean shaven ones though.

---------------------------------

6) Survive (11 III 95): This originally was a sketch of a black man (I can’t call him african american, because I dont know whether he was from america or africa). He was leaning next to a pole. Since I’m not good with faces, I had to erase his head, and add a macabre touch to the sketch. If I get hold of a coloured scanner, you’ll be able to see the red pool of blood.

---------------------------------

7) My Room (1996-97): This was my hostel room, during the final year of IHM. I used to share it with Ashwin. One can the see the bare existence that we guys used to live during college. The broom, the bags, the torn curtains, the broken mirror on the table. It all makes it seem just like yesterday, even though it was a decade ago. And the book I was reading was “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Astronomy”.

---------------------------------

8) Scenery (1999): This was at the back of a Readers Digest. Probably a sketch of Venice. I’ve always wanted to visit that city. I am amazed with the idea of cities being built on water, and people using boats to travel. Come to think of it, Mumbai/Bombay also becomes the same, during monsoon.

---------------------------------

9) Skull’O Spider (16 XII 99): A colleague from IHM had once made a similar sketch, and I had to redraw it. So I did. Again, a coloured scanner is required for the correct impact of the sketch.