Art in Music, Paintings, Sculptures, Stories, Poems, Fashion, Everyday Life....

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What kind of art can we find in music, paintings, sculptures, stories, poems, fashion? Is there art in everyday life?

Like with everyone else, I have been bitten by the television bug too. And for some days, I've been thinking about this question while watching a music talent show. Is there the same art in music as it is in paintings? What kind of art can we identify in stories and poems, and is it same as that found in everyday life, as in fashion, food, etc.?http://www.fineartamerica.com

The Figurative Art of Painting the Face



A work in progress

Firstly, it is the face that attracts anybody. As an artist, the thing I love to paint foremost is the face. It would be very easy so find the reason if one analyses it. But I would just like to say that emotions affect me. And the face is the part of the body where emotions show most easily. In that case, I would be an adherent of the Expressionist school of art, I understand.

Slowly I am getting to know my art. Why do many kinds of things? Why experiment with so many colors? Isn't it the right time to choose, to focus on some, and block out the rest. For a signature style, isn't it necessary to choose?

And layering - of colors - so that it shows in depth, is essential. For some time now, I had been concentrating on small size paintings. I had moved away from my size, which is large. In India, when I started off, I started with the large size. Due to the economy, I have forced myself to do the small sizes. But that has not been very satisfying. That should not be the case, but that's how I am feeling. My personality likes big paintings, and I should not confine myself to the small ones.

With this thought process, I am preparing the ground to restart work on the large ones. Hope this is the right path. What do you say?

A Studio At Last!

It's been a long time since I wrote this blog. And there is a reason for that. We've been moving house. You can imagine how much time and effort it takes for that. All the stuff and the packing! Then the subsequent unpacking.

There has been some excitement for me in this house moving too. And that is, I was to get a new place to work, paint. I could not wait to get my place, clean and arrange it, and then start painting.

Amidst unpacking the innumerable cardboard boxes, getting the things arranged in the respective places, disposing of recycle thus generated, then my part time job, I had not been able to get my painting spot cleared. It has taken me more than a month to finally remove the cobwebs of the garage, sweep the floor, spray insecticide, set up the shelves and the easels, and start work.

Earnestly, I should have done this long back, immediately after the move. But I wanted it to be a smooth, pleasant experience. So I didn't rush. And I am happy to see the outcome. After burning incense, dusting regularly, the garage has turned out to be a great place to paint. Much more than I had imagined.

The lights are insufficient, but very soon a couple of tubelights would do the trick. I've given up the idea of using track lights, as I realised that track lights are best for exhibiting paintings, but not for making them. Working under track lights would focus brightness too much on them, which would not be comfortable for long hours of work. Moreover, painting requires flooded lighting, not focused. 

Why do so many artists end up with their studio in the garage?

How to Paint when I don't have an Art Studio

I am an artist. I like to paint as often as I can. I do paint frequently, in intense patches of time. But what are the options for someone who does not have a studio? I have been seriously facing the crunch of space and  looking to solve this issue. I am sure many artists face the same problem as this.

I have a table where I do my smaller paintings like ACEO, pastels, sketches. The smaller table top easel is used for the smaller upright works. On the balcony, I have set up my large easel. That is for the bigger works. Sometimes I use the portable easel when the work needs to be moved around.

But all these makeshift arrangements have not been easy. I am in need of a permament work place. A proper studio. My own art studio.

And, I am happy to say, that dream is soon going to be fufilled. We are going to shift to a new place, where I can have my own workplace. The garage would be my new studio. I am so elated about this whole thing. I would have a place to set up all my easels, my table, my racks with paints and brushes, and fill up the walls with new work. The new year is going to be great! I thank God for all this mercy.

Should Paintings be made to be Sold?

Exploration, oil on canvas

Should a painting me made solely to be sold? Or is it a labor of love only, with no pecuniary aspects attached to it? It all depends on the intention of the artist, I would think.

A painting originates in the mind of the artist. Much before the artist picks up the pencil or the brush, the image is formed, whether vaguely or clearly. An artists paints, first and foremost, to give shape to the image or idea in the mind. After the image comes the real making of the painting. This involves lines, color, texture and all the details that goes into the making of a painting.

Art always originated in the realm of the mind. But then, the existence of the artists engaged in making this art also becomes important. Artists have to make a living too. Hence, art came to be sold. For the artist to continue making art, her art has to be sold.

But the question, whether art should be made solely with the art market in mind, is highly debatable. It is considered that art produced for the market only does not have a uniqueness. It tends to adhere to the norms, rather than break norms to create something new. The entire purpose of art and creativity - which is to create something new - is defeated.

More Thoughts on Art, Art Marketing and Publicity

Mendicant, oil on canvas, 30"x20"
Status: available

Artists love to create their stuff. Many of us like to remain engrossed day and night in our media, our canvases, our paints, etc. etc. We stay awake whole nights to finish a piece. We think about it when we are not working at it, and thus become the subject of our family and friends' jokes because of our absent mindedness. That is the lot of all artists, we say. That our end is to create art, the things we love.

But is it enough to just create? What is the goal beyond this? Should we conceive an idea, then spend days and nights making it, and when it is finished, should hang it up on our walls for good? Eternity would find these pieces on our walls when we are not there anymore?

Many artists among us would disagree on that. What is the purpose of art? Is it to show just beauty, so that the world becomes a more beautiful place? Many modern pieces of art would not fit the label of 'beautiful things'. They may even be ugly.

So, is the purpose of art to educate the world? Some would stress this fact vehemently. Art educates the world. Especially by encapsulating the present, it records the present, and preserves it as history for future generations.

Therefore, spreading art becomes important. And thus, marketing of finished art, through publicity, and sales, enters the list of things that an artist needs to do. And many artists are inept in that.

Some New Thoughts on Art

Can there be any new thoughts on art? The same things keep coming and going. They rise in the mind, then disappear, then rise again.

This is most true of work that has been started, worked on for some time, then abandoned for some time, and then picked up again. Why does some work (most work, to be correct) require such an incubation period/ And why do they emerge better, afterward. Even though the initial thought with which the work was begun, had changed.

Fair Weather

Oil on canvas

50"x40"

Artist: Anuradha Rajkumari

Status: sold

The above mentioned painting is one such example. It was started and finished in the year 2007. But much went into its initial conceptualisation, then execution. Not only because it was a large canvas, but also because I was experimenting with colour and texture.

Size of a Painting

Title: Between Heaven and Earth

Medium: Oil & acrylic on canvas

Size: 36"x36"

Even in painting, the question of size is sizeable. At least for some people. Some like things miniature. Like miniature paintings, writing your name on a grain of sand. Some might wonder - is that even possible? And how? For others, like architects, large format is the buzzword. Large buildings, offices, townships, cityscapes, skyscrapers. They laze in the sunshine of the humunguous.

For people like me, it is the size, but in the two-dimensional sense. As an artist, I have been most comfortable painting on canvases that are 20"x24" or more, like 40"x40" and 40"x48". It is an accepted fact that a larger surface creates a greater impact.

But it does not mean that one paints a better painting on a larger canvas. A good artist paints equally good pictures on both sizes. But the point is about comfort. If an artist ios comfortable with a larger canvas, then why not?

I have been trying to make smaller paintings too. And the greatest advantage, I feel in that, is the lesser paint and time it takes. A smaller painting gets done faster, so my results are there to see quicker than it would be normally if I do a large canvas. And I think that is not too little an advantage.

And then, one can do a lot of practice in smaller formats. Like with charcoal, ink and crayons. As the days pass, I discover more advantages.

It will be some time before I find out the exact size that would be right for me. But meanwhile, I would continue to work on both large and small canvases. There are joys in both.

How does an Artist Feed herself???

Creating art is the main aim, the life's goal of an artist. She would do anything to create, hold a paint brush and make the marks on canvas. Stroke by stroke, the picture emerges. A thought that takes a shape, color, produces vibrations. Connoiseurs stop and look at it and sigh in amazement.

The result of an artist's labor is breathtaking. It brings happiness, knowledge, inspiration, to others. And mostly that is what an artist gets. Admiration from people, acknowledgement about her talent, encouragement, publicity, fame.

The more mundane of all the things hardly crosses anyone's mind when they look at an artist's work. How does the artist sustain such a passion, day after day, holding brush and mixing paint, giving shape and color to one vision after another, for the world to see? Is it just her passion? How does she get her material like paint and canvas? Does it come from an unknown quarter? Is it being donated to her for free from art lovers? Who sustains an artist while she is at work, creating the breathtaking striking works?

Some time the artist has to stop, while she is working, as sher stomach makes her lose concentration. She cannot live on air. And she has to live somewhere, store her supplies in some place, under some shade. From some shop she has to procure her supplies.

Most people expect an artist to just thrive on plain air. As if, due to their exalted profession, they do not require food, clothing and shelter like the rest of the human race. Such an outlook is harmful. It has not helped the artist one bit to be looked at with such regard. People have to look closely at an artist, and recognise her for the work, the hours put in, the labor, the expenses. Art is sometimes just ground level hard work and logistics.

Texture in my Work

Title: Untitled,

Medium: Oil/acrylic on canvas, 36"x30"

Price: $1000

In this painting, I applied colour in big swathes, with my brush sweeping in side to side motion. When one layer was complete, I allowed it to dry, and then applied another layer. I don't recall how many layers I applied in total. but the were quite a few.

The complementary colour scheme also added to the brightness of the painting.

I did not draw from a model. On most occasions, I draw figures from imagination. That is the reason I have a dreamy quality to my figures, I feel. My figures are not real. But they are not unreal either. They exist in my mind.

Picking up Orchids

Title: Picking up orchids, oil on canvas, 48"x36

Original painting available for $1,800
print on paper for $150
giclee for $300

This painting was about dreams, like picking up dream flowers. Large format, oil on canvas, the experiment was about creating a dream like feeling, with the background merging in wavelike motions.

Doing it brought me great satisfaction. Of course it took a lot time, and many many layers, as the canvas kept absorbing whatever initial layers I brushed into it.

The outcome was lovely. Somewhat stylized. And the style conservatives find points to draw attention to. But I love the effect.