A logo for Kasturi's Kuotes

Nicholas, a student from National Institute of Design, India sent me some logo designs on his own and I used one of them on a template for my quotes.Am yet to check all his designs.
I had been careful about separating my quotes from my art but a logo is about art. Kasturi's Kuotes and Kasturi's Canvas seem to be converging!Meanwhile, I know that I should get back to drawing soon!
#kasturiskuotes

© Kasturi's Kuotes

Announcement :

I now have a copyright for my original quotes that I write with the hashtag #kasturiskuotes on social media.

Those of you who connected to me on facebook and are reading this,would know about my quotes. For those who came in late, this is how the story goes:

I started writing one liners on my blog Spontaneisms http://spontaneisms.blogspot.in/ a few years back and then went on to write them regularly on facebook. They started getting popular and shared by friends and foes alike!!

As suggested by friends and a few well wishers, I compiled them and filed for a copyright under the title 'Kasturi's Kuotes'.

Well, that's that! Kasturi's Kuotes are now under copyright.

You are free to copy or share them with #kasturiskuotes with due acknowledgement to the author.

Thanks to all those who felt my quotes were worth being compiled and worth getting a copyright.



 

  

My Column on Gplus Feb 04 Issue

Column in G-PLus

A screenshot of one of my articles from a fortnightly column on G- Plus magazine.

http://g-plus.in/

http://g-plus.in/ 

Happy New year 2016

Year another artful year ended to start another... . 2015 led me to galleries, exhibitions, selection in contests and sales. I also embarked on my ceramics journey. Will I continue in ceramics..I know not! However, I am thinking of altering my style a bit . I have started experimenting a bit but time shall say if I culminate in something or not.
Till then, I post this picture  from a Delhi wall, where my sold plates compete against other artefacts! A nice feeling indeed!!

Art for Change

My article "Art for Change" was published in the IIMA Alumnus magazine in the Feb 2015 issue. I have written about using art as a behavioral intervention tool in training and engagement in organisations, to help facilitate organisational change.The article draws an analogy between the Plein air tevhnique of painting to the Out Bound Learning 

technique of training , touching upon how art  fosters team spirit and helps build perspectives.

Boxed

My Painting on a Jewelry Box

 

My art has gone from the walls to the tables! A painting I gifted to a close friend about a year back has now found itself adorning a jewelry box. It does look exquisite.

 

2015 is here and am still writing this blog, still painting and talking of art and also exhibiting. I think art is really here to stay in my life. In bits and pieces or in overdoses.

 

The year has been steady in terms of art, though not passionate and prolific. I seem to have accepted the presence of art in my being and the crazy energy is giving way to mature observation and understanding.  This year I look forward to drawing - shapes, structures and figures! Happy 2015 all of you!

Lalita Lajmi's Solo Exhibition- 2014

I was privileged to have got an invitation for senior Indian artist Lalita Lajmi's Solo Exhibition- 'The Masque of Life', held in Jehangir Art Gallery early this week . What a treat it was! It was a collection of watercolour paintings depicting relationships and the unique thing about this exhibition is that the whole collection was done using only pale blue and black colours. Her usual rendition of humans playing different roles or masks to coexist with other aspects of life has been beautifully brought out in serene, soothing colours. The Lajmism of the expressions stand out in the white backgrounds, giving a feel of serenity. The simple, yet classy artist herself sitting next to her work was a double treat as if only exemplifying the divinity of her works. At the age of 80, she has worked on a few life size water colours with intricate work!

The opening was buzzing with a host of celebrities from the film, theater and of course art background. That was however not enough to take on the exquisite artwork.

I have come back inspired and motivated. I spent some time towards the end of the show talking to the artist and realised that there is no other short cut to success than simplicity and hardwork.

This is the third or fourth time that I have had a chance to interact with lajmi. Each time I have been awestruck by her grace and underplayed class.

Collage 2013

Some of my works of 2013. Flowers, music and house facades were the major themes that I worked on during the year. Some of the work adorns the walls of someone else's. Some of them are with me. This year I hope to paint with a vengeance and I hope I do also sell with the same force!:) 

An end is a beginning!

Hi Blog readers! It is that day of the year when all of us get geared to party and welcome the new year. I am reminiscing today as I leaf back month by month of my mind's year book. How was the year ? It was a year of love and a year of pain. It was also a year of decisions and responsibility. It was everything but a year of art  when it comes to painting and drawing. However, I did paint a few canvases and I did make a few sketches. I also put up my artwork in a restaurant in an upmarket place in Mumbai. I hopped into a few exhibitions too. The Flemish exhibition from Antwerp Museum was a real treat where they exhibited works of the great Van Dyke and Reubens. The India Art Festival was a proof of the ever growing number of Indian artists , big and small. Some learning that I did in the year:

1) The composition of an artwork is crucial in terms of how the outcome would be.

2) Next comes colour harmony. You might have got some great strokes but if you haven't worked out the colour theme well, the visual impact would be very feeble .

3)  An artist should stick to his or her forte in terms of style and themes. It is great for identity and sales.

4) Exhibitions are important not only for sales but for networking for the next level.

With that I end my post with best wishes for a New year 2014.
My blog has completed 5 years and it has been a wonderful journey. Thanks for all the encouragement!

Tabla on the wall

This is a picture of my painting hanging on a wall in Australia. I do feel excited to see this framed so beautifully and occupying pride of place in someone's room. I think the brick wall just matches this artwork!

The tabla, a musical percussion instrument from India, has been an integral part of my life right since childhood. I started my Hindustaani classical vocal music lessons as a child and my guruji would play the tabla as I sang. Those days I used to just think of them as a means of boring accompaniment as I was too young to appreciate the beauty of classical music. Nevertheless they stayed on, even as I walked out of classical music, only to revive it years later. Now, I have a set of tablas in my living room and do I appreciate them!!!! I adore them and what they can do to uplift music! Am glad I immortalised their vivre in this painting!

My art is travelling places. High time the artist did too, what say?:)

 

Yours on Theirs!

Hi All! Happy Diwali and wish you lots of warmth and festive spirit!!! Am super excited...No I did not strike a lottery! Just that my artwork is up on my friend's beautiful home for Diwali!
When you are creating the artwork, you are only concerned about the details of perfecting the painting. After that comes the joy of gifting it or selling it to someone. My relationship with the painting usually ends there.

But the greatest delight and pride comes when you walk into a home which has your artwork hanging on the wall. A couple of months back, I walked into a young couple's house , only to be delighted to see one of my precious flower paintings hanging on top of a beautiful chest. The setting was perfect! I had gifted them this painting on an occasion. I cannot describe the feeling I had. I have so much artwork in my living room that there is a huge colour crash going on all the time and each one of them is always competing against the others to make a statement (tongue in cheek)!So none of them really stand out.

There are many other occasions where I have graced occasions  in friends' houses only to smugly admire my artwork displayed among other decor around their homes. It is a phenomenon called Artist's narcissism coined by your's truly!).
Another of my paintings on a friend's beautiful home below:

This is one of my most precious paintings , framed beautifully in blue by my friend to suit their decor:

Am now all energised for the Diwali!Off now for decorating the house and going out for some shopping!!!!Oh yes...don't miss out on some painting I may do, folks!!!!Who knows whose home it may land up in??

My art display in Mia Cucina

Hi friends! Some of my artwork is on display in Mia Cucina restaurant in Hiranandani, Powai ( Mumbai) for a few weeks. If you are in a mood for some Italian food in a quiet, up market joint, please hop over to this place by the Powai lake. Of course in the course of eating, you will even see my paintings and who knows? You may want to buy some!!!:):) . 

Mia Cucina serves excellent Italian food, my favourites being the soups, pizzas and Americano coffee there. If not for the food, you must at least go there for the unique bottle art as I call it. The decor there comprises a curious collection of old and new bottles,cans and some bins and holders from a bygone era. The bar in the middle of the restaurant is very interesting. If you are a wine drinker, you must taste the sangria there!

Some pics of my art display there; 

and finally,Moi and Mia :):)

The event flashed in the local newspaper PowaiInfo http://powai.info/2013/06/03/powai-based-kasturi-borkotokis-art-display-at-mia-cucina-starting-june-3-2013/?fb_source=pubv1

Art and Commerce

 

 

I had once talked about the other side of art on this blog. The other side of art is in fact nothing but the commerce of art. There are days when the art of art has to take a backseat for the commerce of it.
As far as I am concerned, the commerce came naturally along with the art.
If I were to really put it in chronology, this was how it was and still is:

1) I was bored and dejected.
2) I felt like painting, so I painted.
3) As I painted, I blogged about it.
4) I felt good about my creations and gave a few away as gifts. My friends liked my paintings. So did some friends of theirs.
5) Some friends eventually  felt sorry for me and bought a few paintings which I gave away at pitiful prices.
6) I painted more and more and learnt so much that I seemed to have gotten better at it and people actually wanted them for a price.
7) I started selling at decent prices.
8) I painted a few orders.
9) I exhibited just because I felt that was the next logical thing to do, as my house was screaming colours from all nooks and corners.
10) Art was beginning to give me commerce.

Having said all this, I state that art and each artwork is sacred for me. I never had a push strategy for it. It was a pull thing that happened. I still paint because I love to and if anyone wants to pay me for its value, it's a great thing to happen. Else, I am not getting into a deal at all.

I slowly realised that the commerce of art was not very artful at all! When you got the value for an artwork you felt great, exhilarated and had enough money to buy supplies for the next two canvases!

Some down sides of art-commerce:

1) People say they desperately want a piece and then after you have gone ahead and framed it , they do not get back.

2) People comment on public threads that they want a particular artwork, but when you quote them the price, they disappear. This happened to me and at least two other artists I know.

3) I recently carried a painting with me when travelling to my home town as someone desperately wanted my artwork on his wall. I had to go through all kinds of manoeuvres to get the painting through security as there was some issue about carrying wooden frames in the aircraft. Anyway, after I reached my destination the person never responded, even after my messaging him repeatedly. I had to leave the painting back in my Mom's. It has been more than two weeks since I have come back but .....      

 These are some of the small issues that I have faced in my limited horizon. I say limited because I have not voluntarily ventured into the commercial side of art.

I think all artists would agree with me that art is sacred to them. They do not like to go into negotiations with people who do not understand the value of art.

To me each work is a value proposition. Respect, beauty and hardwork are packed into each piece.
However, I know that art and commerce shall never meet. They will always go parallel to each other!   

India Art Festival

I went for a quick half an hour to the India Art Festival, which was held on MMRDA grounds in Mumbai. It was like a bombardment of art, with all big and small artists from all over India putting up stalls with their artwork. Most artists shared stalls with one or two others . There were artworks from other parts of the world too, put up by some international galleries.

I spotted the ever graceful Lalita Lajmi and was lucky to spend some time with her. She had two stalls  showcased with her print-work art, hosted by a gallery. Her art always inspires me!

I searched desperately in the chaos and art clutter for Damien Hirst's works, which were supposed to be displayed there ( newspapers said so!). All I saw was a huge blow-up of his famous skull sculpture! I might have missed any other installation of his, even if it was there. It was all a zig-zag of stalls and artwork and one had to actually find the way around amidst the colourful chaos!

Just near the entrance was this huge ( about 10 feet) installation of a skull made by artist Sukanta Panigrahy. Well , we seemed to have our very own Hirst! 

I found it fascinating, as it was made of e- waste. The entire thing was made of old CDs, mother-boards, mouses, wires and keyboards!The teeth were cleverly made of computer mouses! If that was not enough, it emitted smoke and some weird sci-fi hiss along with the smoke, every 5 mins! This artist is also famous for making the much noticed black horse Installation in the last Kala Ghoda  festival! By the way, he seems to be a skull specialist, as there were two more skull installations made by him!  

All in all, it was an interesting experience, though I couldn't help feeling that it was too much art and too many artists! I guess this would have been a great platform for building bridges and connecting with galleries and fellow artists!

The other side of Art

Art does not begin and end with just the passion and the paints, unfortunately. The toughest part, to me ( after the pics and camera) is the framing!!! I've been going up and down two, three framers. First I went to one guy who framed a few of my paintings around 3 years back.I found him very bare and clinical and dumped him.. Last year, I went to an upmarket framer, who made such gaudy and overwhelming frames that the painting got overshadowed, both by the frames and the prices of the frames which were exorbitant! People would be staring more at the frames than at the painting! Then next came another framer, who was little away from where I lived and who turned out to be so raw, that he did a mass customisation of framing to all the paintings that I'd given him. He also nailed two of my paintings to the frames!!!!! Of course I was near to tears!!!! Kill me but don't nail my creations!!!

Now, I've finally gone back to the first framer. I've also learnt meanwhile that simple( not gaudy) frames are the best. The painting needs more focus than the frame, though a beautiful frame can do wonders to enhance the artistic appeal! Some of my paintings recently framed, and wrapped in cellophane:

Conclusion: Framing is not an easy decision. It's a time consuming activity. Each painting needs to be carefully thought-through, so that a frame could be fitted to the best fit!!

Sunita Bhuyan's Bihu rendition on the Violin

Hi Friends, It's not a painting that I am uploading today, but another work of art on the violin that's more than worth hearing! Presenting a small clip by the violin virtuoso Sunita Bhuyan, a disciple of pandit V. G Jog, from the album called 'Bihu Strings' with  Times Music. Please visit the following link:
Sunita Bhuyan's Violin

This album is a Bihu fusion, and one of a kind.
Sunita has also sung in the album . I wish her best of luck and success and more successful albums in the future.

Palette Knife Painting - Experiential learning notes

 I have been doing palette knife painting regularly for the past few months. Some things that I learnt:

1) Use knives that are sturdy and do not 'bend' with the pressure.

2) Have a variety of shapes, from the broad spatula kinds to pointed, sharp edged ones.

3) Use broad spatulas to do surfaces like skies, walls and backgrounds and use the sharper ones to do finer details.

4) Palette knives are better for Alla Prima and impressionist works. Keep in mind that the approach that you use in a regular layer to layer painting cannot be adopted here. e.g.  If you want to highlight lemon yellow or auburn streaks in the sky, it's best to do the streaks on the blank canvas, because as the paint is impasto, if you plan to do the streaks after applying blue for the sky, the yellow/auburn will blend with the blue, thus making it impossible to show up on the sky. This will restrict the effect of the sky. I recently did a scenery where I wanted to highlight autumn leaves on the greens of the trees, but failed to do so as I had already applied the greens. The lighter colour just blended into the greens and disappeared.

5) Do not use colour sparingly. Pile on. The very fact you are using the knife is for an impasto effect. Knife work doesn't have to look photo finished. It should have a painterly touch to it, and the advantage of the bright, unadulterated colours ( no medium)  should be felt. The colours should 'shout out' from the painting!

6) Plastic knives are handy and are great for small paintings, especially when you have to build in details for flower petals, eyebrows, eyes, parts of houses etc etc. However, for very large bases, you wouldn't want to use them, as they bend with pressure and may tend to alter the shape of the strokes.

7) Steel knives are the best. However, make sure they are stainless steel as otherwise, they will rust in no time.

8) When using knives, first make the values on the palette and pile on paint straight from there on to the canvas. Please do not make the mistake of using a medium, as the colour runs on the canvas in that case and it will give a 'dripping' look to your painting.

9)  You can adopt a top to bottom approach while painting, as that does not get you into a mess of colours. If you start working from the top of the painting and proceed till the bottom, there is lesser chance of colours sticking to your hands and  elbows! This is easier said than done however and will come with practice!the paint being thick and wet, gets off the canvas at the slightest pretext and if you aren't careful, you will be a colourfull mess in no time!

10) You can also adopt a brush and pallete mixed work, if you want to give some work a 3d effect, with the palette knife and the rest of the background done in brushwork.

11) While doing figures and portraits, you can adopt an alla prima technique to block values . I find the thin plastic knives great for this. The plastic knives are also great for plein air.

12) You need to finish the painting at a go, as blending of colours becomes difficult if the paint begins to dry since impasto paint will be patchy when it dries. The painting will take at least three weeks to dry completely.

13) If you are planning to use knives for plein air, its best to use acryllic and not oils as they dry faster, unless, you have provisions of getting them home or to the studio untouched.

Photos of two of my knife works.

14) Keep 2 or three clean rags and some rolls of tissue as each time you apply paint of different colours you have to wipe. You can use different knives for different colours/ values also.

15) Always, always wear an apron.

16) Put your signature after the work dries.

I've been having lots of fun with the knives. Hope you do too!

Here's the song cuts like a knife, by Bryan Adams, dedicated to this post:
 http://youtu.be/6VZhSkREYBc

Propulsion

This is my first post of 2012 and I so wanted it to be a painting! But the month is almost more than halfway through and I haven't painted! Some things have taken my life over in such a way that I haven't had the time to paint or even sketch or draw! My paints lie scattered, my brushes lie still and my very dear palette knives which I brandished so forcefully in the past few months lie abandoned!

In the past whenever I have announced on my blog that I am off art, it has always propelled  me to paint right afterwards! So it's with this very hope that I have posted this.  So I hope to at least start off with a small artwork this evening..

Meanwhile, am uploading this half done painting done to practice alla prima technique , with a live model .
It's a brush work done with oil paints. However, I couldn't finish the painting on the spot and later on tried to finish it a bit from memory, as I didn't have her snaps. this was done a few months back.

Another one done in a learning session with a male model is here, using same technique. I was still learning the technique when I was painting him. I made mistakes while blocking values here. But the model (who is a big artist himself) was very sporting and I didn't exactly get beaten up by him! :)
Blocking values is really crucial when doing portraits, as there is no messing up with the way someone looks:).

Finally, to make up for a long absence, I am also uploading a video of a performance by a friend of mine, who is a violin artiste,
Sunita Bhuyan. She is about to release her album shortly. So please watch out for more on her on my blog!
http://youtu.be/2BQfo1i71IE

Alla Prima- Learnings from a Workshop

I recently attended a portraiture & figurative workshop conducted by an International artist.

Some notes:

Objective of the workshop: To learn how to make portraits and figurative paintings from live models.

Technique: Alla Prima.

Methodology: Live Demo by artist followed by experiential learning sessions by students (painting from a live model, using same technique as taught by the artist).

Definition: Alla Prima is a technique which means 'at once ' in Italian . In this method, instead of  painting in layers, paint is applied wet-on-wet , and the painting is finished within hours , instead of days.

Some things I learnt :

1) Reduce the subject of painting to shapes and planes. ( Don't think of a nose as a nose, but as a breakdown of planes)

2) Squint your eyes and look at the subject.

3) Look for shapes, value, colour and edges, in a chronological manner, while squinting.

4) Draw lines with brush to suggest sharp cntours and demarcating lines and tangents (e. g.upturn of a face, defining line of a garment, tilt of the postrure, eyebrow level, nose level etc. ).


Pre - painting:

5)  Very important part of this technique is the value gradation of colors.

 Create a value chart for the basic colours that you would be using for a subject.

 There should be 3 values in light and 2 values in shade for a particular range. For. e.g. for flesh colour, we  could have a very dark with burnt sienna and cobalt blue and a bit of ivory black and progress through the next 4 values by adding more of white and less of darker colours. Once you have your value scales , on your palette, you are ready to attack the canvas. Make sure your brushes are spiky clean and your palette is wiped clean of all previous colours. This is a very important stepto retain freshness of the painting in Alla Prima.

When mixing, try one dominant colour and mix other colours in little bits to go up and down the value scale.

During painting:

6) Squint and  look for shapes and values. Block the shapes that you see with corresponding values in relation to each other. Block the darkest shapes that you see with the darkest value on your palette. As you move from shape to shape, ask yourself, cooler or warmer? Lighter or darker? Accordingly block the basic shapes that you see. Break down the whole face into shapes and planes.

7) Be careful while moving from value to value. Do not jump values, as the work will look patchy and there won't be transition between values.

8) Use bristles to block the initial shapes and then use sable brushes as you apply lighter values, or work between the shapes.

9) Have an alert on warm/ cool combinations throughout the work, as you paint.

10) Remember cool light- warm shadow and vice versa and accordingly apply the colours and the values thereof.

11) Try to focus on some parts where you want to sharpen and converge more definitively. e. g. eye.

12) Keep your shadows transparent and lights opaque.

13) Keep defining lines impasto, so as to indicate direction and shape.

14) Clean brushes and palette on and off. Try using different brushes for different colours and values, so there is no confounding of colours and values.

15) Look at cooler or warmer in respect to each other.Comparative notes.

16) Squint only for value and shapes, never for colour.

17) If you feel you have jumped values or have confounded shapes, or angles, take a palette knife and scrape out the paint. You can re-paint that part.


 Post painting:

1) Be careful with the painting as it is fresh and wet and is done within the span of a few hours or a day. Any accident which causes you toredo later may take away from the freshness of the painting, which will negate from the benefits of this technique.

Points to remember:

1) keep a clean palette. If there is dried paint, scrape it away with a palette knife and apply some spirit to rub it off.

2) Your brushes MUST be absolutely residue free and washed properly.

3) Do not jump values

4) You can soften edges with a smooth brush once you are done with the whole face ( or other subject0 to retain transition and avoid patchiness.

5) Use the lightest values for highlighting.

6) Let yourself go. fear will not let you express yourself on your canvas. This method requires a lot of patience and concentration. Any oil painter used to the classical approach of layer on layer will take a while to not see a face as a face but as shapes and planes instead!

7) Finally- practice maketh perfect. I plan to use still life to practice this approach. So that means even a tomato wouldnt be a round object but would have to be broken down into shapes and planes and finally dealt with values!  Squint, paint, squint is the mantra!

I learnt a lot from this workshop and finally, after 3 years of active blogging , physical networking and emailing, met oil painters who could share valuable tips with me.

The artist was great and a very patient and focused person. A great mentor , apart from being a great painter and teacher! i did two portraits but got daunted halfway and also exhausted , squinting and painting, squinting and painting!

Best of luck to me.