Palette and brushes

Perks of being married to an Artist...I can always be the first one to see the latest of his creations. I also get to be his toughest critic. The best part is to watch the process...see how the image becomes more and more real right before your eyes. 

Last night Jee was searching for something in the kitchen. After about a few minutes of looking he finally showed me an Ikea bowl that had a crack in the edge and said 'I am going to use this since it has a crack'. 

In 10 years I have seen many of my kitchen patharams (bowls and plates) disappear in thin air. Most of them previously used for painting purposes now sit in storage somewhere in garage.The Ikea bowl now sits in the dining table near the Artist. It is being used to clean the brushes. At least this time he asked and I know where my patharam is. It had a crack I have no say in this!!

I knew what this patharam is going to be used for when I saw him taking it to the living room. This is the most decorated part of my home and over the years has stayed the same, the reason being no one uses it. I mean how often do you get formal guests at home. Recently Jee has started using it as a study with all his drawing/sketching/painting  equipments placed in the formal dining table. 

The subject

Anyways, I peeked into the living room to take a look at the latest creation. From a distance it looked like a the initial stage of a portrait. I am used to seeing this stage. You cannot make out what it is going to be eventually. But I saw him looking at the picture hung in the nearest wall and I knew what it is. Yes it is  going to be a portrait of our daughter. 


The subject being a picture I had captured on Mollu's first day at preschool. I was in a hurry to reach work but still wanted to capture the moment so I ran behind her near the drive way to get a picture of her. 


Throughout my undergrad I used to admire the rebel Archis (Architecture students), the talented lot. They had these cool 'out of this world' image that I used to look upon. The image of them carrying their T scales and the plastic cylindrical sheet storage tubes, famously called puttu-kutti for its resemblance to the puttu maker, is still fresh in my mind. We used to always count on them for any artistic requirements. They also were our alarm clocks during the exam times as most of them used to work late nights to finish their drawings.


I have an Archi in my home now and he is meticulously working on his latest project, the portrait of our daughter. After days of running behind and pushing him to finish it, finally it is complete...

Leaving you all with the images of the process of portrait making...Enjoy.

The brushstrokes..

A step back to inspect. 

The ambidextrous Artist

Perspective.

After day one...

After day two...

The portrait.