Esra Roise and Me....

So sketching seems to be it for me right now... I'm loving that for some one like me it seems to be just coming kind of naturally.... I know you're thinking "hey you're a designer if you cant sketch who can?" and in a way that's true... but see i also grew up with an artist, my mum.... so while i was a designer the artist was always just her... i was so in awe of her work and they way she paints that all my life i have been fearful of the pencil and paint brush...

and the few sketches i put up earlier of the Yoga art and the Cityscapes i made in pure dread of the outcome!

But its been liked and so i decided to go a step further... paints!!!

i Love water colors over acrylics... love love love... something about a watercolor artwork just looks all mystical to me... so i googled a few works and found Esra Roise. She mainly does illustrations for fashion magazines and designers... and her women are just plain sexy! Her lines are so simple (even tougher to copy) and yet so so detailed... my favorite part is how she sketches the hair... so intricate... and i swear it seems like it would be so easy to redo... but it isn't....

I find her women so hot and so rebellious with super crazy hair flying all around and she uses really minimum color and yet her works looks colorful (the magic of watercolor i think). So i picked a few of her art works and redid them my style!!

Original

My version.... this was the first one i did....

Original

My version.... just couldn't get her to turn back like Esra did... but i added the tattoo ...!

Original

My version... you see what I'm saying about the hair.... she gets it to look so good... and the whole posture the slouch.... its so difficult to redo... and most most tough is the look in the eye... i guess i'll have to do lots more work to get to there!!!!

So here are a few more of mine that i did with out a reference but still along her lines...

And here are a few more of Esra's works.... You have to check out her website though... she is fantastic!

Esra Roise

I cant wait to try this one...the colors are madly fascinating...

Makes me want to wear my spectacles more often!!! 

So dark but what detailing... love it! and i love how she has added such little color to add such a dark effect...

Love the splatter of paint as a backdrop... stunning...

Such innocence... and yet so wild!!!

So here ends my tribute to Esra Roise... who will always be the first to inspire me to sketch... and here begins my forever love to sketch!!!

Its Kind of a Funny Story....really is kind of a funny story!

The film is an adaptation of the book written by American author Ned Vizzini. The story is about about this 15 year old kid who is stressed about his school and the crush he has on his best friend's girlfriend. This stress leads him to using drugs and eating disorders and suicidal thoughts.... So he lands up on a bridge with the full intent of jumping off... but calls 1-800-SUICIDE instead. 

Now here is where it gets kinda funny.... he get himself admitted into an asylum and meets all these other crazy patients and the story just is about his interaction with all of them and how he finds himself thru it all. 

I loved the movie... sweet and simple and funny and it just strikes a chord. More so i think because of the way the the lead character has this off beat narration going on all thru it just has a very Catcher in the Rye feel to it... and that is one book that's just embedded in my system.... The way J D Salinger writes like he's just talking to you... just talking to himself actually and you're just lucky to over hear his conversations.... this film and story has a very similar feel... and i love it! like this one scene where Craig is talking to his family:

[Craig dreaming that he is about to jump off a bridge. His parents and little sister call him.]
Lynn (Lauren Graham): "What were you planning to do about your bike, hon?"
Craig: "I don't care about my bike. I'm killing myself."
George (Jim Gaffigan): "Well, we spent a lot of money on the bike, sport. We only ask that you take care of it."
Alissa (Dana De Vestern): "Think of me, Craig. I might want that bike when I grow up."
Craig: "I'm sorry. I just didn't think it was..."
Lynn: "That's right: you didn't even think about us when you were deciding to do this, did you, honey?"
George: "Pretty selfish, I'd say. Have you thought about how this might affect your sister?"

Superb!!!!!! 

But what most inspired me in the film was the art.... the cityscapes by artist Brian Drucker. Now this was what i loved really:

But this i found easier to copy!

Once i started sketching cityscapes i got addicted.... it went from simple pen sketching to colors to photoshop to 3D cards.... have a look and let me know what you think!

Sketched out with a basic blank sketch pen

Added color in photoshop... didn't have the heart to touch the original paper... I love black and whites...

Got this effect on photoshop by removing some layers.... really liked it!

The Cityscape 3D card is on its way... just need to finish it up a little.... don't forget to watch "its kind of a funny story"!! and if you need more of an incentive it has the super funny Zach Galifianakis from Hangover....

Going to leave you with one last funny from the movie.... this will give you a fell of that crazy off beat narration i was telling you about:

[Craig talking to the psychiatrist about a prestigious summer-school program to which Craig is expected to apply.]
Dr. Eden Minerva (Viola Davis): "What would happen if you didn't get in?"
Craig [narrating over a montage of his imagined future]: "Then I wouldn't be able to put it on my college application, which means I wouldn't get into a good college. If I didn't get into a good college, I wouldn't have a good job. Which means I wouldn't be able to afford a good lifestyle. So I wouldn't be able to find a girlfriend, which means I'd probably get depressed, and I'd end up like Muqtada in a place like this for the rest of my life. So... what would happen if I didn't get in?"
Craig [talking to the doctor]: "I don't know. It's hard to explain."

ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

via

Crayon Hearts

If you love DIY projects like i do you have to know that Martha Stewart is the queen online!!! She has some of the best and easiest projects... but honestly i find the site a little complicated... but once you reach a project you can make it super fast! 

So i picked a very childish very colorful very very fun project... i mean you put crayon shavings and hearts in one sentence... how can i not get excited!! 

via

All you need is  

* A box of wax crayons (So i went out there and bought a box of wax crayons after years!!! not since school and that too like when i was in the fourth standard maybe!

*Butter Paper

* A iron

* A pencil sharpener

* String

*A punch machine

Love how basic the crayon colors are!!!

I took a 30" by 30" butter paper sheet and folded it in the middle...

I placed the shavings on one half of the sheet...

I started with just yellow orange and red...

then added some blue and purple....

Love how the crayons looked once i had sharpened them....

The shavings themselves look so pretty!!!

I folded the sheet.... and placed a soft fabric on top.Now i used a medium hot iron on the fabric and gently ironed out the sheet. 

I had to keep checking as it seemed like the fabric and paper were getting stuck... 

You can actually mix the colors while ironing, just glide the iron in the direction of the colors you want to mix up...

Its very important to use and old fabric as sometimes the color would come out from the edges onto the fabric (one half decent blanket of mine wasted!!!)

ta-da!!! that's how it looks fully ironed out....yeah the wrinkles are ok!

I left this to dry for a day.... i think even 5 hours is good.... because you can't cut the paper till its completely dry.  

Now is the easy part.... simply sketched out a few heart and then cut them out. the paper is very smooth so be careful when you cut.... 

Punch out the holes and tie the strings at different lengths. I tied these to a stick and tried hanging it in the balcony... big mistake!!!

It wouldn't stop flying and then the strings got all entangled!! I think Martha was smart to frame it!!! So that's what I'm going to do too!!!

I really had a blast doing this little project... it didn't take much time... had so much fun with the crayons... and hey technically i made a form of paper... didn't I??!!!!

Paper Art

I know i know it seems like i haven't taken on a project for the longest time... and I've been trying to palm off funny pictures instead.... but hey, the camera guy and that wedding invite were pretty damn funny!!

So it's not like i haven't been doing any work... its just that i haven't had time to upload the images and post them... but now i got time! 

So on one of my favorite blogs paper-source i found this great art. It looked so simple and clean and easy to do.... the colors were bright and bold the art work simple and yet strong... i fell in love with it! 

On the blog i found a link to the original artist:

i would like to introduce Helen Musselwhite.... A wonderful artist... she basically works with paper... cutting folding drawing on it to create textures and her inspiration is good old Nature! the forests the birds the monkeys the trees.... she manages to create a whole world in her artwork.... 

                                          

                                       

Of course her work is super complicated and must take her hours to do....but i was so in love with the idea of colorful paper cut up and laid out in such a beautiful way that i just had to do it!! So i decided to take on the art work from Paper Source as inspiration!

So here goes: first i pulled out all the colorful paper i had.... and my sketch pens... i really need to look into these stamp things you get abroad.... would make my life a lot simpler!!

I sketched out a six flower designs on a sheet... then placed a few colorful sheets below and cut them up...

This is what i got.... different shapes in different colors.... 

Now this next step was the most fun and the most time consuming.... sketching out the details...

I started out with wanting each type of flower to have the same designs but when I'm sketching i have no control.... So each one is slightly different from the other....

A colorful bunch of flowers!

Now to add an extra touch i stuck some flowers onto a contrasting colored page and cut a thin border...

Then is started placing the flowers on another sheet to see how they looked.... 

ps: turn off the fan while doing this!!!!

This is a layout using every single flower i had.... looks a little messy don't you think?

So i divided my flowers into two layouts...

This is the first one.... i really like this one!

I added little felt squares under a few flowers to create depth.... 

looks pretty huh?!!!

This is the second one.... honestly i think i made this just to finish off my flowers!!!!

But its still kinda pretty!!!

This is just to prove that sometimes even mistakes make something beautiful... I don't know if you agree... but something about the way this image has gone out of focus... i feel like the flowers are moving in the wind!

Now all i have to do is frame these works and put them up.... I'm collecting a few works like this and the glitter alphabet from last week and will get them all framed together.... so soon I'll have a post of all my works framed up!!

PS: the monsoons have started... so the lighting in my house is a bit dim... which is why the images don't have the best colors.... will be sure to shoot in the daylight next time!