Rainbow Crafts

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Rainbow Crafts (Paper & Clay Jewellery)

Post by Rainbow Crafts.

Rate Card for Graphics / Artwork

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I finally got down to making a rate card for the art / graphical work I undertake. Until now I would discuss the fee only when a client approached me with a request, but I think it is better to have the rates out at a place where it is accessible to prospective clients.

So, here is the rate card. Feel free to contact me with any clarifications regarding the fee at murali.surya@gmail.com

A Point To Ponder…

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Here is something I often wonder…

Painting, sketching, drawing etc. are means by which people express themselves… it could be a representation of their thoughts or it could be a depiction of what their eyes see. Of course, at times art is symbolic but that isn’t what I am considering when I talk about what I do in this post. I am not considering abstract art either.

Artists for ever have depicted day to day scenarios and general scenery along with the more religious or ritualistic art. The artists of the Renaissance or even some of them earlier on were able to paint, sketch, draw and sculpt realistic images (with some artistic liberties, of course.) Some of the artists of today create hyper-realistic artwork… it is like looking at a photograph (only because it is a 2D image.) But when we go back to the ancient civilizations and not as far as cavemen… the art work though spectacular is very stylized and not realistic in anyway. In fact, the styling of the artwork is what mostly distinguishes them as belonging to a certain civilization. I am excluding cave art from this because well, the supplies and time were definitely limited for leisurely artwork what with the struggle for survival on a daily basis… and they weren't exactly civilized back in the day.

So, why aren’t there any realistic art from that ancient civilized age? Why is all artwork conforming to a panel like style which seems to be quite common across civilizations… there is a that lack of depth to the images, a lack of perception in its literal sense. If you were to sketch a scenery while looking at it most people, even kids, would have a tendency to create the illusion of depth by making far away things look smaller and the ones nearby larger because that is how our eyes perceive the scene. Well, unless you are a toddler who finds it difficult to wrap your head around the idea of depth your image wouldn’t consist of mostly all objects (or people) of the same size irrespective of their relative placement in the scene. Then why is that most ancient art looks like exceptionally talented toddlers created them?

Isn’t there a marked lack of perspective in these images? Albeit they are all exquisitely beautiful… I am just intrigued that there aren't many art works from that age which are less two dimensional.

Here are a few examples of various stylized depictions of scenes from around the ancient world… some like the Madhubani art is still in practice.

Madhubani art (India) - Image via Google Search

Detail of the Standard of Ur - Image via Google Search

Egyptian panel -  - Image via Google Search

Sometimes, I just get this weird feeling that ancient people saw only in 2D! :D

Another iPad Effort

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iDragon

Click on the image for a larger view.
For details about the sketch please visit iDragon.

Ghost from ASOIAF

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From the series A Song Of Ice And Fire... the white direwolf, Ghost who belongs to Jon Snow.

Ghost

Painted with the Wacom Intuos5 in Photoshop CS6 on my desktop.

Here's the evolution of Ghost...

The Khaleesi

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Now, I am a big fan of ‘A Song of Fire and Ice’ saga by George R. R. Martin and the HBO series based on his books – Game of Thrones.

As I was thinking of something to paint on my iPad with my new Bamboo solo stylus, I came across a still of Daenerys Targaryen (portrayed onscreen by Emilia Clarke) and this side profile seemed just perfect to paint. I know that this particular still and many similar side profiles of the character have been painted by lots of people, so it isn't an unique image. I didn't want to paint a full face or a full length portrait as it was my first time painting a portrait on the iPad and getting accustomed with the stylus was important before I started something too detailed.

After about 2 hours of sweating it out with the Procreate app on the iPad, I believe I came up with a decent enough portrait of the dragon babe! :D

Khaleesi

Bored in the Skies

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I was on the flight to Bombay from Kuwait... was bored and wanted to avoid conversation with my co-passenger... iPad to the rescue. :D

Painted this on the iPad on the app Procreate with my fingers (didn't have a stylus at the time.)

Was exporting my images from the iPad to the PC when I remembered about it. :)

7x7x7x7 Poem: Warrior Woman

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On a friend’s blog (Deepa’s Kaleidoscope) I came across this little project...

Grab the 7th book from your bookshelf. Open it up to Page 7. Pinpoint the 7th sentence on the page. Begin a poem that begins with that sentence and limit it in length to 7 lines.

She wrote a lovely little poem and I thought I should try something out too. Now, I don’t do creative writing or poetry unless it has something to do with my personal feelings… all the previous poetry on this blog has been just that… some torment in my head and a few words that vent those feelings.

When I got down to searching my library for the 7th book, I realized that more than first 20 of the books in my library were thrillers / horror or mystery novels… the likes of Dean Koontz, Stephen King and Jeffrey Deaver. I didn't want to chance upon a morose line and have to get down to writing a morbid poem. 

As I searched for a way to cheat the 7th book condition, I saw that 7 of my books were vertically stacked because of the lack of space in my bookshelf. The 7th book in the stack is The Greatest Show On Earth by Richard Dawkins. I grabbed the book and flipped to the 7th page and traced my finger down to the 7th line and voila… here was a sentence that did not make me want to write murderous poetry. The line is ‘handing them some kind of gift or victory’. Of course it would be out of context with the rest of the sentence taken up on the 6th line... but still usable.

Now… I could have used ‘them’ but I changed it to ‘her’ to tighten the poem.

And here it is:

Handing her some kind of gift or victory

He stood in mocking silence, sword down

She challenged him, blithe, never sorry

Urging him to fight or be cut down

Bristling and raising, he flashed angry eyes

His iron slashed, proud she stood her ground

And he saw there never was a plea in her eyes.

Since the poem has no deeper meaning… I had already formed it in my head when I decided to change ‘them’ to ‘her’… it didn't really take me 7 minutes. 

Whenever I post anything on my blog I tend to post some artwork with it which 9 times out of 10, I create on my own. In college I had a nickname… Xena, The Warrior Princess… and I thought since the poem reflected a warrior woman, I should sketch something along the lines. I found a sketch online (by Luis Royo from a desktop-wallpaper site) that was kind of what I wanted but not quite… so I decided to use that as a reference and create my own Xena. An hour of sketching and painting in Photoshop later here is what I made…

My First Design Steps

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I have been working on honing, and in some cases, learning new graphical skills in the past few weeks. So, I have been extensively watching Adobe Illustrated tutorials and working on my existing Photoshop knowledge and basically trying to get a hang of the software beyond basic image editing and digital painting.

From a beginner’s point of view, the world of graphical design is quite vast… at times intimidating and there is no limit to creative options. One could branch out into any form of graphical design… illustrations or web-design or logo & advertising and so much more. At the same time, one does not need to limit the options to just these.

What I have experienced in the process of my baby steps in to this graphical world is that technical knowledge is quite secondary. What is needed is a passion for seeing the immense possibility in the mundane. Everything around you can inspire you, be they objects or situations or emotions. And almost all of it can translate into images… and a combination of these images can illustrate bigger ideas.

I also realized that developing a personal style in your artwork is important… and as soon as you are comfortable with the design processes, it is a good idea to chalk out a signature style… something that ties your artwork to you like no watermarking can. Being inspired by existing artwork is fine… but if you can infuse it with your vision then you are making it your own.

Some of the basic concepts any would-be designer needs to understand are… colour, form, and light. These three elements combine in different ways to produce all kinds of artwork.

These 3 elements influence our daily life in ways we don’t immediately notice… but it is inherent in our behaviour. They can influence your thoughts in a sub-conscious way. Some of the imagery formed with a combination of these elements become instantly recognizable and attached to the idea behind it that the separation of the two becomes almost impossible. For example, the cross and Christianity.

Even though it is said that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder… achieving a good balance between the three elements of colour, form and light is almost always a sure way to create a striking composition which would largely be considered beautiful. Though, it is not always possible to get that perfect balance… one can always find a middle ground were the trade-offs aren’t glaring and the result would still be a grand success. The resulting artwork may be complex or charm with its simplicity… but, it would create an impact. The levels of complexity depend on how the imagery would be used… simple imagery works for logos and icons; an illustration would require more detailing and so on.

One of the first projects I did was a head-on jump into creating a logo for a friend… for a made-to-order pastry website, one that specializes in cakes and cupcakes. My technical knowledge at the time of creating the logo was nil. I did not even use a vector-based program to create the logo… because I did not know how to use one. I made the logo in good old pixel-based Adobe Photoshop.

The only points I considered for the logo were that it had to be simple, have a warm and cosy, inviting feel to it and it had to be hand-drawn to give it that personal touch which is what the idea behind personalized cakes is. I would like to think that I achieved at least some of what I set out to when I finished the logo. Here it is…

I chose some nice pastel, cakey colours that hint at yumminess and simple lines and curves to create a stylized double-storeyed cake with some very simple decorations. I chose a simple, yet whimsical type-face to create that hand-piped illusion for the name of the web-site and complemented the logo with a matching colour-scheme for the background.

I did make more than one version of the logo… with minor changes.

What I liked about my own logo was that it was simple enough to be used in different sizes and easy on the eye to be used as part of a larger canvas… like an element in a background image for the website.

I would like to thank the Barrettos (Cajie & Priscilla) for letting me design the logo for their website. Here is a link to the yummy stuff Priscilla makes: www.cakeobsessed.com

The Coy Nude

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*For sensitive viewers... this might be NSFW. But if you watch Bollywood item numbers, this is pretty basic. So there, you decide.*

I painted this to try out the air-brush brushes of Photoshop CS6. I think they give too much of a soft focus effect which I don't care so much for... I realized later from the internet that this can be controlled.

As this digital painting experience is by trial and error, I am bound to come up with lots of experimental creations, most of them less than perfect. But, I am working on hitting a sweet spot where a style of painting will make me comfortable and then I might stick to it longer until I am in the mood to experiment again.

The Coy Nude

The Coy Nude is what I call this painting (since it isn't all that revealing... just about the usual new-age Bollywood exposure)

The lady in the painting is no one in particular. Definitely not a self-portrait as a few people pointed out to me... now why would I start self-portraits with a nude. We'll get there... eventually! *wicked grin*

I used facial features which in my head looked good enough to be put together to form a decent face. Now, I am smart, so I covered one half of her face with hair to avoid the problem of getting the facial symmetry right. 

It might just be possible that since the one woman I look at the most is... obviously... me, I have unconsciously incorporated a certain element of likeness to my own features. And maybe that explains why quite a lot of people jumped to the conclusion that she is me. She is not!

Also, I was careful to not think of any particular popular or unpopular known face when I did the painting... I really don't want to be dragged in to court for some defamation suit or worse, for having painted someone nude without their permission.

The face is a mix and match of features and the body is what biology textbooks have.

I look forward to readers' comments and criticism.

Am sleepy now... and my painting arm hurts... I am holding a pen in my hand for extended hours (2 in this case) after ages. My hand and my arm are putting up a fight.

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Redhead

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After raven black , the next best heads of hair are redheads... There is something about a fiery head of hair.

Burgundy, strawberry, copper or fire... a head of red curls is a showstopper. 

I tried to picturize the words 'fiery head of hair' and here's the sketch... 

Redhead

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