As mentioned in an earlier post, I'd expected March to be busy month for me. I hadn't counted then on signing up for singing classes too. :D And foolishly when the teacher suggested that we do 2 classes a week instead of the one, I agreed. While I've loved the classes and it's nice to scratch out an item which has been on my wish list for a long long time, March may not have been the month for it!

There are 5 days left and 10 pieces need to be posted at the 30dayartist. The image below shows the work finished so far. I leave town tomorrow though and time, computer access is going to be hard to come by over the next few weeks. If you're trying to get your art act together, signing up for the 30dayartist might be just the thing you're looking for. Head on there and sign up!

My stay away from Dhaka has been extended by another week and another city, Delhi.  10 days of this break is a painting retreat with two school friends and I'm really looking forward to that.  We did this around the same time last year too.  Hoping to continue to post at the same pace through these 5 weeks. Am I being too optimistic? You bet!!

"Head of a Peasant Woman in a White Cap" (1884) / "The Zouave", Arles, 1888 / "Portrait of Patience Escalier", Arles, 1888 / "Portrait of Armand Roulin" Arles 1888

Worked on these 4 starting last evening. I love Van Gogh's work and it felt like a shame to not participate properly in the current MOM especially as it had been extended by a month to the end of March. While these are not the piece I had in mind I had a super time working on them. Surprisingly they took a lot more time to complete than I had planned for leaving me quite exhausted. I'm happy to report that all this practice using acrylics is helping me get (re)familiar with the medium.

These were made for the Van Gogh MOM thread over at Wetcanvas! and for the 30dayartist.

8" X 10" acrylics on illustration board.

This second piece was made exclusively with a brush. Because of the palette knife experience the work began with the filling in of the umbrella shapes and the drawing stopped there and the rest was just painted on. There is much more detail in the second one that I wanted.

The next time I shall try using both - the palette knife for the background and a brush to bring out the details in the pt of focus.

10" X 8" acrylic on illustration board

Based on image taken on a ferry ride to the point where the rivers Padma and Jamuna meet. I found the bright yellow colours of the Kamranga fruit [ aka carambola, coromandel gooseberry or five finger ] in the little boys basket delightful. Adding this to the the KMP starts that I'm working on.

10" X 12" Acrylic on illustration board

Another digital start based on a photograph that I'd taken at a the railway station in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. A bunch of coolies (porters) were sitting around trying to catch a bit of sun in winter.

Deliberately jumped in massing the shapes and then realised that it was to be massed in based on a rough drawing! Looking at the mess you can be sure I'll remember next time! Plan to do a larger painting based on this reference.

We were just 3 this morning and the plan was to continue to draw the African sculpture. You can see my earlier attempt from last week and the time before here. Today I messed it up quite badly driving home the point that I need to spend time on drawing ellipses, cylinders etc. Also need more practice of drawing figures, hands and feet! :D

crossposted at 30dayartist

Lots happening lately.

1. Submitted an entry for the March WWAO online exhibition "Our Art, Our Selves : Selected Self Portraits hosted by Robin Hernandez.

2. Photos or Life self portraits up at The Portrait Party.

3. Committed to making and posting 40 pieces in March at the 30dayartist. When I signed up there had been no other art commitments in March.

4. An invitation to exhibit with SHAKO ( a group of leading Bangladeshi artists ) to mark International Womens Day - March 7th & 8th came as a pleasant surprise. Will post photos of the event on Maya. I will be exhibiting 2-3 pieces and one of them is expected from the framer tomorrow and they then need to be rushed to the venue!

5. The two women show "Friends and Faces" will run from March 16 to the 31st. This was initially planned for mid Jan. Photo update on Maya on the 17th. Waiting on a couple of pieces for this too.

6. Heard unofficially that the UNWA auction of 24 paintings raised around 3,20,000 taka and mine contributed approx 27,000 taka. All the money raised has been handed over to the Hurricane Sidr Relief Fund. We will be getting letters soon with the exact details. Brochure photographs have been lying ready and will be posted in a day or two..... on Maya :D

I leave for a 20 day holiday on the 28th :D

Digital study which I'm marking as KMP 11.