Planning is on for an exhibition with 3 other artists later this year and I'm looking forward to it. You'll find the details here as soon as it is finalised. This project will have me working towards a deadline and it's something I'm looking forward to right now. I hope when the pressure mounts I dont regret feeling this way!

Watermelons are one of the best fruits to have in summer. It quenches your thirst in a jiffy. In Dhaka, you find street vendors selling slices of the fruit near bus stops to thirsty travellers.

The Watermelon Boy 2 is digital and made with Art Rage. Based on a photo ref by Anil Advani, used with permission.

Decided to take the day off from the two things that I'm currently working on - singing practice and a painting as yet unnamed. Managed to finish a ball point sketch this morning and then found this ref while looking for something else to sketch.

He was the mike technician at the recent exhibition inauguration at Chitrak. There was something about him and I knew immediately that I'd like to paint him. This is a digital study and I hope to use it for a larger painting in oil/acrylics.

Painted using Art Rage and a wacom tablet.

Jamal Ahmed is a successful Bangladeshi artist with 41 solo exhibitions to date. Pagla has been featuring in his work for many years now. With many artists you see a recurring subject, model or colour something they keep coming back to. Do you have one?

The reference for both these pieces have been taken by Anil Advani for his SoFoBoMo project and used with  permission.

Below I've tried a close crop of the digital painting made of Pagla. I'm not sure if it is better or worse.

Jamal 12" X 18" charcoal in my sketchbook.
Pagla digitally made using Art Rage 2.

Not the most positive picture I've ever drawn but I needed to do something a little angsty.

Imaginary gardens and dreaming up wonderful fragrances all the while standing at one of the busiest crossing in Dhaka directing traffic. He was taking a break and a deep breath when I spotted the traffic cop waiting at the crossing. It was the tilt of his head, the flared nostrils, the closed eyes, the feeling of calmness that made me feel he was smelling something specially wonderful.

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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.

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.

It's quite a leap for me to have signed up for the 30dayartist. Need to produce and post 40 pieces of work in the next 31 days. Wish me luck!

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Multiple layers = herd of stampeding ( thanks to velvet's comment ) baby elephants?

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ArtRage es mucho más que una herramienta con la dibujar lo que quieras, al estilo de sencillos editores como el propio Paint que viene con Windows. Se trata de una utilidad de interfaz muy elegante y uso sencillísimo con la que podrás convertir tu PC en un auténtico block de dibujo. Este programa tiene un entorno muy cómodo y con herramientas realmente sorprendentes. Scriptos, pintura, arenilla, crayon, etc, son algunas de las herramientas que puedes encontrar para hacer lo que se te de la gana. Este programa lo conocí hace dos años atrás aproximadamente y es para enviciarse!

dejo un link para que lo descarguen por si lo quieren probar :

http://rapidshare.com/files/38417303/ART_RAGE_2.2.8.rar

Black cats crossing your path, friday the 13 or the no. 8 or 4 depending on where you lived and whole host of other superstions like not throwing salt on the ground etc. is what we grew up believing in. And like the not so scary cat in the illustration shows I've got over most of them and try not thinking about the few that remain :D For instance, I'm still a bit fidgety when I remember that it is Friday the 13th when that comes around.

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This is based on a photograph of a teenage girl. An attempt has been made to turn her into a young boy to see if I can play around with references instead of using them exactly as they are. Tried out a couple of variations for the background. For the first time I had a problem with the blending tool and gave up quickly. A visit to the Ambient forum for a solution is due. I'll be working on this some more once the blending problem gets sorted out and hope to use it as a study for a larger piece either in oil or acrylics.
Digital made with Art Rage 2.5

Cowboys in denim standing under the hot desert sun smoking cigarettes. The warm breeze blows the smoke away. In case you are wondering where that came from, I'm blaming it on 2 days of writing a story for the 2007 NaNoWriMo! :D I have 28 days and 47,000 more words to write!

I was thinking of Lucky Luke while making this. Happy to play with layers and quickly turn a hat into hats. The original was made with art rage, flipped horizontally and then duplicated in ps to get me this. I like the texture that i get using oils in art rage.

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ArtRage 2.11 Full 

გადმოწერეთ და ხატეთ რამდენიც გინდათ.

[DOWNLOAD]

I'd only seen Trick or Treating, Halloween and the cutout pumpkins in the movies. I think they were horror movies and so those unpleasant memories were sort of wiped off. This day passed like any other when we were growing up.

My first exposure was, in Shanghai, when a bunch of kids rang my door bell. When they figured out that I didn't know what they wanted they quickly spelled it out! They wanted candy!! Lol! And they got it. Distributed all the chocolates my husband ( I dont have a sweet tooth ) was hoarding. Imagine his dismay when he got back home and discovered that his midnight treats were all missing.

The doorbell rang several times that evening. They were mostly little ones - 5-6 year olds. I also noticed that adults were lurking around in the landing. It was nice to know that they were not wandering around unescorted.

For all of you who follow it "Happy Halloween!"

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No this is not the rage felt by a passionate artist upon finding their nearly finished work of art has been destroyed by a careless child, guest, pet etc etc...

Instead, this is the name of a shareware program you can use for free or buy called "Art Rage." It's actually very reminescent of Painter classic. I heard about this program again and went to their site and downloaded the shareware version. It's very versatile and easy to use. I really like the feel that you are painting or using pastels or even air brushing. It's a good little program to draw or doodle in. :D

So these are some examples I did tonight in Artrage. If you want to see a larger view, check out my photobucket page.

That's it for now.

Thanks for looking. :D

~L~

Nothing like the sun to help you grow. A weeks holiday at the beach has been rejuvenating.

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Blogs, Facebook and other social websites make your life an open book for anyone who chooses to stop by and read.
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Otro tema pendiente es editar la cabecera del blog, tengo una idea que voy a ver cómo llevo a la realidad (el problema de siempre...)

 El siguiente dibujo es el primero con fondo negro, apropiadamente llamado "Twirlos". Me gustó mucho el brillo en la oscuridad, y los degradés como de costumbre.

Esperemos retomar el ritmo con los posteos pero la veo difícil ;)

Tengo que encontrar, urgente, la forma de evitar que aparezcan esas caritas. Son un insulto al buen gusto.