View at Metra Station,IL

Sorry for my long hiatus..was floating & bloating between islands of laziness and lands of opportunity!

Cars run America will be an understatement, I guess :)
Here, I wanted to capture the train station in full, but somehow felt that the car parked near the station captured my mind and is more beautiful than that ugly-looking-squarish-steely-box on wheels! I have done this using Strathmore watercolor 140lb - journal book. I've also added a new Niji water brush to my kit.

Bourton on the water, Cotswold

Longing to go to this place in Cotswold - Bourton on the water. So, couldn't resist  myself to do this painting from photo in a tourist mag. I could get that dark brownish color thick foliage effect using the Dr.Ph Martin's ink [Sepia ] on the pre-washed sunset skies. Love these concentrated water color inks!

The other side of beauty..

This is a view near Swindon library in town center. I actually wanted to capture the side view of thelarge library building, but when i crossed to the other end of the building, wow!..this view inspired me most, and yes this is the other side of beauty. Well, i discovered a dance school attached to the library building which i could not notice till now. Blame it on my shelf-sightedness on books :) And as a tribute to my ignoring this nice place so far, i wanted to do this side of the building which houses Swindon dance center. The red door with its energy and the swirly, squiggly styled bars emerging from the floor at the entrance captured the spirit of dance! So, here is my tango with the two - my pen and watercolor in my fav. moleskine book!

The White Crowns

The white crowns a..k.a tented market place of Swindon town center! These tents reminded me of the famed thatched hut hotels -  'Dhabas' / Village Hotels that dot most of indian highways. Well, this one  captured my imagination and i first did it in my moleskine long notepad in pen and watercolor [ below]. I tried another view of the same place on a brwon pastel paper using white sketching soft pencil and added the dark shades using my Faber Castell [ 6 shades]of gray pens - my another collection in my tool kit !

my mini global footprint ! :)

I love these shoes..Dr.Martens. I still remember when i eagerly bought them in 2007 in a sale in Reading! 5 years and still good to go! Come rain, shine, cloud, sun, snow...they see me through the day without gasping or cursing! They walked with me through the bylanes, highroads, bridges, cobbled streets, muddy meadows, of ...hmm..Brussels, Brugge, Antwerp.. Cologne, Amsterdam, Luxemborg, Edinburg, Lakeland, London, Ooty, Mysore, Bangalore, Paris, Toulouse,..and.... and ofcourse throughout Hyderabad! I've done this in my fav. moleskine notebook.

The Riflemans' Bar

I keep coming across this nice building..on my way to towncenter - An old bar named 'The Rifleman's Bar!'. This building somehow captured my imagination and i took a rough sketch & notes..later re-created this using color & wash in my moleskine watercolor pad.

The not-so-hot fireplace!

This is a fire place in my home..that we never use! The freezing cold & a dash of laziness made me to stay at home one full day. A bit of inspiration made me sit right infront of this and capture it..somehow this fireplace wears a sober look but the golden frills of the surround makes it little lively. Tried to add a bit of imagination to the otherwise pale color of the wall :)