30 Day Challenge

Day 15 : Family Portrait

My family is centered around my mom, where ever we all go, we always come back to her. She is our constant, never wavering. We wouldn't function properly without her. There are bits of her in all of us and bits of us in her too.
It just happens to be her birthday today :)
Happy birthday Moma! You are the sun to our solar system. Where would i be without you today!
We all may not be in touch everyday, but we are always connected to each other in our thoughts and in our hearts :)

P.S. i know the illustration looks a bit weird and unfinished, but it gave me great joy while making it. also, i know we look like snake-heads :D

Day 17 : Favourite Plant

Mimosa pudica, commonly known as touch-me-not plant. i think i like this plant because it describes me to a small extent.

Day 18 : Just A Doodle

Day 19 : Something New

For something new, i thought i would try drawing with my left hand, but i had tried that before. So i thought i would do everything with my left hand for a day and draw myself doing all those things with my left hand. Hence, my drawing looks so crooked.
I realized a lot of things while doing things with my non-dominant hand. Some things are very easy to do like brushing and using the touch-pad on my laptop. Driving only with left hand (with slight assistance from the right) was most tiring on my hand. Somethings are very ambidextrous, like typing on a keyboard. Somethings are just too ingrained in our minds because of the movement of our hands. Opening a lock is supposed to be anti-clockwise by default. But we don't think each time what direction anti-clockwise is, it just comes to us because the motion of our hand is fixed in our brain. So while trying to open the lock with my left hand, i was trying to replicated that motion but was doing it wrong. This happened a few times only after which my brain realized that i was rotating it clockwise.
This was kinda fun, i'm going to keep doing this frequently.

Day 21 : Something You Want

Nine lives (or more), so i can be and do all the things i want to.

Day 22 : Something You Miss

Playing basketball is something i truly miss, the sheer discipline of training, my team-mates, sweat and blood, the sense of being part of a whole and also, my coach. My whole team did not make it all the way to the nationals, but we achieved something better, we brought about a change in how people view sports in my neighborhood.
Playing basketball at NID, the energy and strength required to play with guys, huge strong guys at that, made me stronger. I miss that quite a lot.

Day 23 : Something You Need

A looooooong trip, going nowhere and everywhere!

Day 24 : A Couple

 I was trying to think of a perfect way to describe a true couple and thought that earphones were a good example. Their purpose is to be together, always! If one one gets broken, the other one is also discarded. Together, always!

Day 25 : Scenery

This is how i used to make a scenery as a kid. It used to be much fun to paint it with poster paints, getting good flat colours, getting the correct gradation and merging them correctly.

Day 26 : Something I Don't Like

Pune traffic, just don't like it; there is no discipline. Vehicles taking turns from the last lane, two-wheelers scrambling like ants when the lights turn green and complete chaos when there is no working signal, which i  witnessed on my way home just now. #Fail

P.S. the coloured blobs are supposed to be cars :p

Day 27 : Someone I Love

Although it doesn't look like her, this is supposed to be my sister. After several attempts, this is the best i could come up with <3

Day 28 : Anything you'd like

 A magical plate full of awesome food that appears when i am hungry and clears away when i am done. The amount of food i waste because of the portions of food the restaurants pack is quite a bit. I just want enough food to survive and not waste anything. I had originally thought of this, but as the prospect of packing up a house and moving back home again draws near, I wish i had a house-on-wheels so i could go anywhere and not have to pack anything!!

Day 29 : A Place You'd Like to Go

 Antarctica!! To the bottom of the world and lift it with my pinky :p

Day 30 : Congrats Banner for finishing the challenge

 This challenge has been quite fun and has made me examine a lot of things about myself. Somewhere along the way though, it sort of became a bit of a burden, to work the whole day and at night and then staying up even later to do the day's drawing. I would plan my after-work hours depending on whether or not i would have the time and energy to do the drawing.  Because of these time constraints, i couldn't execute a lot the ideas in my head but still i am glad i made it through (although a day late). i now feel a sense of relief and freedom and i can sleep early (although i don't think i will) or get the time to do the other things i want to (read, sketch more, finish dip, among other things). Congratulations indeed! :D

30 Day Drawing Challenge (continued)

Day 11 : Turning point in your life

The biggest turning point in my life was definitely going to NID. When i came to know that i was accepted, it was the first and last time that i made the leap of joy, mainly because it was so unexpected. Here i was, all ready for my first rejection for college, but i made it :)
I think its important that everyone go out and live alone for sometime while growing up. That's how you learn more about yourself and the world outside, that's when you try new things, learn to think for yourself rather than accepting what you've been told and have the space to do everything. Its not for no reason that animals send out their young ones to explore the world by themselves. We must follow their lead.

Day 12 : Most Recent Accomplishment

I don't know if this counts as recent or even an accomplishment, but i really feel proud of myself for being able to live alone in a new city. Living alone is quite difficult. I know its not a big deal, lots of people do it. But to expect a person to go to work everyday, cook meals, wash clothes, more work, entertainment, meet people, to truly care for yourself on your own is too much. 

Imagine this, a completely empty and dirty house with nothing in it. Everything from washing and cleaning up the place, to hunting for and buying used furniture to utensils, to have have done all of that, on my own, without anyone's help, is for me, a big deal. But a furnished house still isn't a home. Only when you are at peace with yourself and love what you do, can you truly be happy in such a situation and not have things feel like a burden. I feel good to have accomplished this. And also, to have learnt to drive well. I feel like a rock-star when i drive home from Pune. Now i really feel that i can survive in any city, with whatever i have been given (or not given). I can make myself a home, i have grown :)

This is also something that really do feel like putting up here. Its about the brief stint i did with frog and the chance i got to work with this guy. To get the chance to work with someone you admire and idealize, in whatever capacity, for whatever short time, is something only few people get to do. I am glad i did and hope i get the chance again someday.
P.S. i am pretty sure he wouldn't like it if he saw this, if he ever does.
P.P.S. i many have become obsessed with GIFs again ;)

Day 13 : Comic

The only comic i used to read as a kid regularly was Tinkle and mostly the Supandi tales. I would buy the latest issue and read Supandi in 5 minutes and while away the time till the next issue by reading the rest of Tinkle.
But ever since i started reading Calvin and Hobbes, that has become my favourite comic.

Day 14 : Favourite Fairy-tale

Honestly, i don't have a favourite fairy-tale. They are all the same essentially. Recently, i saw this series of minimal fairy-tale posters. I wanted to try making something like it. So i chose the tale of "Jack and the Beanstalk" to try this. The idea of a seemingly infinite tree with something awesome at the top appeals to me in a way. Although my illustration is hardly minimal, i mostly achieved the image i had in my mind.
Also, just to brush up on the story, i started reading a book and i am going to try making illustrations for all the stories (or atleast the ones i like) in as minimal a way as possible.

30 Day Drawing Challenge

So I have decided to do the 30 day challenge, mainly so that i use my wacom daily (even on days spent wholly 3D modelling) and also to reflect on things about myself. I am doing the challenge with Anu and Nehal. Do check out their work as well.

Here we go...

Day 1 :Yourself

For some reason, i see myself as a child trying to get to things just out of my reach.

This was a self-illustration assignment done in my first year at NID. It is still quite apt so just sharing it here.

Day 2 : Favourite Animal

Even though I am quite neutral on animal (don't hate them, don't love them either), there are a few which I find amazing. Dolphins are the best among those as they are quite intelligent, communicate in such cool ways and frankly, how awesome are their tricks and flips! Such friendly and sociable animals :)

Day 3 : Favourite Food

I started this illustration digitally but issues with Photoshop prevented me from completing it. So here it is, my favourite food, including, but not limited to, peas, tomatoes. cucumbers, carrots, salad leaves, boiled potatoes, oranges, apples, sprouts (the tiny things in front of peas there :p) and basically raw vegetables and fresh fruits. Its not that i don't like junk food, i love it, but its not something i can eat all the time, but fruits and vegetables, yes!

Day 4 : Favourite Place

Alone in the dark with nothing but my thoughts and nothing to distract me, that is my favourite place to be.

Day 5 : Best Friend

If all these were one person, i would attempt to make a nice portrait. But frankly, very few people are lucky enough to have so many great friends. I  am quite privileged to know all these people, there are so many different aspects of life that i have learn't from each of them. Like the Airtel ad says, "Har ek friend zaroori hota hai". Indeed!

Day 6 : Favourite Book Character

Howard Roark, the protagonist from Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. His integrity, his fierce independence, his utter belief and dedication to his work all inspire me. And how awesome are his lines in the book and the final speech, epic!
For those who have not read the book, do read it. Here is an outline of the character.

"A building has integrity, just as a man and just as seldom. It must be true to its own idea, hae its own form, and serve its own purpose!" - Howard Roark

Day 7 : Favourite Word

Ever since i was a kid, i would always ask 'Why?' for everything. As annoying as it may be, it is always good to be curious about things, about everything. Curiosity is the greatest teacher. Ask so that you learn, ask so that you grow. Let the curious bug always be in you.

Day 8 : Favourite Animated Character

Even the presumably worst of people have good in them. Nobody is completely black or white, everyone is just different shades of grey. Like Gru here from the movie Despicable Me. Its the only animation that I've watched innumerable times! (and it wasn't because of the Minions, although they are super-cute)

Day 9 : Favourite TV Show

So, my favourite tv show (among the innumerable ones i watch) is Fringe. Not only is it highly entertaining but very educational about fringe science (which just lies at the edge of what's possible). The actors are quite brilliant, no doubt, and fit the characters perfectly. But the show is also about family and love and the extent to which one man, Walter, goes and is willing to go to save his son Peter. That is the essence of the show and the consequences of this act.

Walter is my most beloved character ever on tv. He is just the right amount of genius and crazy. His zest for discovery, music, food and his humour, everything are just perfect.

 What i also love about the show is the dedication of the creators. The glyphs, shown between breaks, are coded alphabets, each spelling a particular word for each episode. I mean, the creators didn't have to do that (they weren't making a lot of money on the show) and very few people would have been able to decode the code but still they did, out of passion for what they were doing.

 The show just recently concluded with its final season. Although it was a satisfactory ending, it was a little bit far-fetched, even by Fringe's standards. But it was just correct. I will miss Fringe!

Day 10 : Favourite Candy

For the whole of my childhood and even now, my favourite toffee has been Coffy Bite.
I would give it out at each one of my birthdays and whatever leftover, i would eat most of it. I could eat like 50 of them at one go :)
Haven't had any in a long time though! O.o

2012 Bibliography

A list of books i read in 2012 :

Design

• The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda (blog)
• The Google Story by David A. Vise
• Wicked Problems, problems worth solving by Jon Kolko

Fiction

• A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Casual Vacancy by J K Rowling
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 
• Manna by Marshall Brain

Biographies

• Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
• Every Second Counts by Lance Armstrong 

What's interesting about this list is that most of these books I've read digitally. The shift to e-books has been great, in fact, physical books feel restricting to me now. Of course, the joy of reading a physical book is something else. A talk by Craig Mod on the topic (physical vs digital books) can be viewed here.

Books i am still reading : 

• A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
• Habit by William James
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• Designing Devices by Dan Saffer
• Design for the Real World by Victor Papanek
• The System of Objects by Jean Baudrillard
• The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Lord of the Rings : Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien

I wonder how many books a person (or rather, me) can read simultaneously without forgetting the contents of any book.

The delay in reading so many of these has been mainly due to the enormous amounts of documents and reference books on medical devices that i have had to read for my diploma project. But surprisingly, most of the books have been read in the later parts of the year (during my project).

It was a good year for books overall, let 2013 be even better.

Happy reading!