Wimbledon Wierdo: Art After Lunch
You may be surprised at this, but I think ‘Art Before Breakfast’ is the Bible for any sketching enthusiast, or drawing enthusiast. If you do not like to call it Bible, call it Bhagwadgita, or Koran or if you are an atheist, call it the Drawing Enthusiast’s Manual.
I have been reading carefully and drawing my inspiration from the B, B, K or M as you like it. [Bible, Bhagwadgita, Koran or Manual for dummies].
My earlier adventures were reported to you. You can read them on this blog. But the evolution of an artist is like blooming of a flower. Opening out, Positive changes. You notice development of the artist every day. Unless you happen to be an artist’s wife.
A friend introduced me to Urban Sketchers Group on FB [Facebook for dummies]. The urban-sketchers seem to go everywhere with their journals and make sketches. And as is the wont of anybody who has taken any action worth [or otherwise] of notice, they put it on FB.
Ok, ok.
Coming back to our story, I decided that ‘on-the-spot’ drawing is what differentiates a talented sketcher from you-know-who! So I tried my hand at drawing.
After a good lunch today, I was quick to realise that the opportunity had presented itself. An artist always has his antenna up to sense such opportunities. Abundant quantity of food was ingested during lunch. It had its impact. The consequence was inevitable. The DW decided to take a nap. ‘Siesta’ as it is called by the Spanish and the ‘Phoren’ returned Indians. There was no couch to recline, so the bed was okay.
I took out my pencils. And journal. Sharpened them carefully. Pencils I mean. The model was perfect. Still. So worked fast to draw the sketch. Here it is.
‘Art after Lunch.’
Emboldened by the success, I decided to go out and try my hand. Going out I told myself, ‘en plein air’ as the book says. Waited for the granddaughter to finish her dance class and come out. I saw a beautiful church in front of me. ‘There’ I told myself, ‘is your chance. Start your work….’ Out came the ‘journal.’ Sketch book if you wish to call it so. And a pencil carefully placed in the front pocket of my jacket. I have to catch this moment, I told myself. There were only seven minutes for the naughty girl to return – the granddaughter I mean, not DW! I had to be real quick.
‘Time is never ripe for anything, and time is never adequate’ to quote this person whose name I-have-it-on-tip-of-my-tongue said. ‘Go, go’ I told myself, ‘finish it in seven minutes.’ Surprisingly for a retired person the mind and body worked unison. In tandem. Like two wheels of a cart. I had not experienced such a feeling for quite a few years but here it was!
A light drizzle would have dampened anybody’s enthusiasm, but it all depends on how you interpret an event as Dr Albert Ellis told us. It only means that the next stop is water-colour paintings, I told myself. I drew the sketch. It does have a few errors. I have not bothered to correct them. No foot ruler. No protractor. ‘All you really need to know about perspective is that when things are far away, they look smaller. The front of a building that faces you has straight lines, up and down, side to side. But the sides of the building slope away from you and make a triangle with the end bitten off. But you don’t need tools or laws to figure this out. Just the two eyes mounted on the front of your head. Pay attention and draw what you see.’ That’s what the book tells us.
So here it is, uncorrected, from my perspective.
Vivek
Well drawn sir. I am sure you must be well aware of the art hidden within you. A Multifaceted human being with beautiful handwriting and sexy signatures depicts lot more of the personality unless he reveals further!