black and white

well.. learnt this from a doodle video.. was meant to be done with just one sketch pen.. took the trouble to try it out with paint.. just one again

arty after a really long while

been like ages since i sketched. So made up my mind to sketch something and ended up with this toucan in oil pastels... auto-contrasted using picasa

Madipakkam Lake

Of late lot of birds have started visiting Madipakkam lake. The other day I found a few pelicans swimming in the lake. With that in mind I made a visit with my camera only to find the usual egrets both white and black fishing in the waters.

My backyard friend

I think it was during my college days, a baby squirrel strayed in and settled in our house. It ate food from our hands and became a member in our family. to make a long story short, one fine day it went out with another squirrel and never came back. This squirrel now reminds us of our old friend.

The new Sai idol that is to adorn the Meditation Hall

This photo was taken on 30.08.2010, the last day of the Maha Kumbabishekam of Sai Baba Temple at Mylapore, Chennai.

Lord Shiva Temple, Tiruporur

It seems there is one underground path from this hill temple to Sri Chidambara Swamigal Ashram.!

Sri Chidambara Swamigal did Penance here

The path from the hill temple to the Ashram.!?

Lord Shiva temple, Tiruporur

This is just a snapshot of the Lord Karthikeya Temple at Tiruporur. One good thing about this place, the temple tank is really clean. The temple dates back to the Pallava period & quite a big one . The village/town is on the way from Chennai (on the OMR) to Mahabalipuram, very near Mamallapuram (about 16kms)

Ganeshaya Namaha

God is everywhere around us even in small stones you find on the roadside like this Ganesha..

Shore Temple

Sketch of Shore Temple, Mamallapuram done using stippling. This one is by Mr.Mani Menon.

the sunday sky was very unique

Sunday, July 11, 2010
It was 11:00 in the morning, when out of the blue my chitappa called me and asked me to look at the sun. i went out only to be blinded blank by the hot sun outside... i said "whats up? nothing special to me..".. he said "look around the sun".. only then i realized that there was a huge and by huge, i mean a really huge, and dark halo around the sun... the dark surface of the halo was separated from the blue sky by a beautiful rimmed rainbow... it was such a beautiful sight.. i exclaimed "wooooooooooooooooooooooooowww!!!" and tried snapping the full beauty in vain.. however i did get away with some near decent captures of the immensely spectacular sight...

pencil sketching - antelope

this was done from a workbook... i had a left diagram which was completed.. i looked at the left one for reference and did this one... the book already had the outline though

calvin and hobbes.. i never get tired of 'em

well, here's something i sketched this weekend

xacto knife work

recently, a friend of mine introduced me to this crafting knife called xacto knife.. after i got it from the US (was not available here :( ), started playing around with it.. to create this bamboo stencil....
actually the xacto knife is used in sheet metal work, it looks like it

My recent visit to Amirthapuri near Chingleput. My Sony Ericsson did a good job....

praying mantis

when i was gathering flowers from our garden, bang! jumped a mantis... it was very slender and freaked out if i'll eat it.. so was frantically trying to run away.. i helped it get back to the top of the plant again... where i snapped it in this shot


and then i found its big daddy or may be big mommy :)

pencil sketch

a sketch of a mayan sculpture

metal acrylic on terracotta

sketched this last evening from a wedding invite.. one beautiful thing unique to pillayar is He takes beauty in whatever form you draw him, a few simple strokes resembling an elephantine head and a belly and a blessing hand, you have Him... intricate curves showing the childlike bliss, there you have Him again. He is as simple as He is superb!

welcoming the new year 2010 with art!!

In an effort to stay awake to wish friends and loved ones on the break of the new year, I started sketching these apples in oil pastel... there's still so much scope for improvement in blending colours I would say.. here it is for your sights...