Coco & A Basket Of Tomatoes…

Today, i spent my morning till late afternoon sketching…

In my college days, we would be asked to sketch a 50 sketches daily before we stepped in the campus

We’d usually run out of time since the assignment load would be staggering & seldom keep me awake for nights in a row

Yet, on my train journey to college, I would finish the sketches, to be reviewed by my professors just before the class commenced

The atmosphere in Mumbai local would be so energetic that one can’t help but be swallowed in it

One would often come across peculiar characters to sketch. I would try & catch an early local, so as to not only do my sketches on board the train, but even leave me time on hands to sketch at the station, be it Marine Lines or VT

The sketches usually would be random; trying to capture the movement in split-second; At times line drawing, Or blocks of light & shade, with quick free hand movements trying to capture the gist of action.

Sometimes Charcoal & times pen & ink & washes on the humble news print paper that was bound into a sketch pad to make it handy & economical

The whole idea to do these daily sketches was to not just Focus on anatomy as we’d have the Live Model & Nude study classes. But to free our hands & understand how powerfully sketches can communicate

The best model would always be our humble indie dogs on the railway platforms, often seen curled up on some bench, leaving us more time to study & many a times the porters too who’d be wanting their sketches made & hence offer to pose

All inhabitations of being stared by a herd of passerby’s, Who would encircle around us, Would dissipate in the pure act of sketching

I’ve always felt sketching is the best way to stop all mind activities, the stillness when your breath pauses to capture the form into lines of force & beauty, To me is at par to any meditation technique

Sketches often express a raw primitive quality that’s often seen in cave paintings

I sure am slower Now, Due to the many breaks I need due to my Chronic Illness, But nevertheless am Grateful for today

On personal front with Cocos hip pain & limping & my constant health struggles,

Sketching has been a good distraction

©️ Meghna/2022