Tag:

aejal patel

My Vibrant Sketchbook Stories

by Aejal D. Patel April 5, 2021

written by Aejal D. Patel

Last month I bought my first ever sketchbook.

I debated a lot with myself before I bought one. And here are my arguments.

A sketchbook makes it easier to track my progress. I can easily compare and critique my work. I can even write notes for specific techniques and not have to go to the internet for every little thing.

I doodle a lot and it’s easy to use the old art to create new ones if I have them safe and saved in the sketchbook, especially if it is a character. I tend to lose the sheets of paper I use, a lot of them get ruined before they end up in a folder which has a probability of being lost in other folders, again!

And there is this new trend of creating reels and shorts. I could make one too, ie when and if I fill my sketchbook.

So I browsed the internet and settled for a drawing journal from the scholar store. It has good 300 gsm paper, acid-free, 100 percent cotton. The acid-free paper was recommended to me cos the paper does not turn yellow with time.

I was excited and I gave my sketchbook a whimsical beginning with this Pumpkin Chariot.

And it’s hard to stop when I have something too nice to experiment with. I filled it in, plants and flowers, quotes and words, and but then with new things come new problems.

The number one is spoiling the other side of the paper because I unintentionally closed the book before letting the art on another page dry. If you are an artist, you know what I am talking about!

The other problem being somehow I could not stop my paper from being torn because of the paper tape, with good paper I was so sure I was never going to spoil my art with torn tapes but alas I was wrong.

And one of the most important things I forgot while buying a sketchbook was, along with the good tales, it will also have a history of my failures. And come on, who likes to be reminded of failures?

Thank God a sketchbook is a lot more personal than Instagram and everything does not have to be tip-top or fancy.

Even after this, Each time I open my sketchbook, I feel a little bit of pride in coming this far and a lot of humility because I have a long way to go. Flipping through my sketchbook makes me feel so good, sometimes I just open it for the sheer pleasure of it.

The one thing I love about the sketchbook is that it makes my work look so professional, maybe it’s just me, tell me if you agree about this in the comment section.

Because it is small in size, I can carry it around easily but going out has been scarce ever since March 2020 but hey, I would hate to miss an opportunity to paint outdoors. So far this sketchbook has been a good purchase and I am thinking of buying at least one more! So the lesson learned was to Embrace the journey, as long as I am on the learning curve there are going to be some bad art instances as well. I am learning not to be frustrated with it.

To conclude, buy a sketchbook, or at least something that keeps your work in one place. And the people who just bought a watercolor sketchbook, don’t close it before it dries!

Tell me your thoughts in the comment section. All kinds of constructive criticism are welcome!

Also, we have a fantastic update coming up on our gallery section. And it is going to be very exciting. Until the next post, Adios!

April 5, 2021 5 comments

Drawing Featured Journey Tales

The Enchanting Art Experience!

by Aejal D. Patel March 15, 2021

written by Aejal D. Patel

Sometimes I think I made haste in starting this blog.

Not everyone has a website and an Instagram even before they have a proper foundation in the subject.

But as the name suggests, it’s a journey. And the beginnings should be from point zero.

Now I am at a very crucial point in this art journey.

I have added a few tricks of the trade to my learning hat.

There is some physical and virtual proof of visible progress. It’s like being on that part of the mountain where the plain land seems far away but you are far from that perfect peak you decided to take the journey for.

I did not stick to one person or one medium of learning, but I have gathered that there is one lesson that is advocated by all.

Observe your surroundings, learn to see, is the mantra sung again and again by artists on youtube, blogs, and even in the comment section on Instagram.

Last Sunday of February, We had to go out for some reasons.

We had a long journey ahead of us, so we started before sunrise.

And gosh, I had a glorious opportunity to capture the essence of nature.

Yuh hi Chala playing in the background, and my siblings singing along, plus the serene beauty of the sun and clouds, I observed so much.

Here are a few photographs I clicked and let me tell you how I felt like seeing them for the first time. I have always been interested in clicking pictures of nature, but this was a different experience
.
So when we began the journey I thought in my head that the clouds were grey.

In a matter of few minutes, the radiating sun rays changed my whole idea of the clouds. The clouds had a shiny glint on the edges the sun rays were falling on.

A few more minutes and the clouds became shinier. I observed the light and shadow stuff every art YouTuber keeps talking about. It was such an eye-opening sight.

The memory of the sunrise is still so vibrant in my head because I observed so many details. This picture of a lady who started her day with the sun was clicked accidentally but it is one of the best memories of that day.

The route to our destination was filled with Butea monosperma (Sacred Tree) flower trees in bloom.
It was an unusual sight for me to spot so many of them together. Fortunately, we stopped on the way and I was able to click this brilliant sunrise.

Not only did I observe the shape of these beautiful flowers but also the way it is colored. With the orange lines in the middle and the white border-like thing on the edges.

We also witnessed flocks of birds. They followed a pattern even when they flew. It looked so perfectly set with the trees and sky in the background.

When I saw more trees, I remembered the words of Bob Ross- “Give some character to your trees” and the trees in front of me had that exact thing.

Even if they looked straight from a distance they had branches growing from almost every direction. The leaves had more than yellow and green. There was some obvious brown which was caused due to the harsh sun. The bark was much more than brown and black. The size of the trunk gave away an idea of a tree’s age.

On the journey back home my clouds looked something like this. I smiled to myself when I noticed the lighter and darker parts of the cloud.
I knew at that moment that painting is going to be much more interesting from now on.

In a distance, we could see these mountain ranges and again my mind remembered another YouTube tutorial where I followed directions without knowing why I was adding the darker shade.

Initially, my head equated all the shadows to grey. I was so wrong. Shadows should be suggested by the dark colors of the object the shadow is falling on.

When the sun had set, the clouds were back to how they were at the beginning of the day. My way of seeing things changed so much on that day.

I had easy access to trees, clouds, and nature even from my home. I have a garden I so lovingly tend to, but I have not seen anything this way before. But it is truly said that sometimes a change of place and air can give you a new perspective to your eyes. I will not be exaggerating if I say that I have got an extra lens in my eye since that day.

So this was it, the enchanting art experience of nature. Tell me if you had any similar kind of experience. Do all artists see the world this way and more?

Do you think painting makes you more aware of your surroundings? Use the comment section and tell me your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you.

March 15, 2021 8 comments

Drawing Featured Personal Tales

Unto the path of digital art!

by Aejal D. Patel January 21, 2021

written by Aejal D. Patel

The beginning of 2021 was quite lukewarm for me.

My spirits rose after a day or two. And I thought to myself, it isn’t so late to start something anew.

So I began learning digital art with the help of a Veikk pen tablet and my phone.

Whenever I begin something, my energy level and enthusiasm both are at peak.

During those times I cannot really think of anything else then, so I practiced for hours, talked to people about it, then talked to myself about it, and built quite a few castles in the air. Come on, Khayali pulavs are just so delicious!

But the thing is, Digital Art is hard.

I struggled to look at my phone while I drew on the tablet.

The huge number of brushes and the options available overwhelmed me.

My hands wanted to feel the real brushes in my hand but the options on AutoDesk lured me to the other side.

My heart argued that digital art had no feelings yet I could stay glued to my gadgets all day long.

While one was the comfort of the shore, the other was sea of uncertain possibilities.

How is a digital mandala going to make you feel relaxed when the symmetry tool did all my work?

In-spite of numerous notions of my heart I had a lot more opportunities with digital art.

So one day at a time I learned little by little.

I went searching all the guides on YouTube to being able to name and find the tool without struggle.

I could duplicate things and drawing a circle has never been easier.

What else, I’ll not have to worry about wasting my precious water-colour paper or my Faber Castle watercolour tubes.

My favourite was the undo option. How easy it was to correct a mistake.

And yet, after all this time I could not help but feel like a total failure.

Whatever I drew lacked the finished look.

It was as if I had to learn my “a..b..c..” all over again. And it is a painful endeavour.

My enthusiasm and energy were witnessing highest downs.

Finally I was able to follow a tutorial on YouTube and make a strawberry on my own!

Only then I understood how much I needed that little win.

Even if I drew it on my phone, I knew the effort I put in was no less than I would on a paper. My inner child giggled like a butterfly at this thought.

So here is my journey with digital art so far, difficult but adventurous.

And it has been only 20 days,

May be not today, 6 months later, I might start making art which makes my heart fill with content, and someday with joy!

Also, I can always choose to pick up my brushes and paper again if I want to. Nobody says I have to quit one for the other!

So my message to whosoever is attempting something new, hold on, you’ll get there, like I will get there, just remember your little wins, atleast you’ll find the will to keep going.

Do tell me if you have been through a similar experience!
What are you trying your hand at this 2021, a new skill or perhaps a hobby?
The comment section is all yours to share!

January 21, 2021 2 comments

Tutorials

How to use moss rose or portulaca flower to paint?

by Aejal D. Patel July 28, 2020

written by Aejal D. Patel

One fine day I was looking at the flowers in our little garden.

A hanging bottle of pink portulaca flowers caught my eye. Hurriedly I took out my phone to take a picture and post it on Instagram.

I noticed that the flowers from yesterday were decreasing the beauty of today’s blossoms. So I hastily picked out the stale flowers. I noticed that there was a little pinkish glint on my hand, and blimey I said Eureka in my head.

Over the last few months, I had come across a coffee painting, I have seen people paint with Turmeric and beetroot too in the name of painting with natural ingredients. Oh, I was so excited to use the moss flowers.

There were two reasons for the excitement:

1. The color of portulaca was kind of pink which I was not able to make despite so much effort.

2. I did not have to spoiled my garden’s beauty for the color.

You can do it too in three simple steps:

1) Find a portulaca of any color. I used the ones in the picture.

2) Pluck the ones which bloomed yesterday.

3) Put them in a dish and add very little water.

4) Keep the dish tilted so that the colored water gets accumulated.

5) Take a brush and you are ready to use the natural and homemade color.

Isn’t our nature a big miracle?

Here are some of the ways I used the color.

1) I drew a simple skyline in my journal.

2) If the sky was white

and the clouds were pink and

they would taste sweet

So I would eat every bit

Like cotton candy on a stick

3) I also used this for creating a little background for a quote I like.

4) The one on the left is done with portulaca color and the one on right is done with colors from watercolors and poster colors left on my palette.

I did not want to waste it so I did a little basic shapes practice.

Although this works fine with fresh flowers too, it might take a while before you get the colored water. The more time you leave the flowers in water the better your shade will be.

This could be a good activity to do with your little one too. In spite of being way older than a child, I found it so fascinating.

The color changes with time so I would not recommend it for something you want to keep it for the long term but oh the joy of doing this even once is no match. I am brimming with joy as I write this.

You should totally try it too and you can share it with me on Instagram @aejalsdrawingjourney.

I would love to see your creations.

Also, what are your thoughts about this blog?

Tell us in the comment section. I would love to interact with you.

Adios till the next time.

July 28, 2020 2 comments

Books

9 Favorite quotes from the book Atomic Habits (Part 1)

by Aejal D. Patel July 26, 2020

written by Aejal D. Patel

Do you have a home fandom?

The one you always return to after watching all kinds of gripping shows and reading engrossing books.

Mine is Harry Potter, I can go raging on and on about a book or a show for a certain period of time but at the end of the day, I’ll remain a Potterhead. And now if you ask me After all this time, I’ll say Always!

Reading to me is like Harry Potter, no matter which hobbies and interest pick up on the way, I’ll always come back to the comfort of books after some time.

I have immense love for books and when I read a good book I want to recommend it to everyone I know.

I usually pick fiction over nonfiction, Atomic Habits was a rare choice.

I followed Kesh and Kesh inspired me to follow James on Instagram and his posts on Instagram made me pick the book.

Its a book about habits like it is titled and it has been an eye-opener for me.

The author begins with a personal story and I did not want to believe him at all in the beginning but as I read on he explained step by step as to why small habits make the biggest difference in our lives.

Not only did I read this book I also heard the audio version while I was doing other tasks so as to reinforce the ideas of the books.

In the first part of the book, it is explained as to why habits matter. I particularly like how one can choose to become 1% better each day and 37 %better in a year.

It took me almost a month to finish this book, as I choose to let the ideas sink in my behavior.

These have helped me keep on track as being at home has made my routine very indefinite.

I have tried to apply this technique into my regular days and now I can get a lot more done.

1) Whenever we do something we want to see how it has made a difference. This quote teaches us patience.

2) The following quote tells us how we need unlearning too. Edit and upgrade is the mantra!

3) Whatever we do piles up to create big results.

4) We move forward towards change one step at a time.

5) For the ones who think habits and routines might make their life bland and boring.

6) One more on patience for results.

7) This is my favorite in the book. I have heard and read so much about setting goals and all but this just made so much more sense. We improve one thing at a time and can eventually get better.

8) Focus more on the process than the results.

9) To sum it up all, our habits form us.

So this is all for today.

Tell me in the comment section if you like the quotes! Would you like to see more posts like this! I am awaiting your opinions! Adios!

July 26, 2020 2 comments

The Big Picture

by Aejal D. Patel July 20, 2020

written by Aejal D. Patel

Lately, I have been very disappointed with myself. I spend each day trying to learn something new in art, yet I find myself making no difference. I watch tutorials, I take classes, I participate in challenges, I try the tutorials, I practice on my own, and yet I made no difference. Whatsoever I did, it did not even come near to the ‘perfect’ I had in mind.

Feeling so down I turned to a friend who asked me who was I trying to impress and right there I saw my problem. I was trying to track my progress on the basis of Instagram likes even when I am in the learning phase. I paid heed to his words and decided to care less about Instagram (it is so tough not to).

Just as I was going on and on about what a tough road I was going on a notification popped up. Google memories told me what I was doing this day last year and it had a card of flowers. And there I could spot the progress. I have actually come a far way. I am better than a year ago and come next year I will surely be better than today. So I decided to put all of my art from the past few days in one place so that my progress is visible to me. My brother came to my aid like an angel and he made me an awesome video with quotes to go along.

Tell me if you liked the video.

I am all ears. So until the next post, adios!

July 20, 2020 2 comments

Drawing Featured Tales

The Radiance of Rains!

by Aejal D. Patel July 11, 2020

written by Aejal D. Patel

Monsoon has finally set in my place!

The unbearable heat said adios with petrichor of the soil. The clouds played the game of how much can I run today and which look should I adopt and one day finally we had a pour down making the brown muddy water flow in front of our house with a gush and mild vigour!

I have mixed feelings about the Rains, but there are a few things which bring me absolute happiness!

Owing to my gardening experiments, each shower of rains brings joy to heart because it makes my plants glow, like they got the gift they were longing for decades.

The feel of the water on my hands falling on my hand while I try to protect myself and enjoy the rain at the same time sends me back to my childhood days.

Not that I like going out in the rain now but this cool weather and the green weeds sprouting almost everywhere are a very welcome change. So with the rainy radiance in air, I decided to draw and colour something rainy too.

Here are some of my creations!

1) The sun is scare in monsoon but when it finally appears, it is actually heartwarming!

2) Tea and Rain are one of the best combinations!

3) Have you seen the fancy umbrellas the kids have? Aren’t they the cutest?

4)How about some flowery Gumboots?

5) I always enjoy making little paper boats in spite of knowing that they will not last for long.

6) A girl with an umbrella!

7) There is something magical about mushrooms. I called then umbrella as a child!

So that are all my rainy drawings! Tell me about your favourite rain activity!

Comment if you liked the post.

Adios until the next time!

July 11, 2020 2 comments

Featured Tips

3 tips I wish I had paid heed to as a beginner to drawing.

by Aejal D. Patel June 27, 2020

written by Aejal D. Patel

More often than not I tend to not listen to people.

Come on, where is the fun in listening to what people say?

Of course, the result is a lot of mistakes, and the lessons learned remain stone carved in my memory.

So like every other person trying to learn something, I checked out the tips and tricks of drawing and like a teenage rebel, only heard those and learned to apply them only the hard way.

So here 3 things I learned through experience in spite of the advice being spoon-fed.

1. Make light strokes with your pencil.

This was perhaps the easiest one to follow but alas my stubborn head. I made dark lines. What more, I tried erasing them and the marks just won’t go. I ended up with a dirty smudgy drawing even before I made something nice.

Also, remember how they teach you to make that ‘rough sketch’ before you begin your actual piece. I took that quite literally and my drawing never looked like I wanted to.

What I learned was to make a more deliberate and intentional ‘rough sketch* which was supposed to be my guideline. If my guidelines were good, the chances of my output being well increased.

2. Know my art supplies.

Once my brother gifted me a box of 36 watercolor pencils. Ignorant me did not have any idea of how to use them, and then nor did I have any patience to learn. So like five years old with some pencils and a sharpener, I sharpened them and scribbled away like there was no tomorrow (It was an immense joy).

Now I know how watercolor pencils work and I no longer have my favorite colors. Now I wish to get a box again and plan on using it wisely.

When I began using poster colors, I thought all I would need was a dish and a brush. I was wrong. Water and normal paper is a bad combination. My paper wrinkled and got torn sometimes. It was agony. Luckily I had access to chart paper and old journals to work as a substitute to watercolor paper.

With the correct combination of tools, the endeavor becomes much easier.

3. Let that paper dry.

Whenever I used a water medium to paint, I made a huge mess. I started all well and good but the step where you have to WAIT to let the paper DRY, the demon of impatience took over my hands and you can imagine the colors go haywire.

So now I put on some music whenever I know I have to let the paper dry. The impatience demon plays with music while my hands do the waiting. And believe me, it’s worth waiting for the paper to dry. The end result is much better to look at.

That is all for now from my teeny tiny attempts at learning this art.

Tell me about your fails in the comment section.

Which lesson did you refuse to learn readily and later learned it with experience?

June 27, 2020 4 comments

Drawing Featured Personal

Beginning the journey of more than a lockdown artist!

by Aejal D. Patel June 11, 2020

written by Aejal D. Patel

To begin with, I am not a person who can draw effortlessly. In fact, I might use a scale and the line would still not be straight. But somehow I got into drawing, more of doodling. My bench mates are a witness to doodles in my maths lectures until I started doodling outside of class.

So to feed my brain with some novelty in the monotonous days of the lockdown I started drawing.

I found myself very lucky that of all the things I had with me, I had colours with me.

Instagram proved to be a boon and I got so many tutorials for free.

An Instagram artist who I became very familiar with was Sefi George aka @summer_scribbles.

She posted a new tutorial each day for two months on Instagram plus she answered all my questions. She has everything from landscapes to patterns to doodles in her highlighted stories which was extremely useful for me.

So with some borrowed inspiration from the artists, I started drawing. One thing led to another and I went from drawing to defeat boredom to drawing to do something interesting.

So I used to do an activity related to drawing and colouring each day-watch a tutorial, try a tutorial, follow more people on Instagram, create a new art account on Instagram.
In the monotonous summer days of April and May, I found the knowledge of cool colours and warm colours.

All of these made me very aware of my surrounding, the yellow in the leaves of the plants became visible to me. I sat down one day to observe the setting of the sun one day and discovered that it is not completely yellow at the center, the tinge of red and orange became more definite. Now I know how to turn a circle into a flower or a clock. I liked the change that was happening.

It felt like a vast sea of possibilities opened up for me. I became a curious cat. I want to learn how to paint a sea one day, I want to make my own character doodle, I want to try and make a cactus look cute, I want to draw a bird in flight, I want to draw running water, I want to draw the swimming fishes, I want to draw the mountains too but I no longer want to stop. (Yes yes, it is the Bunny version of me ‘udna chahtu hu ,dodna chahtu hu,’ only in terms of drawing and coloring..)

In the end when all this pandemic stuff is done in the world, (yes I am hopeful), I do not want to remain a lockdown artist.
Hence with a mixture of fear and faith, I invite everyone reading this blog to come, behold my journey.

Which activity kept you entertained this lockdown and you wanted to keep it forever? Which hobby did you pick up? What kept you sane during these crazy days?

Tell us about your tales, I would love to hear your stories.

My Experience in a box

June 11, 2020 12 comments