New Year: SALE and updates

I know it's a day early BUT HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone! I decided to put everything on sale at 15% off for the new year!
Prints: http://bhagatsingh.imagekind.com
Posters: www.cafepress.com/bhagatsingh/


This is going to be one heck of a fun year! I got my new computer, which means I'll start working on the my old Ajit Singh piece. Like I've mentioned before, it's going to be HUGE! It requires a lot of detail work! I have layed out the everything and now its just a matter of patience. I'll be posting on that as soon as the new year begins. Right now, I am just trying to figure out how to calibrate my new monitor... ;-)

Sikhi Art Website

My own Sikhi Art website has been launched! Check it out at www.sikhiart.net!

Mai Bhago - The Brave Kaur

Mai Bhago, whose full name was actually Bhag Kaur or Mata (mother) Bhag Kaur, with respect, was one of the most revered warriors of Sikh history. The title "Mai Bhago - The Brave Kaur" of my next WIP {BTW, this means Work In Progress(and BTW, BTW means By The Way)}, is meant to connect Mai Bhago with Kaur. I think the second name, Kaur, is very important when saying her name, Mata Bhag Kaur. Why? Well, its an important part of our history. The names Kaur, and Singh (as well), tore us away from the castes and lineages we were stuck with! The fact that we fell in the same hole we were saved out of, is a whole different story.

Anyway, why should Mai Bhago be called Mata Bhag Kaur? Well, we have Baba Deep Singh, Banda Singh Bahadur, Sahibzada Ajit Singh, and so many other Singhs but we have a Kaur of that time, who, we do not call by the name, Kaur. Why? Weird, isn't it? I think so...

My next WIP is actually my first digital painting on Sikh history that I began at the beginning... of the year. I had done many paintings on Sikh history before this, but those were on bristol boards and canvases. Many were imitations of Sobha Singh's, Kirpal Singh's and Mehar Singh's works. I used to add in my own elements for fun! That was a good learning experience for me. It got me started on Sikh history, however, I didn't have the same feel for Sikh history as I do now! Then I did not research beyond the small, thin paperbacks I found in gurudwaras. It was Sarbloh Warriors, which required me to research for concepts. I didn't take it seriously then, but I really dug into it when I worked on Sahibzada Ajit Singh.

This WIP of mine started with a really good concept, with good composition and with a nice setup. However, as I worked on it, it started to become into something completely different. In fact, it didn't have the same emotion as the first one. Whereas, the first one was a woman charging, the newly developed piece was literally a stroll through the park... err... without the park. Here, see for yourself.
This is Stage Four of the WIP...

...and this is Stage Nine! (I decided to finish this painting, as well as going back to the Stage Four and working on that as Mai Bhago - The Brave Kaur.)This is Stage Five of Mai Bhago - The Brave Kaur. For some reason it reminds me of Batman - The Dark Knight...

Sikhi Art on SALE! Baba Deep Singh

To buy Canvas and Fine Arts prints click on the image above or visit: http://bhagatsingh.imagekind.com
To buy posters of the image, click on the image below or visit: http://www.cafepress.com/bhagatsingh

Mutants - Outcast

While "Mutants - Born to Stand Out" was planned to be an intro to the Mutants universe, "Mutants - Outcast" will contain more conflict. It will be darker, grittier. Our heroes would be older by now, probably finishing up their college.
Coincidentally, (I call it the Wireless Network Effect lol) a Singh said the exact same words, as I thought a Sikh in the Mutants storyline would say! This Singh was joking around when he said (on msn):
"that is why all of the images we are getting for the auction are of Singhs and Kaurs"
"Singhs and Kaurs that [typo] are not MUTANT!" (should be: Singhs are Kaurs are not Mutants!)
"that [they] are HUMAN"

What he said as a joke, is the reality of Mutants. Sikh Mutants feel like they are outcasts! They don't belong in any community, and their own Mutant community is too small and dispersed throughout the world. On top of that, Mutants have a bad reputation. It is not their fault though, most of the cases of deaths involving a Mutant, were when the Mutant had no control. This can result from several factors. Would you really blame someone for killing thousands of innocent people when they really had no control over what they were doing? One moment everyone is doing their business, next moment the whole town blows up! ... I bet you would...

But this feeling of being an outcast ticks most Mutants off! One example would be Zora Singh, he is the rival of the main character. This feeling fuels his anger, his rage. On top of that most poeple will look at him and judge by what he looks like. The same Singh says (on msn):
"zora sing[h]"
"look at where his hand is"
"he looks like a gangster wanta be"
See what I mean? I bet that's the first thing you thought about him as well.

Today I present to you another Zora Singh artwork. (It was the first thing you saw up there)
To buy 250 pieces puzzle sets, etc visit DeviantArt and to buy canvas prints and other prints visit Imagekind.

To see other characters and paintings/concepts, please visit the Mutants gallery or click on the banner at the very bottom of the page, sit back and relax!
If you are interested in working with me on this project, please email me: bhagatbedi@gmail.com

Mutants - Born to Stand Out

Mutants, sometimes I feel like I am one. As a turbaned Sikh you stick out like a lighthouse from the shore. As a Sikh, you are pretty much BORN to stand out. Nowhere you can hide, nowhere you can run! That is the theme of Mutants. For some reason only the Sikh mutants survive; the others seem to die as their mutations surface! Sikhs after being labeled terrorists are now labeled mutants! In this world, that is NOT a good thing. Mutants are often chased down the streets, burned, shot, beaten... The police should help right? They often join this madness! Without giving this change a second chance, the entire country is against it with the exception of a few! So as I was saying, most of the mutants die with the exception of some Sikhs, Rastas and some lucky individuals. Why is it that natural selection is weeding out mostly non-Sikhs? Why do the others die while the Sikhs, Rastafarians and a few survive? What do they have that the others don't? It seems like whatever they have, is what allows the mutations to survive inside them. It is as if nature had a plan, to weed out anyone that goes against it... There was research being done on this. Those that would normally die of mutations had been enclosed in capsules to keep them alive. Some of them had been successfully saved. But was that a good idea? Those that had been saved are changed... their personality... their powers... In a good way? Only time will tell.

There is major conflict between the human species and this new "species" that has emerged. It has become impossible to live without fear of a mutant or two raiding your house. Do they raid houses? There hasn't been a case yet but does that stop people from being afraid? Afterall, they could do anything! The laws of physics barely hold in place, before them. They create fire at will, turn their skin into some kind of metal and blow things up with their minds. Is this a curse or a gift? Is this revolution or destruction?

Well, I don't know I am still figuring this out! Let me introduce some of my Mutant friends! You can see my full Mutants gallery at the very bottom. Here I introduce only a few:

Sarbloh - seems like Colossus, looks like Colossus but is he another Colossus?
Sarbloh was one of the first mutants I created.
"As his turban was knocked off, his hair opened. But Sarbloh stood there, silent. Behind his hair, I could see his expression change from serious to that of an angry bull. He clenched his fists as he charged towards his attacker!" - Tej Singh, Mutants

"I have been through the anti-Sikh riots in India! I have survived a plane crash even when everyone on the plane died! Even the fall of the mighty Twin Towers could not crush me! By the grace of Waheguru, I, Kartar Singh, AM SARBLOH!" - Kartar Singh, Mutants


Zora Singh - Seems like the Iceman but is he really the iceman?

All I can say at the moment about him is, "A sixteen year old Sikh gangster!"
Well, he was 16 then. Now is probably three years older, anyway, you can probably picture a Sikh gangster. If you can't then you will have to wait till the next update on this.

Zora Singh is able to slow down the movement of atoms at will. He is particularly able to do this with compounds containing the elements hydrogen and oxygen.
He is able to create liquid oxygen (LOx), liquid hydrogen (LH2) and ice out of thin air. LOx is a VERY strong oxidizer. Organic materials burn very rapidly and energetically in its presence. Some like asphalt can even detonate when soaked in LOx! LH2 is used as rocket fuel! Although, Zora Singh is able to liquefy both hydrogen and oxygen, he cannot continuously do so, as it requires a ton of energy;it puts great strain on him. However, creating ice is his second nature.

Zora Singh is not an iceman... By manipulating oxygen and hydrogen, he is able to create MASSIVE explosions! He is a definitely a dangerous force to be reckoned with!


Kes - he seems like... oh wait, this is a new one.
He was one of the Mutants placed in a capsule. He had his own unique hi-tech capsule at the underground lab, designed just for him. You don't even want to know how they caged him before! But he wasn't placed there so they could save him, he was imprisoned and was been researched on. His abilities allowed him to uses his kesh (also kes, meaning hair) to absorb ENORMOUS amounts of energy allowing him to do virtually ANYTHING with this. This version of Kes uses the energy to thicken his hair, growing them longer and shorter on will. He is able to do mechanical work with them e.g. grabbing onto opponents, hitting them... lifting GO trains...
... the longer the hair, the more dangerous he gets...
Of course, if you cut them and shave his beard, this man becomes like every other mutant, weak. So that's how they kept him imprisoned! They kept cutting his hair. Kes would try his hardest to grow them but the next day he would find himself helpless with just stubble.
He has been stuck down there for ages...


To see other characters and paintings/concepts, please visit the Mutants gallery or click on the banner at the very bottom of the page, sit back and relax!
If you are interested in working with me on this project, please email me: bhagatbedi@gmail.com

This is blasphemy! This is madness!

I have no idea why I named the post " This is blasphemy! This is madness!". Perhaps, I was thinking of the movie 300, and somehow related that to my exams, which BTW will be over on Thursday! WOOT! I worked on my paintings a little, here and there. Its not much but I have exams going on, come on!I found some nice references for the horse for the Banda Singh - Battle Charge, so that worked out well. And for Baba Deep Singh one, I had Akaal_Singh from Flickr help me out with some shastar or weapons that Baba Deep Singh Ji might have carried. He also sent me pictures explaining how a farla is added to a dastaar and how a puratan Dhumalla might have looked like. BTW check out his photostream, he has some lots of pictures of amazing artifacts.

Another thing I wanted to share was some details from the Battle of Chamkaur WIP. The cool thing about this painting is that its one of my biggest, over 8000 by 5000 pixels, which is around 80" by 50" when printed on to canvas. However, this means that it will take longer to finish for two reasons. One, that my computer is ancient so it cannot take the stress, and two because Baba Ajit Singh turned out be so darn detailed and I feel compelled to carry out that detail on the Mughals, as well. Being an amateur artist, I crafted detail onto his armour like there was no end! I went overboard and added sweat on Baba Ajit Singh! His beard was styled and every hair was hand painted. It is quite frustrating to do that much but I think, the end product will show the true work of the labour. When this is done its going straight up on my bedroom wall!
I didn’t think that this painting process would require so much research but you know what? I learned a heck of a lot of things! Did you know Mughals specialized in cavalry and that their infantry were vilalgers? Mansabdars were the highest rank. Banduqchis were villagers but with a Bandook or a Matchlock. Did you know there were Hindus in the Mughal army? Mughals had Hindus in their armies called, Bhumi. These were Hindu infantry! I incorporated this into the Battle of Chamkaur. In the foreground, you will see two Bhumi soldiers. Ajit Singh is stepping on a Banduqchi while taking out another Banduqchi and a villager/infantry. In the far back, there is a Mansabdar, a detail of him is coming up.
Not only did I learn about the structure of Mughal army, but I also learned about how the armour and weapons looked like back then. My craze for this newfound knowledge was one of the things that led me to overdo the armour.

OK, enough typing, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I present to you, a few thousand more words! Oh, and YAY! I have followers, following my blog! Wicked!

(click on the images to see enlarged view)

Sikhi Art on SALE!

Apparently, DeviantArt is having a sale! Everything is at least 20% off!
Take advantage of this! Sale ends December 15th.

For slightly more expensive but diverse framing options visit Imagekind.

Mata Bhag Kaur was my first piece of work on Sikh history. She lead an army of Sikhs in the Battle of Muktsar.