How do you kill that thing with a sword, seriously?

I had been spending some time playing video games. I had been taking breaks in between painting of Hari Singh Nalwa and replayed Prince of Persia... so this was inevitable... just like when I took breaks in between painting Guru Nanak and ended up with this.
I always wondered what would happen to a character if he/she was a Sikh. How might they develop? So I thought to myself, what if Prince of Persia was a Sikh? But with any character, I don't just end it there, I mean I don't just picture Prince with a turban and beard. What I picture is unique to me. Even though it is based on an existing character. It's not exactly that character if you know what I mean. The representation in my mind is what I see in that character. They say that there is a style inherent in everything, and that an artist merely seeks to capture this style onto the canvas. It is said that Renoir, a French Artist, stared out into the open sea, just gazing deeply into its waves. However, what came about on his canvas was not the sea... click here to see that painting (Viewers discretion is advised)
So I got to work, and did some concept art for the character. 'Patialvi Yuvraj' has this ethereal arm, a sort of celestial, magical arm that he receives once he is loses his own, in battle. It connects him to this other dimension from which the "material" of the new arm comes from. So not only can he travel between our dimension and this other dimension, his arm itself provides him with many skills and tools that he uses on his adventures... So although, the Patialvi Prince was inspired by the Persian one, he is somewhat of a different character... And although, the current name "Prince of Patiala" is a sort of an amusing, satirical name, the character definitely isn't. His story, personality and powers - available only to me currently - often revolve around in a fine mist in my mind. They are there as small floating water droplets that must be collected to get a glass of water because I am very thirsty right now. I will have a glass or two after I publish this post.
Aside from everything - this kind of thing simply gives me inspiration for my art. It gives me more reasons to draw. It gives me more to draw. It may not be novel but it stimulates my artistic juices. It grows within me. It (will) eventually lead me to create completely novel characters, inspired more deeply from Sikh religion, culture and aesthetics. Sikh religion, culture and aesthetics themselves have yet to bloom from the strife, disinterest and fanaticism that cloud them...

In this particular piece, I was studying anatomy when I drew the Prince. I took that anatomy and attempted to distort it with the Jinn. Ya I know Prince is running away. He's running away only to find platforms (in an arena?) to climb, walls to run, metallic hole things (that have been strategically placed there by the developers) to stick his dagger in ... he can make a dagger out of his ethereal hand, let's go with that... continuing on, poles to swing and columns to leap to, to finally get on top of the dude (Press X/ Swing Wiimote at the right moment) latch on with the weapon, climb up to the skull and grab his eyelid (God of War style) and spill the contents of the eyes in the arena. He will try and grab you, you gotta Press X/ Swing Wiimote again right when he does so... ... screw this here's the painting.

Going Deeper into Art

It is spring time and my university is all done. This summer I am planning on releasing Hari Singh Nalwa. I have been working on Hari Singh Nalwa quite a bit. Since a lot of the progress was lost, I have had to go back and really work at it. Also I realized it was a little mundane with him just sitting there, so I added some very relevant "props" to enhance his painting. So at this stage, I am ready to enlarge the entire image to about 7000 pixels and start detailing it out. Right now it can be printed at Large but when printed on 60" MASSIVE Canvas this will be a life sized portrait of him! It's going be awesome!

Now when I say university is done, I mean it's ALL done. I am going to graduate this year and earn my Biology degree. I guess that officially makes me a Biologist. But my mind is completely focused on art now. For three years I went through university thinking I would continue in the field and do art on the side. I was so focused on getting into medical school to become a Doctor. However, this last year of study, my mind did a complete turn, and I started thinking about doing art full time. That's right. Becoming an artist for a living! Now I don't know if I could do Sikh art alone. I would love to do Sikh paintings all my life but I think I might have a better chance doing other art. I love video games and working on them. one of my dreams is to create some of my own. Part of this dream involves me working with several major video games companies, and getting the experience I need for Sikh video games.
So last year of university I decided to go into art full time. There were several things that lead me to this change. One was simply because I was pretty good at it and very passionate about doing it. I have been painting all my life, and the more I painted that more deeply I got into painting.
The second reason came to me in philosophy class where we studied this philosopher Merleau Ponty. In a nutshell, his position was that art puts us into touch with the world. It expresses a truth about our perception. Our perception being a dialogue that takes place between us, the "observer" and our "environment". I think Ponty would say something akin to Indian Gurus, that there is no observer and environment, just the dialogue, just the perception. His main point was that art expresses truths about that perception, real truths. Whereas, science lays out a skeleton of the world, art lays out its flesh. So I thought that was kind of cool.
Along with that I realized that by shifting my attention between two or more things, it will become difficult to master either. I want to master art, become a master like Caravaggio or Rembrandt or Rubens, etc. I want to really get better at it. Art is one of those things that I would do even if I didn't get paid for it. Now of course, I still need money for sustenance and so I sell my work. But art is something that I can do without reasons. For me it just happens.
With all that in my mind, I decided to go to art school. I applied to Sheridan and got accepted into their Bachelor of Arts program.

Updates and Sikh Mod

Hi guys, yes, I could have blogged more but didn't feel motivated enough. I have been working on several paintings, both historical and fantastical one. (I actually started many more pieces but some were lost due hard drive failure. I have been much more careful about backing up my work since then.) I also started laying out some ideas for future games I might do. One of my dreams is to create some video games of my own, with characters that are designed by me, with Sikh characters, and so I regularly remember that dream and design characters and gameplay around it.

As I was in the process of doing this, I felt very motivated to work on a mod that I have been involved in. I started this back in 2009 when I felt like I had nothing to do. I always feel like that for some reason, even though I have a lot on my plate... it's full! When I first announced it, I made a new friend in the process and he got me started. I did not know squat about programming so I left that job to him. I would take care of the art, while he (enjoys math) would take care of the programming. He was actually thinking of a similar mod, and so was very quick to join me. With Sarbloh Warriors down, I saw this filling its spot.

We planned to mod the Sikh Empire for Age of Empires 3. Age of Empires is a real time strategy game where you choose one of many civilizations and take on the other civilizations in battle. The Age of Empires series is one of my favs and so this was very exciting.
Its second expansion has India already but a modern India. It has one Sikh unit to begin with, Chakram, a hoop thrower. That's right its main attack, it's only attack is to throw a Chakar (and to hit someone with it if they come close). Ridiculous, I thought to my self. The game was awesome, and Chakram was even cooler but it did not feel right when I played it. Udasi, a sub-civilization can train Chakram, a Nihang... a Nihang who does not use swords... you get the point...

So this winter, feeling very motivated, I got back to that mod, got back to playing Chakram, got back to altering the game files so that I could train more than 23 Chakrams! This winter, I took a deep breath and thought "This is it! If I can't give this guy swords..." I never finished the sentence, I don't think negative. "I can give this guy swords!" I thought positive and it paid off, Nihang was born. Though, this was just a Chakram with a sword. I later went back and 'modded' meaning modified the textures to make them look different.

This was a new step for me and I realized how easy programming this game was. Well, this was not REAL programming. This was modifying existing code (computer language that is translated into the game), well-written, easy to understand code.
So the next week, I was found living on my computer, except for maybe sleeping and bathroom breaks. I really got into it! I managed to create several units (the playable soldiers of a civilization) before that friend and I got back and shared code. (I still have to work with what he has already done, which was most units of the Sikh Empire). As an immediate reaction to his input, I started creating Maratha, Mughal and Afghan units. All of a sudden a rush in my energy levels and motivation made me very confident. I decided we will split the Indian civilization into Afghans, Marathas, Mughals and Sikhs. More units, more playing styles and more research that needs to be done... It is only now that I realize how big of a task it is to create even one civilization let alone four! However difficult it might be, my plan is to finish at least two. I am hoping we get a few other like-minded people to help us. If this ever gets finished it will be the coolest mod ever! Right now I am back at university and getting back to studying science but hopefully I will come back to the mod this summer.

Here's a screenshot of the mod, of Sikhs and Mughals in action. Click on it to see the full image. (We can only modify existing units, so I cannot make the different turbans more accurate than this)

Guru Nanak - Shabad Vichar

So I decided to release the painting. I worked on the critiques this morning to the point of satisfaction. I also detailed the piece, fixing small errors here and there. I also did things a bit differently this time. I added an introduction explaining the underlying reasons for meditating on which all the Eastern Traditions place great stress! It is based on the words of Sam Harris, who is a neurologist and has made efforts in the field of meditation.

"Men (and women) from all over the world and throughout history have been in search of pleasant sites and sounds, tastes and sensations, and attitudes. They noticed that even in the best of times, without sickness, death and horrors of old age, happiness and pleasure could only be felt temporarily by having to repeat things like eating delicious food, having professional success and celebrating festivals. Many over the ages accepted this as a fact of life, and lived their lives around reiterating this temporary relief.

However, some began to wonder whether there was a form of happiness that was not dependent on having one’s family and friends within arm’s reach, or taking all kinds of drugs. They began to train their attention from moment to moment experience to see whether there was a greater happiness to be discovered at all, one that was independent of sensory experience.

This lead many to believe that if there was such an experience to be had, it should be available in places where delicious food, friends and family, and such were nowhere to be found. This rationale led many to give up their family life, and led many to further renounce the world, isolating themselves in a cave or a desert or mountains, places no different to solitary confinement, where they began to take notice of their experience and of subjectivity itself. Over the ages, these people claimed to have found an alternative to the contingent experiences of happiness and well-being. Many introspective techniques were developed by these people, who came to be known as ascetics, mystics, saints and bhagats..." Continue reading...

Delay

There will be some delay with the release of the painting on Guru Nanak Dev ji. I have been receiving critiques to this day, and still see some scope for improvement. In the meanwhile, I ended up working on Guru Nanak Dev Ji's information page. I did it a little differently from the others. I thought Guru Nanak is very well known so instead of giving a historical description, I added an introduction, an understanding, a western perspective which attempts to capture the interest of young people. My attempt is to provide an introduction that even a Non-religious person will understand and hopefully, admire. The introduction was based on the words of Sam Harris, who is non-religious himself but has studied Eastern Traditions in depth. I found that it shed some light on all Eastern Traditions, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

So yes, there will be a delay but hopefully for the better!

Weekly Sketch #18: Nihang Photorealism

Another Weekly Sketch, feels more like monthly sketch though. But anyway, I was just working on my photorealism skills. Although, I am not a fan of having everything photorealistic, it certainly helps to attempt photorealism to study the subject, in this case faces, in depth. Laying down all the details, and studying every nook and cranny. Every wrinkle, every mark on the face...
I used a photograph by Charles Meacham.

In other news, be sure to check out Important Updates - August, if you haven't already, and prepare yourself for the release of the painting on Guru Nanak. I am going to release is in a day or two, if all goes well.

Stuff

I was not completely absent from this blog during the past month. I wrote up some posts but never ended up developing them to completion. Some were about specific details of my paintings, and other were thoughts on emotions such as anger and happiness. So, yeah I never finished them so they were never published.

I have to say though, I have been pretty busy with stuff. This summer I ended up taking two philosophy courses, which took up the time I usually spend on sketching and those Weeky Sketches/Paintings I would normally do. I think philosophy is just awesome, it opens up the mind, unclogs its gear, and sets it into motion. I ended up learning about western and eastern philosophies, and it gave me a whole new perspective on life, a new perspective on world religions and non-religions. We also looked at some of the famous philosophers of the west and the east, including Kant, Neitzche and Radhakrishnan. It was just wonderful!

While, I studied philosophy at university, I worked on the Guru Nanak painting at home. It's coming out nicely. In fact, its in its final stages now, and I will (most probably) be releasing it at the end of this month. Right now, I am finishing up the details and working on the critiques I got for it. Needless to say, it's not my usual style of work. It's not as dynamic and dark as my other paintings. It's more calm and cheerful. I am also going to use a wider palette, reds,greens, oranges, blues, yellows and violets. That I think raises the difficulty of any piece - having a wider palette. You have more things to manage and so it takes some experience to be able to do that. That is why my earlier work was monochromatic or used a narrow range of colours. An artist has to be able to think holistically about the parts of the painting in relation to each other, and that includes colour. The more parts there are, the harder the painting becomes. Sound like we are managing visual information... it is just that.