Weekly Sketch #1: Birdman Tara

"What should I name it?"
As I worked on this final sketch, I kept thinking about naming it! Thinking that weekly Sketch #1 isn't a good name, I activated my "name generator networks" in my brain, and in no time names started popping up in my head.

Bird Warrior
No, sounds like fantasy warrior that uses bird attacks or something...

Birdman Jones...
No

Birdman Jones
NO

Birdman Jones
WHY BIRDMAN JONES???

A friend comes on MSN ... ... Him: have you worked on the comic? ... Me: No, I am working on my weekly sketch... Him: Cool, what is it? Is it like top-secret?... Me: Bird Man Nihang... Him: lol!

So now I had a better name Birdman Nihang... (by Nihang I mean sikh warrior). Suddenly...
Birdman Jones
WTF??!?! and that's where it hit me, that name wasn't personal enough! hahaha


OK, enough with that. This is sketch is dedicated to my pet lovebird (there is a type of bird called lovebird). Cheers to his cute annoyingness! haha

Going Underground

Don't take my infrequent posts as a sign of death, haha, which is probably what some old school Punjabis are wondering. Kite mar tan ni geya! I just got kind of lazy these past few days plus nothing's really going on with me. I haven't done any major Sikh history work but I am definitely in the game with a bunch of other things including a Sikh related mod and a graphic novel. Anyways, since I am not going to reveal anything about those two, I have decided to do weekly sketches the keep the blog running.

This week I am going to put up a speed painting depicting Guru Gobind Singh ji in Machiwara. I dug it out of my computer mess, after organizing all my files. I wasn't too fond of it so recently I randomly started to fix some things up. I called up my youngest sister to ask for her opinion and she totally loved it. I was kind of surprized. She suggested that I should continue to work on it and finish it! I don't think I'll be doing a good version anytime soon though. Anyways, here's the painting.

I await my order...

Well, I said I would update frequently but nothing is happening over at this side of the computer. I mean I bought a new tablet, the thing I draw with, I love it so much I ripped out three nice pieces, worked on my comics and stuff. I totall fell in love with it. I started to build my dreams and hopes on this new found love. But then things changed... I found a better deal...

So now I am just waiting for the new one to show up. I hope I do not get too lazy by then. Anwyays, I guess the "time-off" has given me a chance to do other things like looking for better deals on prints, playing video-games for hours on end, and looking into T-shirts. I started with Mata Bhag Kaur as a base for a small design. Here have a look, don't hesitate to leave comments for ideas, suggestions and critiques. This is my first go at the designs so I really need it...


I am going to do something similar with Baba Deep Singh ji. But before I do I will paint his left hand in.

I'm back! Yipee!

This is probably the longest leave from my blog. Well, I didn't post for two reasons. One, I didn't know what to talk about lol, and two, I was concentrated on my exams. Yep! you heard it right. I was focused! No painting, no wasting time googling random things. It was just me and my books.
haha, no that's a lie, actually. I did fool around, I did paint here and there but not much, which is a big improvement, considering last semester...
http://sikhiart.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html

Anyways, I'm back and running. I haven't began my work on Sikh History just yet. Right now, I am just painting anything that comes to mind.

Blue Jaye - my take on GWDill's character
Nihang Singh - the sketch but coloured in... for no apparent reason...
Demon King - Miri Piri: The Blades of the Guru

I had been working on Battle of Chamkaur and Mai Bhago over the school year. If you've been to www.sikhiart.com then you've seen the updated Battle of Chamkaur. I will soon be posting an update on Mai Bhago.

That's all for now, my summer break has begun so now I will have all the time I need, to paint. Keep an eye on the blog, I am going to be posting more frequently.

Both Blasphemy and Madness, This is LIFE!

The title just came to me. Is it related to the post? I don't know... For those who are wondering why I keep using the words blasphemy and madnessin my posts, haha, it comes from 300, the movie. One of the most famous dialogues, "This is blasphemy, this is madness..."

For a while I have been feeling quite depressed or I tend to think I have been feeling that way. Its not a good feeling at all. It feels like the whole world hates you. but not only that, it feels like you hate yourself. It gets hard to meditate, to focus on school. I hope I can fight it off. Those who see me and chat with me, probably haven't noticed though, because I am always trying to have a good time, always laughing (sometimes at nothing, sometimes at my state).

However, depressed I maybe, I always have a part of me that is happy, always happy, overly exicited sometimes. I don't know why; maybe I am depressed because I don't know why. Maybe the word depressed is a big word, and sad is more like it. Perhaps, I am not depressed at all and it's just part of stress. Final exams are just around the corner...

Anyway, whatever happens it's all good! I gotta say though, that's a bad introduction to this post. I had recently developed a piece (still in progress) on Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. I had initially pictured it with a cheery feeling, you know, the kind of feeling you don't have when your sad! haha

But, before I started painting, I thought, "Let me try something."

So I painting this dark, hot sky, and continued from there. I was probably letting out my feelings but then I realized, "This is it!"

This is the setting Guru Nanak should be placed in! I mean he wasn't fighting against flowers and singing birds, he was fighting against oppression, prejudice, politics, and the corrupted ones. I believe the setting reflects that time perfectly. ... Even when I am not painting war, I am still talking about fighting stuff. Haha, this is the perfect transition from MAD war paintings to pretty, everything-is-so-nice paintings. About the Mad war paintings, I can't wait to finish those off in the summer! Talking about summer, I will probably be joining some feed-the-homeless (sikhcess?) events and stuff. I had been planning for a while, but was too lazy. That will end this summer because I really want to make a difference!

Slowly but surely..

I was just looking through my last post when I realized something, the only difference between the words "tourist" and "terrorist", is "our" and "erro". Tourists are ours, and terrorists... err...O, you can keep them!

Final exams are just around the corner. I can't wait till I can start working on my paintings full time! After I finish three of my WIPs, I am planning on working on some "peaceful" types that show the humbleness, reasoning, guru ka langar, and many other non-violent aspects of Sikh history. I realized that my goal was (and still is) to create a positive image of Sikhs, but by showing all this violence, I create a negative effect on a neutral observer. I am thankful to God for making me realize this sooner. I bet most of you are like, " Why not start earlier? Why finish three before changing subject?" Well, the three paintings I mentioned are Mai Bhago - The Brave kaur, Battle of Chamkaur - Sahibzada Ajit Singh, and Banda Singh- Battle Charge (I guarantee if nothing else, that Singhnis are going to love Mai Bhago one). These paintings are 60-80% complete, and I am actually hoping to get them out by the end of this summer, leaving all of next year for what I call meditation through art. So far it has been intense gatka training and horse riding. Hehe
So slowly but surely, I will get those three paintings out. Slowly but surely, I will turn this negative effect into a positive one. Slowly but surely, I will learn to make better jokes, better than the one I started this post off with! HAHA

A strange thought

Hey guys, I have been absent from this blog for quite a bit now. I have been bombarded with midterms and assignments! Over the past month, I started to work on this new amateur comic. Its about this angel dude... I really have no clue about the story. haha, I figured if I was going to make Mutants and Miri Piri, I was going to need some experience. For those that think it would be better to work on comics based on history, well, I admire the thinking. I have started work on one such graphic novel, with a long distance friend of mine. I am not going to reveal anything just yet, except that its from the Sarbloh Warriors time period.

So, why the strange title about strange thoughts? No, I am not trying to mislead anyone here, haha, I may have done that in the past...or I may have not... Anyway, after the midterm I had today, I was walking to Union station when I said to myself, "Hey, today would be a good day to take pictures of the city!" (so I can get more practice for cityscapes for the Mutants comic)

As soon as I pull out my camera, I was thining, "I will either look like a tourist or a terrorist. trying to take pictures to either show to family or to plan a bombing or something." I laughed, " Judging by my turban, I am probably going to come off as a terrorist, rather than a tourist."

haha

There was this one time when this old white guy was staring as I walked down the underground path. I couldn't help but gigle to myself as I passed him. Before that happened, I used to joke with friends about something like that...

BTW if you're wondering why Kes is saying "No!" in that picture... join the club...