Amazed

One of the most fun Apps on iPad Pro is the Amaziograph and I've clearly been tripping on it a lot. You can make patterns, designs and random doodles endlessly. Whoever tries it, is entertained for quite a while, you see, it is very difficult to make an ugly drawing on this app. Here's how it works:Trippy, isn't it?Here's some more:These are some of my favourites:A colour wheel, because, of course a colour wheel. :) :)A variation of something I used to doodle since a while ago  (See here and here )Tries to make use of the symmetry feature here.Tried my hand at making an abstract camouflage-like print.And my most favourite - inspired by snowflakes on a dark winter night (which of course we don't have in Bangalore, hence just an imagination):)

If you can't run, walk.

When I was asked to be the mascot for this year's Pinkathon Bangalore, I asked, "really? Are you sure?? Are you reeeeaallyy sure???"Pink17_2Me? This lazy-couch-potato-netflix-binge-watcher-perennial-excuse-maker-me?? They don't know my “dirty little secret” that I quit yoga after four months because I was “travelling too often”, that I look for any excuse to not wake up early, that I barely make it to gym more than two or three times a week. I am probably the laziest person I know.But there I was, with this responsibility shoved into my hands - to motivate and inspire women to run and to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. I started a slow process of training for  Pinkathon, when two weeks later during my regular check-up, some of the disease reappeared. All my plans took a complete turn and I stopped everything to focus on my health. Some days later, after the initial shock subsided and running around hospitals was done, I started going for walks again, at my own pace.Today, I was called an inspiration by quite a few people. Why me? Just look around and you'll find inspiration everywhere.Inspiration is my mother, who did her first 3k with a six month long pain in her foot. It is my sister-in-law, who ran her first 5k, just two months after giving birth to her second child.IMG_9122Inspiration is those women who can't see, but ran ten kilometres, and the ones who held their hands and ran with them. It is that lady walking slowly in a crisp saree and a neat white braid. It is that lanky girl whose long strides were as graceful as they were strong. It is the girl filling out the largest sized tee and the one drowning in the smallest sized one. It is the women walking, dancing and smiling with their babies held close to their chests. It is those fighters, who didn't let setbacks, weakness or illness stop them from moving forward.Inspiration is all those women who proudly proclaimed their fears, flaws and insecurities on their bibs for the world to see.Pink17_1IMG_9121       This morning, I might have inspired some, for a few minutes, but I am inspired by so many.IMG_9123

Up and away

Kites in this country are associated with Uttarayan or Sankranti, on 14th January. But growing up in Delhi, we used to fly kites around 15th August, cool monsoon winds making them soar high. My role was mostly limited to holding the kite and throwing it up and then running to the other side to hold the 'maanja'. Sometimes my brother would let me hold the kite string for a minute or two, before he would have to swoop in and save the kite from taking a complete nose dive.I've been planning to work on a series of illustrations and having an iPad makes it so much easier. (I never thought I would get so much use out of it!). So here it is, me and my big brother on our apartment terrace with its faded red walls and that beloved neem tree at the back. And while the watercolour version is definitely more relatable to me, I discovered the crayon tool on the software and decided to make another one. I can't decide which one I like better, so I guess there will have to be more illustrations in my nostalgia series for that. :)Kite1 Kite2Which one do you prefer?

Pretty graffiti

I just returned from an almost two-week trip to Germany and Czech Republic last week, and while I bombarded my Instagram with a ton of pictures, here are some sketches I started there and finished here.The art and graffiti on the walls of Berlin were quite inspiring and as I tried to imitate some of it (and failed!), I realised that typography can really be tough. We don't appreciate graffiti artists enough!prague_graffitiAnd this is exactly what was going on in my mind as I was walking around in Prague. Every. Single. Building. Is soooooo beautiful, you can't decide where to look! It seriously is overwhelming. And since I found some graffiti in Prague too, I just HAD to put it down in a doodle.f_pretty_prague...and that's me, sitting on a bench on a river island in pretty, pretty Prague. Sometimes when you finally find those moments of peace that you've really been looking forward to, you don't even feel like sketching because you don't need anything else to feel happy and content. Just look up at the sunlight streaming though the leaves, take a deep breath and you'll find yourself smiling to yourself. But I just had to capture that peaceful moment, so here's a quick sketch I made: prague_islandOur country might not be as clean and well maintained as those, but I sure am glad we have parks and trees for lazy, peaceful afternoons like this.