A few old sketches

Putting together some old sketches. I can identify lot of mistakes in these ones but I am extremely fond of some of these

I love this one

I like Jesus's smile in this.

I didnt know who this guy was before drawing. (..and not many can guess who this is even after drawing!!)

Does he look like worried about something? It was unintentional, though.

Why not an Eagle?

Here is my new sketch : An Eagle.

This is an eagle. Please don't mistake it for a crow!!

I felt like drawing something today; a break from the sharepoint workflows I have been working and researching on, in and out of office. Since I wanted to finish whatever I chose to draw today itself, I didn't select anybody's face, which is what I usually prefer.

When I saw this eagle's picture, I thought "This is the one for today". I liked this eagle. As far as sketching experience is concerned, this was pretty easy to sketch. I just used a 2B pencil, a tissue paper and an eraser(I didn't have to use it much, that is evident from the sketch, I know).

Well, anyway, I enjoyed it. That's what really matters, correct?

Cartoons

A few of the cartoons, which were all created during my school/ college days. It seems, in those days I wanted all the existing colors on one piece of paper. Nowadays I prefer black and white.

Changing passions or getting old?

I guess I'm finding new passions as life goes on :)

Hancelman's list of Tools

Here is an excellent list of useful tools for windows. It includes tools such as Reflector, Fiddler, Firebug etc, which make a developer's life easier. Have a look at the list. Lot of utilities, not just developer tools.
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/ScottHanselmans2009UltimateDeveloperAndPowerUsersToolListForWindows.aspx

Charcoal Painting Workshop

Today, there was a set of sessions on fine arts, culinary and photography conducted as part of GPTW (Great Place to Work) activities in my office. As all the work shops were conducted simultaneously, one could attend only a single workshop and I chose charcoal painting. Glass painting, water color painting, cooking and photograpy were the other workshops.

Most of the people were for photography. It had about 30 people where as cooking , glass painting, water color etc had almost 5 people each. Yeah, just 5. Art doesn't sell much?
And charcoal painting had only 1 lone pupil, Sindia. The teacher, an old lady, joked to me that I'll get individual tutoring.

We waited for half an hour more hoping that some people might have an enlightenment and join the session. Well, some did have an enlightenment, it seems. As I was wondering whether they would cancel the workshop itself since I was the only one present, two more people joined our workshop.

The session started and she said there are four types of charcoal. 1) powder 2) dry 3) oil based 4)wax based. Wow, I thought, because I wanted to see how they do with the powder. And then she told " For beginners, oil based one is better, today we will try with that." Well, I didn't like that. Then, we got our weapons. Charcoal stick, muslin cloth, tissue, eraser and a piece of paper.

I didn't like charcoal at all. It was nearly impossible to draw a thin line with that brittle thick charcoal piece she gave. I ended up with a pathetic charcoal painting and a disappointed heart. Well, this was not what I expected. Anyway, it reinforced my faith in my pencils.

And here is the painting. Probably the only charcoal painting of my life because I don't intend to touch charcoal anymore.

Done with charcoal . Die, charcoal die.. Pencil Rules!! Pencil is the best!! I love Pencil.

Forgive my dear pencil, for not giving you the respect you always deserved, for the times I abandonded you and went in search of lesser mortals like charcoal. I am coming for you, dear, you are the best :)

-Sindia

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

-W. H. Auden

Federer's Date with Destiny

Yes, he got it. If last month he got a "new" friend(french open cup), this month, he got back his "long term" friend.

It was definitely a tough match(5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14). How on earth can a man win a set after being down for 2-6 in a tie breaker. Who would have thought he would win that second set? I definitely didn't. :) Well that's the reason why I was not the one playing there.

Tennis greats watching the wimbledon 2009 final. Sampras, Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg. Wouldn't the thought of being watched by these people make anybody nervous?

The winning moment - It was like a little boy jumping with joy.

Final Scoreboard

Federer's 6th Wimbledon title.

Left to right : Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Rod Laver. If I may imagine this as a family photo, Laver be the grand father, Borg the father and Sampras the brother of Federer.

Let nobody forget Andy Roddick, the man who almost took away Federer's trophy. He played really really well. Till the fifth set, he was the better player from all angles. Broke Federer twice, kept his calm even after losing the second set after having the lead in tie breaker by 6-2. Played the epic 5th set(16-14) composed, though towards the end he looked a bit tired. A fantastic sportsman with the right sportsman spirit. You can rarely see such genuine guys like Andy. He was seen clapping when Federer was rounding the court with the trophy. He has gained a million more fans all over the world for his brilliant performance this time.

Well Done Andy!

The man with 15 grand slams( 6 Wimbledon, 5 US Open, 3 Australian Open, 1 French Open). The Aces this man fired in this match(50) were more than enough to make 2 set points.


What next champ?

...finally conquered roland garros

Now that mission is accomplished, go for the wimbledon!!

Mr Bean Sketch

A new beginning.

Yes, it was Mr Bean that I attempted. I have read somewhere that drawing is simple and that you just have to draw what you see rather than draw what you "think" you see. So, this one I sketched with that principle in mind. And the result did surprise me. Personally I would consider this as the best picture I have ever drawn. (Yes, every other picture is worse than this) Shading is always a trouble for me. Somehow this one came out better than what I expected.

Criticisms are welcome :)