Making glass candle stands

It started with finding an unopened box of glass tumblers, and some glass paints that I hadn't paid attention to for a long time ! It was the perfect trigger to create candle stands for diwali.

Here is a quick step by step guide to create one of your own.

What you need
Glass tumbler
Glass paints (preferably solvent based)
Round tip, soft bristles thin brush (I used a 000 size)
Black outliner (or black acrylic paints)
3D gold outliner
Rag cloth
Water
and.. PATIENCE :)

Step 1
Clean the glass tumbler with water and dry it. Make sure there is no dust.

Step 2

Using a black outliner tube (use it like a mehndi cone) or black acrylic paint and brush, draw up a design on the glass. (free form random patterns can be more interesting that trying to draw up something very meaningful :) ) Just make sure the design accommodates small areas where you can fill up different colors of paint.
Also plan to leave some areas without paint - this will help the light come out brighter and even make interesting patterns when your candle is lit
(you can also use a pointed tip whiteboard marker to draw up the design on the glass, and then use the 3D outliner to draw on top of the marker outlines)

Step 3
Let the outline dry up completely. Scrape out blotches, or thick lines.

Step 4

Start filling in colors. What worked for me was to put my fist into the glass to hold it while I fill colors.

This is also the step that requires most patience. for the reasons below
The surface of the glass is curved - so the already watery paint tends to run. So you need to hold the glass in the same position until the paint dries up (at least half dried so it doesn't run)
(Having said that, I also found that not worrying too much about colours mixing up at the borders helps - that itself creates new patterns and interesting color combinations)
Continue to fill up with the color of your choice. (I usually would like to limit my palette to upto 5 colors)

Glass colors come in bottles from which you can squeeze paint and fill it. It can be quite tiring and can hurt your hands a bit - especially if you want to get this done at one shot. Instead you can try painting in the colors using a brush. It poses the same 'runny' paint problem, but at least your hands don't hurt so much !

Bubbles can also end up frustrating you ! Try and remove as many bubbles as you can ! (this is where solvent based colors can help)

As mentioned earlier, plan to leave some areas without paint - this will help the light come out brighter and even make interesting patterns when your candle is lit

Step 5
Let the paints dry up.

Step 6
Use a 3D gold outliner to make some decorative designs on top of the paints. Use the gold to a minimum - so that it doesn't take away the colors.

Leave the gold outliner to dry. Now your candle stand is ready !

You can try the same with glass bottles. You can use LED serial lights to insert into the bottle and light it up  !

Happy lighting !

Painting landscapes with knives

Painting knives are fascinating instruments ! I have always felt that the medium and the instrument you choose is quite reflective of the kind of personality you are. (I plan to elaborate a little more about this in a subsequent post)
Painting knives are great for someone who has little patience, and loves to play with textures. Combine that with acrylic paints, and you have the right recipe for a really impatient artist !

I have outlined here a simple landscape painting - which took me about an hour to complete.
The painting method is a mix of impasto and glazing.

Materials needed

Acrylic paints - Red (Crimson/ Scarlet), Yellow (Ochre and Lemon), Blue(Cobalt, Cerulean), and White
Painting knives
Brush (for the glazing)
Water
Canvas




Step 1

The first step is to find a picture/ photo that inspires you or one that you can use as reference to paint. (normally I'd find a picture from photos I have taken or something that comes up in newspaper/ magazine. But this was a picture I found online and had used it to let my art class experiment with colors mixing, and I chose this as a reference photo for this painting)
I made a very light sketch of the outlines using a H pencil. the outline of the trees and its reflection was all that you need to sketch)




Step 2

I started with painting the sky. For this, I squeezed out cobalt blue, cerulean blue and white paints directly on to the canvas.

Step 3

Using a wide edged painting knife spread out the paints on the canvas - keep mixing white with blue to get a good blend of colors. Leave streaks of plain white for the clouds. I also added some patches of blue and white in the water reflection. I have not used water - but if your paint is getting dry, dip you knife in water and then spread out the paint.
(you can use a touch of red to get the purple shades as in the original photo)

Step 4

Now as the sky is getting dry (which will be very quick if you have used just paint, and no water)
start adding colors for the trees. Squeeze out Red, Yellow and Blue paints in the outline for the trees. Use the photo reference to see how to position the colors (or just use your imagination!)

Step 5
Use a thin edged painting knife to slowly blend in the colors while making sure that the small leafy texture of the trees comes out. You can also add lines with the knife to indicate branches.

You will see the greens and oranges coming out as your start mixing your colors. Again, I have used very little water and mostly worked directly with the paints.










This is how the final result of the trees look like.

Step 6

Now I added the color for the reflection of the trees. The key thing here is to maintain colors and proportions consistently (reflection colors and size of trees must be same as the tree colors and sizes); and to also not add much texture.
So I have used a flat edged knife to just thinly spread out the colors in the reflection.

Step 7

Now we start adding the glaze for the water reflection. Mix a lot of water to blue, yellow and red.
Using a flat brush (you can use soft or hard bristles) - paint over the water reflection area - first with blue. Wait for it to dry completely before adding the yellow glaze; and similarly add red glaze. I finally added a touch of blue glaze. (you need to let each coat of glaze dry completely before adding the next one - this bit is not for the impatient artist :)  - but while you wait for your glaze to dry, you can add more details on the trees/ sky, as needed)

Step 8

Add finishing details to the water (to match the reflection of the clouds); detail out the leaves.
Your painting is now complete !




That is how it compares with the reference picture !

Step-by-Step - making of an acrylic painting

Here is a step by step walk through of how I painted "the Kings stride" - acrylic on canvas.

First things first:  Find a picture worth painting
Inspiration is necessary to motivate you to paint/ sketch. So find good photos/ locations/ people that inspire you to draw. I found this picture in a colleagues photo gallery. 
Materials you need
Canvas - I bought a 2" * 3" stretched canvas on frame. 

Acrylic paints: My palette for this painting was

• Yellow Ochre
• Cadmium Yellow
• Titanium White
• Sap Green  (very little)
• Viridian green (very little)
• Prussian blue (very little)
• Cobalt Blue
• Burnt sienna
• Burnt Umber

Hog Hair flat brushes (Sizes 2, 4, 8). Soft round brushes (size 0, 2)

You will need containers for water, rag cloth etc etc

Step 1: Sketch the picture

Now there are many ways to do this. You can use the original picture and draw up grids on it. Then using the grid blocks as reference start transferring the image on to your canvas. You can use a 2h pencil or even a gray color pencil. Use your pencil very lightly - since canvas has grooves into which your pencil lead can get stuck and muddy your painting. While sketching pay attention to the absolute positions (how far right is the lions mane, how close to the bottom line is the feet etc) and also to the relative proportions (how big is the eye compared to the ear etc).

Verify your sketch by looking at its mirror reflection. Another way is to leave your sketch for a while, come back and look at it or take a picture with your camera and look at it. All this provides a different perspective of the image and helps you identify any errors/ missed proportions etc. 

Step 2 : Underpainting

Get the right tones and hues of color you need in your painting. I tried out some color combinations on a palette and tested some colors on a rough canvas. Once I was happy with the colors and tones, I used acrylic paints with a lot of water to block out areas in the painting and get the contrasts right. 

Step 3: Paint through

Start adding thicker layers of paint with some amount of detail. I started at the top and covered the grass

background at the top. and then moved on to the lion's face details. 

Step 4 : Adding the details

More detailing and progressive addition of features and color.

The dark brown mane now has burnt sienna, yellow ochre, titanium white, prussian blue, and burnt umber.

I also started glazing on the eyes – burnt sienna glaze first, and then followed up with yellow ochre and then finally cadmium yellow glaze. You can see the eyes getting more color and glassy as we proceed.

Once I finished the lion, I started to detail out the grass - initially by just blocking out the dark and light areas of grass. 

Step 5 : Checkpoint

Again at this point, verify the proportions using mirror reflection. Step back, have someone else look at it and give you comments on proportions,

Take a picture and compare with original picture and see whats missing. 

Make a note of all changes, and start subtly making those changes , before proceeding to next step.

Step 6 : Finishing

Add the finer details to the eye, highlights to the mane and skin, whiskers. Detail each strand of grass.

Final Work - Stop when you are happy. Don't obsess with finishing. It is tempting to keep adding finishing touches - don't overdo it ! 

A bangle making experiment

After my recent vacation at Jaipur, and having been floored by all the art there, I decided to try my hand at making stone studded bangles..similar to the lac bangles.


Here are the materials I started with

1. Steel wire (you'd get this in the local hardware shops - in different thickness, and in large rolls - you can buy as much/ as little as you want)
2. Glass stones ( I used the ones left over from my Tanjore painting stash ! You can also use beads, mirror etc)
3. Fevicol
4. Shilpkar
5. Chalk powder or talcum powder
6. Hobby art acrylic paints ( i used pearl metallic colors for the shine - you may use any variants)
7. Brushes, bowl, water etc to paint !
8. Tools to cut and bend steel wire


Bend the steel wire to make a circle of desired diameter. (In my haste, I didn't bother making a perfect circle, but I suggest that you do ! ) You can roll it around a cylindrical object in your house ( a bottle, may be). Use a cutter/ plier to bend it. Tie up the two ends. In mine I wanted this to have a 'kangan' look so I joined the ends slightly thicker.


Now knead the shilpkar (I used about half a packet for this bangle)



Roll it like an earthworm, place the steel bangle and fold the shilkar around the steel wire. You may choose to use make the shilpkar clay layer flatter or rounder.


Use chalk powder/ talcum powder to smoothen Shilpkar. This will remove the creases, folds and fingerprints.


Now decide on the placement of your stones. Put a drop of fevicol wherever you want to place the stones. Press down the stone into the shilpkar.


Let this dry and harden (overnight)


Now you can paint with colors of your choice. I have given 2 coats of paint. Paint is likely to get on your stones too. You can finally clean them up by scrapping with a needle or safety pin.



Let the paint dry, and the bangle is ready to wear !

Try this and let me know how your experiments went !

Making a psychedelic coaster ! here's how..

Materials you need

Blank Coasters (available at Staples / Hobby Ideas stores) ; Acrylic art paints ; brushes (flat brush size 4; soft round brushes - size 2 , size 000) ; pencil (white pencil), Liquid Glass; rag cloth; carbon paper (if needed)



How to ?

First, paint the coaster on all sides. I have colored mine green. Give two or three coats of paint to give it a clean finish.


Now draw out a design on the painted surface. I have created my psychedelic design using a white pencil. You can also use a carbon paper to transfer your design on to the coaster.



Choose your colors, and start filling them into your design. I have used really bright colors, to give it the psychedelic effect.


Give 2 coats, once dry, use a fine tipped (000) brush to make the outlines on your design, as needed.

Let it dry for a day.



Now mix the Liquid Glass solution (mix equal proportions of the epoxy resin solutions). Pour on the dried coaster and spread it using a brush OR take small quantities using a brush and spread it evenly (without bubbles)



Keep this under cover (in a box / under an inverted bowl) for a day or two - till fully dry.



Pronto ! Your coaster is ready to use !
Create similar patterns on the other coasters and make a set of 4 or 6 coasters !!

Why a 4 year old does not need art classes

Of late I have had many parents ask me if I conduct art classes for 4 year olds (or even younger ones, sometimes). I have had to politely say 'No' ! Most parents feel a little disappointed ....after all, their child draws well, is really keen on drawing and painting, and is always engaged in doodling ..and they feel with guidance their child can be much better at art ... so, why do I say No ??

Well,  really younger children need to have a LOT of freedom to express themselves. I feel that as grown ups we have a tendency to interfere ...even in a well meaning way, and that can be quite discouraging to a child that age. Second, children below 5 years are usually not great at listening, and want to exercise their free will !! So really, putting a child in a formal setting curtails that freedom, and there is really no art instruction that can happen. If the idea is to encourage the child to freely express themselves, is'nt home the best place to do it ?

So what can we do as parents ?
Let you child try a variety of art media ... get them finger paints, poster colors, sponge (instead of brushes) , crayons, rangoli powder, playdoh (or atta flour), sand, glue, color paper, glitter colors ...anything ! Try different sizes - give them full size chart papers, get a white board/ black board at home (if you care about the walls in your house :) )
Introduce these one at a time, so that the child does not feel overwhelmed !

Also, don't fret if she draws the same thing over and over again. That is really how they establish their mastery on a subject that captures their fancy ! (I used to mostly draw just women until I was in college !! In fact I was obsessed with drawing just my feet for a whole year in college ...so for a 4 year old being obsessed with fans, or flowers or buses ..is really nothing to worry about !!  :) )

And they have finished one amazing work of art ..take some time to talk to them about it. Ask the child to explain the piece of art. Let her narrate the story behind what she has drawn. That is the real encouragement you can give your child. Try to not be critical or even give constructive feedback on her art. She is too young to even know that art is expected to be 'good'. In her eyes, she is not creating a masterpiece...she is expressing herself and her world (real or imagined) and any suggestion to improve could just mean her world is not good enough for you !! Be generous in your appreciation. Put up her work for display in a prominent place in your house. Show it off to your guests.

A child's view of the world they live in.....

In an earlier post, I had mentioned about how children insist on drawing houses in the typical way that their pre school teachers probably teach them to.
I have hence also noticed that most 5 year olds when asked what they would like to draw (in the first drawing class) mostly want to draw a house....and then they draw it in the typical style ...it seems almost instinctive !


But I wanted to experiment a little with these instincts ...so I started asking the child if they had ever seen a house like the one they have drawn.....Mostly that drew a blank face, and then a rather shy..."no
I have not seen it...but I imagined it all by myself !"
Then I prod them to draw a picture of the house where they live ...(imagination, btw is a great thing, but somehow the pattern that every 5 year old draws a house this way, makes me beleive this is just drawing what they may have learnt in kindergarten or seen in drawing books !)
I ask them if they live in an apartment, how many floors and so on.
This blog is to share the results of that experiment ...

Each child has been able to, with just that little bit of prodding, draw a picture that closely resembles the actual house they live in.


Here is T's picture of her apartment. She tried counting how may floors her apartment has while drawing the picture. She even improvised this the week after, with watercolors !


This is P's version of his apartment. He even weaved a whole story around the picture ...that he is waving to me from his apartment !













This is the latest one (see below sketch) is A's version of his apartment complex ...he managed to draw an aerial view of his entire apartment complex, detailing car park areas, pool, play area,
the 5 apartment blocks (marked A - E), the walkway all around even marking the speedbreakers ! I was indeed taken aback that a 5 year old was even capable of visualising an aerial view ...an amazing perspective that comes probably from living in a high rise apartment!!!

It is amazing how children can visualize and express in rather innovative ways !!
It is also a lesson for us adults to stop assuming that 5 year olds are capable of drawing only houses that we teach them to draw ! We may need just a little more patience to listen to the stories that the child narrates after drawing the picture, we would be able to appreciate the creativity and talent in the little ones!
So, if you have a young one at home or in school, never tell them what / how to draw, just be prepared to be suprised by what they have to show you !