2013: The year I turned 25

Drawing spree at Ladakh, September 2013

This year (more like the second half of the year) has been eventful, to say the least. And all in every good way possible.


/ I now own my first Lamy, thanks to P. Writing will never be the same again.

/ Someone spotted me drawing at this gig, and decided to write about me.

/ The girl gang and I finally got started with our photo-blog.

/ Trusha and I started this seemingly never ending, but definitely enjoyable sketchbook swap project.

/ Thanks to Akhila, I participated in Mirror of the Open Road, where my work was displayed as part of the Wilding Festival in London.

/ Rain playlists. Five years running.

/ I made it to Kyoorius DesignYatra, after seven years (more on that later, maybe). Bonus points to this trip for the chance to hang out with other awesome designers, writers and the cutest pup.

/ My essay was published as part of an anthology on design in India, which was released at KDY.

/ I fell in love with the skies and mountains in Ladakh.

/ I got to meet close friends in other cities, about five times – more than half of it thanks to work-travel. Can never complain about that!

/ The Illustrator's Collective (Bakula, Kalyani, Trusha and I) had our first exhibition in Bangalore. I've inflicted veil-vision on too many people now.

/ Kalyani gifted me an original. For me, this piece is a memory of the day that we managed to meet again after three years. Our exhibition happened almost exactly a year later. (@Universe, conspiring much?)

/ 15 books to read this year? Challenge accomplished.

~

Here's to a whole new year full of travel, drawings, reading, music and good food. Hello 2014!

Hidden in Plain Sight

People and their interactions, both with each other and with a space, make for some wonderful observations. Veils have a curious presence in a public space. Do they actually hide a woman or do they make her more conspicuous? Is visibility - or lack of it - a choice that we consciously make? These are simple everyday vignettes, seen while nursing a cup of chai by a window, or as an idle passerby on the street.

With this set of illustrations, I've explored a technique of layering (and removing) colour and black oil pastel crayons. This treatment is something I have wanted to try out on a full illustration for a while now and the technique lends itself perfectly to the theme - an absolute black is scratched away to reveal a scene around black shrouded women, who appear to be Hidden in Plain Sight.

Afternoon Conversations
14 x 9 in / Oil Pastel Crayons / Available*

Eating Out
14 x 9 in / Oil Pastel Crayons

September Ice Lollies
14 x 9 in / Oil Pastel Crayons

Missed Call - Missed Call
14 x 9 in / Oil Pastel Crayons

Waiting for Any Bus
14 x 9 in / Oil Pastel Crayons / Available*

Window Shopping
14 x 9 in / Oil Pastel Crayons

Hidden in Plain Sight was exhibited at Kynkyny Art Gallery as part of My Cup of Tea, our first exhibition as the Illustrator's Collective. This showcase has been special; apart from the fact that I got to exhibit my work at a gallery with three other talented friends, these illustrations are the biggest ones I have done entirely by hand.

Write to me at halftonelemon(at)gmail(dot).com for pricing.
For more on our processes and inspirations, head over here.

Check out Kalyani's stories behind Memory Box, her illustrations for My Cup of Tea.

The Illustrator's Collective

The Illustrator's Collective is Bakula Nayak, Kalyani Ganapathy, Trusha Sawant, and me - four people with varying styles and interests, brought together by a love for narrating through the drawn image. Through an amazing chain of events (involving a himym-like story of how we met, too many teas, and countless emails, google docs and hangouts), the four of us are exhibiting our work this Friday onwards, at Kynkyny Art in Bangalore.

*applause + drumroll*

'My Cup of Tea' is the first edition of the Collective, and our first exhibition together. Drop in to meet us and see some new illustrations that we have worked on specially for this exhibit, across varying media, techniques and thoughts!

We have daily updates on us, our inspirations, and behind the scenes of our works and the exhibition over on our facebook page. 

Invite designed and aesthetically tea-stained by Miss Jontu