Julley! : Part 1

I first went to the Himalayas when I was 16. It was the first time I was in the mountains, the first time I saw hail and snow, slept in a sleeping bag, and the first time I went ten days trekking from campsite to campsite. I have been dreaming of the day that I could return to the mountains, and it finally happened this year, higher and further up north. In September, the boss, C and I made our way to Ladakh (On work. Booyaaah), in conditions much less "campsite" than my last trip.

The most spectacular 360° landscape ever, sun on my back, a decent stash of pens and TWO moleskine notebooks (gifts from the niece)...definitely the most I have drawn on a ten day trip.

Essential accessory to intrepidity: Ray Ban stolen from dad.
The moleskines were the perfect ones for this trip. Blue and brown. Sky and Mountain. 

An unexpected start to the journey – Delhi airport throws a profound one our way

Barely 20 minutes out of Delhi and we were over mountains, with no sign of anything else in sight

Advaita love goes to a new level (quite literally). I swear Suspended was on loop in my head the whole time we flew over the mountains.

Making the most of an opportune window seat flight. 

I stole an apple from this tree on our last day at Leh :P

A restaurant we found with great food and the most amazing view. We went there everyday for lunch and chocolate momos.
Yes, that's a thing.

Testament to low levels of oxygen in the air, all the apples I ate stayed white. 

We got to Leh in time for the Ladakh Festival, an annual end-of-tourist-season event showcasing traditional arts and culture from the different regions of Ladakh. In a span of half an hour spent under a severely scorching sun, we got to see a few dances performed by people of Leh, Zanskar, Nubra and Tibet. 

Did I expect to see a mosque bang in the middle of the Leh market? No.
Goes to show how little we actually know about a place till we get there.

Old men and women in shades, hats and gonchas, walking around with a mane and prayer beads, resolutely circumambulating the monastery only to stop and turn the line of larger prayer wheels

At the start of the trip, I thought carrying two notebooks – even if they were small and smaller ones – was ambitious. But by the end of my second day (day 1 - 1.5 was spent in room acclimating), I actually began to wonder if they would be enough. Book 2 in the next post >>

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

Creating Change: Now Online!

Creating Change is now available as a digital version (for free), here.


Download. Read. Share!

Matt Littlewood @ Plantation House

After many months, I went to Plantation House for the monthly jazz gigs that Shalini hosts. There was Matt Littlewood on the saxophone, Vijji Cheyyur on the guitar and Naveen Kumar on the bass. Such a fun evening. I think nothing can come close to drawing to jazz.

Creating Change @ KDY13

This year, Kyoorius and British Council teamed up to offer one day workshops on design writing, conducted by William Shaw across three cities - Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore. Participants at this workshop were invited to pitch stories for a book that would be released at the Kyoorius Design Yatra. It has been a while since we took a break from Little Design Book, and I was glad for this opportunity to indulge in writing about design. 

Creating Change features twelve essays by designers, architects and writers, discussing design and its possibilities in India. Many thanks to Aanchal Sodhani (British Council) and William Shaw for their guidance in shaping the written pieces and Shumi Bose (Blueprint magazine) , Patrick Burgoyne (Creative Review) and Robert Wilson for the online masterclasses.

The book was shared with all the speakers and participants of this year's Design Yatra. 
Anyone with a subscription for the Kyoorius magazine should be receiving a book with their next copy too :)


Edit: The book is now available online as a free e-book. Download here!

The Wildings Festival: Part 2

A few months ago, I participated in Mirror of the Open Road, an exhibition of works by 23 artists as part of The Wildings Festival in London.

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It been over one hundred years since the suffragettes fought for the right to vote. The world can change many times over in that sort of time. But for some reason, an idea as simple as women's rights is still an ongoing struggle in many countries, including India.

The voices and actions of many women over several years has brought us where we are today, slightly better than our predecessors. Yet we still seem to be fighting the same battles. On the streets. At work. At home. These are vignettes of some of those everyday fights I see around me, where I live.

The three pieces take inspiration from the colours of the suffragette movement – purple, white and green – and re-imagine what they might mean in today's world.

'Privilege'

'Purity'

'Body'

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Mixed media (gouache, photo inks, pencil and pen) / 18.8 x 27.7cm

Singin' in the Rains / 2013

It's that time of the year again! Much thankses to Akash and Sushmeit for new music introductions.
This is also the first of my rain playlists to feature music by friends – Shilpa and Bindhu. Go say hi.

Older rain playlists here.
This might help too.

Kaapi & Cigarettes

Trusha and I are doing a weekly sketchbook swap.
Check it out here. Whee!

The Wilding Festival: Part 1

Earlier this year, Akhila had invited me to participate in 'Mirror of the Open Road' - an exhibition that is part of the multi-arts Wilding Festival. The event commemorates the memory of Emily Wilding Davison, a suffragette who gave up her life for the movement a 100 years ago.

28 artists from 8 countries are participating in the exhibition, which is at St. George's Church, London. I'm terribly excited to be a part of this, and really wish I could be there.

More images of my entry in a later post.

People in London, do visit the festival! :)


Mirror of the Open Road is open from 13th to 16th June, 2013. More details here.