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Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Ramayan:elements






These are some paintings on lord RAM
,from the epic story Ramayan, i've always been fascinated by his role as a righteous and brave warrior prince
,his quest to free his abducted wife Sita from the great demon king Ravan , is nothing but a metaphor of a war against your own sense tendencies(one of the many explanations)
his quest is of introspection and of self discovery.staged in a mythological space with many other fascinating cha.the poem has great relevance in the religious traditions of india and is also revered in various other countries.
i was fortunate enough to work on this story with Virgin comics , but instead of the classic retelling it takes place in the future ,
it's been over two years since i painted any thing related to Ramyan ,
i think it was the nostalgia which hit me while showing my old sketchbooks to one of my friend ,
and i started to think how would i approach it now , so whatever i'm posting is a result of this urge , few ramblings , few thoughts ,
i would want to block the story in chapters:(like the way it's in Ramayan too "Kaands" but named differently)

WATER: blue , water is born , and his royal start, his journey is from a drop to an ocean itself.

EARTH: his beloved wife Sita(daughter to mother earth), his exile and his journey onwards till Sita is abducted.

WIND: meeting the apes,crossing the ocean , hanuman and lanka , making the bridge ,

FIRE: Ravan , and the final war .

SPACE(ether): will be split and will be inserted between each of this chapter and would deal with Ram's own inner battles. and will explore his divine connection with Sita and with Ravan as well.

i choose the classic retelling of the story, as it already has a beautiful narrative, i would attempt to bring out the humanistic quality of these characters,
some of the vedantic literature associated with it , may be few modern undertones to give it contemporary associations .

this was just an exercise , quick sketches , wanted to share with everyone ,
but i've realized that i can never be bored of exploring this theme ,

cause at times it's not what u draw but what u learn out of your work on such subject matter,

forever a learner , i'm ever grateful .

21 comments:

Gulzar said...

I always take interest in reading your writeup....they are always intriguing and mysterious...

Keep the good work...as always...

And I see your birthday is coming...
post something on that day...something special...

Warm Regards
Gulzar

lostinarc said...

Thanks Abhishek....Oh The new updates are beautiful....what ink you for this... Beautifully portrayed the mood....I always love the drama u create in you art and writeup..great job..

...Keep going...

V said...

love the mood on all three....and as for the subject...u already know how i feel about it!!....more my friend...more!

VINOD MORE said...

aflatoon!! stylization ur really haunted with rama i have seen ur work at virgin that was the best artform till date for Indian epics... it made virgin rock for sometime(till u there. i m waiting for something on big canvas from u!!!

Ajay Sahu said...

Nice works boss .. different style...

abhishek singh said...

thanx gulzar,
glad my write ups live up to some value.
thankx for taking out time to read them ,

Lost in arc", oh i love ur blog name:)
Naresh ,i use regular "water proof black ink"
poster white sumtimes and water soluble ink for sum wash effect,

Vivek ,
these themes get the best of r worlds , love ur work on ramayan , love the realism and the authenticity u bring in ur depictions ,
compliments

vinod
ur work is so good and with each post is becoming better,i do try to give a contemplative mood to my gods ,
n thanks for the appreciation ,

there were many other artists in virgin
like super cool Mukesh singh , his pencils on devi were just mind blowing , work on "seven brotheres" get's into superlative category too.
P C Vikram he worked on a property , it never got out cause of sum reasons but the work was marvelous , very stylized and superlative
i consider myself lucky to hav worked along with them.

ajay
great stuff up on ur blog

thankx guys for droppin by and writtin ur thoughts
appreciate it
:)

trip-arty said...

bloody hell....amazing and very inspiring abhi....keep updating..:)

Ashoo said...

hey hey.. Look what we have here.. This is abhi at his best ( & going beyond) ...! Was longing to see those Brilliant & fluid black inks flow on the paper .. No one comes close to this art when we talk about an indian feel & those spattery inks.. Keep posting more of those .. LOVE'EM .. feast for eyes..
BTW Im hands down in agreeance with VINOD's comments..abhi.. keep rocking..

abhishek singh said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
abhishek singh said...

ahh. look who's here ,
my very good friend and the super colorist who made the ramayan comic come to life ,
u made it look eazy . coloring on those paintings can be hell , ha..ha..
will always be proud of what we came up with
:)

July 11, 2009 6:59 AM

Anonymous said...

b e a u t i f u l !

Marcos Mateu said...

I like the energy you reflect in these illustrations Abhishek

Toonfactory said...

Well with so many people praising the stuff...all I can do is echo with them...I can't wait to see this elemental interpretation of the epic!! and nobody but you can do justice to it...

Unknown said...

wow. i love the looseness of each stroke! very, very nice.

Unknown said...

bro, u got my respect and prayers..may ur dreams come true..rest when we meet dear old friend...

keshav keshav said...

very nice work, and an equally innovative explanation. Thanks and all the very best. Keshav, cartoonist, The Hindu

Unknown said...

Wow, I love your sketches... It's rare to see artwork inspired by religious works nowadays, let alone with such a dark mood and abstract nature... Love it! More please :P

Abhimanyu Ghimiray said...

Damn Nice Abhishek... Specially the ladakh Series...Amazing work man. :)

CK said...

Hey, I had friends at Virgin Comics. Wonder if you knew any of them? Reuben, Priyanka, Neha?

Suraj Sudhakar Dighe said...

Cool Illustartion:)
I really like. Amazing

abhishek said...

I think your work is really wonderful.... keep it up my friend