Abhishek Singh

krishna- the graphic novel

2011-11-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

a double spread from the book.

it's all happening and around the corner.

more news coming soon:)

Daithyagne

2011-11-06T09:42:00.000-08:00

Daithyagne

unfinished, oils and digital

daitya- means demons.

occours in Siva Sahasranama

as one of the roopas(forms) of lord shiva.

the one Who kills Rakshasas.

been posting more often here at the blog now.

a post on the book coming right up after this.

thank you everyone for dropping in Thank you so much:)

Tejomaya

2011-10-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

TEJOMAYA-being of light

happy Diwali everyone:)

experiments 01

2011-09-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

A long vacation would be an understatement.

i went exploring into the remote territories of the Himalayas,

Zanskar range(ladakh), no phone or virtuality for two straight months.

A long trek, a mountain expedition, ancient monasteries, villages full of apricots, yaks,

mask dances, few sketches, few photographs and each time

we crossed a high mountain pass, it was amazing breathing with the infinities.

will post some of that trip soon here.

The sketches I’ve posted are some attempts, experiments, some random meanderings to learn.

Thank you everyone for coming in and dropping in a line of your affection.

More soon:)

Krishna-book panels01

2011-07-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

some panels and images from the book i've been working on, it's been a labour of love, i've spent three years on and off writing and illustrating this book.it's nearly completed so thought will share some small scrapes of art from the book.

chime 03

2011-06-24T03:39:00.000-07:00

"with the first ray of the sun wear this rosary around your neck and you'll fly like me, the river is hiding in the sky somewhere, please bring it back or else we all will die."

"fly away"

"drink the water,it'll bring you back"

finally a post,

Thank you all for being patient,
and for all the love and motivation.

Dhyana Roopa - the meditative divine -an exhibition.

2010-12-15T00:43:00.000-08:00

Bhairava- an incarnation of lord shiva who celebrates the ending of a cycle .he's the master of time.
Dhyana Roopa - the meditating creator

Trimurti- three faces of divine -Creation , balance and destruction and their symbolic relationship

Shiva sitting and meditating on nandi.

Rama - a warrior prince who becomes a symbol of extreme righteousness .medium- ink and brush.
Vaaman- the story of three steps and humility. medium- photo inks.
Varaha- an incarnation of vishnu as a wild boar restoring the energy field of earth. medium-ink and brush
Matsya- the Fish incarnation ,the story also explain the origins of life and is a parallel to noah's arc. medium- gouche.
The curator

Arjun the man behind the scene.

Parashuram- the brahmin warrior. medium-oils.
a little making of
and a little more..

Kalki- the one who will end this cycle of life. medium- open acrylic
Koorma- vishnu as tortoise a symbol of harmony between five senses.medium -open acrylic
Krishna- the mystical God medium- ink and brush
Bhairav- the master of time medium - gouache.
few initial sketches were also displayed along. medium- ink and brush.
Buddha- the spiritual poet. medium- watercolors

The descent of ganges. medium -ink and brush.

First of all THANKS to everyone who kept coming to this blog despite any new posts, THANK YOU for all the motivation.

last couple of months have been a race against time , as i was buzy exploring and painting away a collection of works which just got Exhibited at the Academy of fine art and literature in Delhi between the 8th and the 12th Dec.

The theme for the show was" DHYAN-ROOPA" which means the meditative aspect of the divine , bringing forth the relationship between the forces of Creation, preservation and Destruction and their exquisite Balance.

The paintings showcased reinterpretation of the "dasa-avatar"-the TEN incarnation of lord Vishnu which not only explains the Darwinian principals of evolution but also existential mysteries of the human mind and matter. this was intertwined with five Incarnations of Shiva

( the god who ends the cycles of time( kaal bhairava).

The intent was to tell these stories outside the known boundaries of religion and link them up with a more"Humanistic" code of life.

though some pieces were highly symbolic some simply framed these Gods in a state of Thoughtfulness.

The show was Curated by Divvya Nirula and was brought together by Arjun NIrula of the NIrula family art trust , the tale of my friendship with arjun is nothing less then unusual but ill keep it for later as this is just the beginning.

The sizes of the paintings were between 4ft x 3ft to 5ft x 10ft and tons and tons of explorations were made to conceive them some of them were displayed to showcase the process as well.

i extend a BIG THANK YOU to all the friends and dear ones who made it to the show from various corners and parts of the planet and to everyone who brought the art ,everything got Sold Out and now to make more back to the books and board:)

INDIA : Imagined in the Present, An exhibition

2010-08-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

INDIA : Imagined in the Present
A group exhibition, where various artists represented their visions on the theme.
ideated by The Nirula Family Art Trust ( part of The Nirula Family Company)
http://thenirulafamilycompany.com/artists.html

The show was opened by Sheila Dixit (Chief Minister, Delhi) and was curated by Divya Nirula.
It was a privilege that my work was showcased along with some of the veteran artists of india, a special thanks to dear friend Arjun for making this happen.

i contributed two paintings :
Ram- the poised one with his vanar sena( army)
dimensions: 10 ft x 5 ft
Krishna- in a contemplative moment.
dimensions: 10 ft x 5 ft

thumbnail version of krishna painting thumbnail for ram painting a work in progress size- 10 ft x 5 ft.

works by other Artists.
Portrait of Mother Teresa by the most amazing Raghu Rai, it was an honor to be in the same show as him.A very rare Nanak in Bleeding times" by Veteran artists Arpana Caur.Sanjay' Bhattacharya's incredible Rahul Gandhi.Arjun Raj Nirula's "Three Stages of Buddha"

The exhibition was on for two days, and was greeted with an amazing response. Gratitude towards all those who took time out to come see and showered affection on the art. THANKS.

Preparations for the next show which happens early December are underway, will post more on that soon.
also,
Now my painting work is officially represented by 'The Nirula Family ART TRUST'. You can find them here:
http://thenirulafamilycompany.com/artists.html

About the book,
it's getting edited, the announcements can only be made once we submit it,
so hopefully that will happen soon as well.

THANKS again for bearing the crazy casual postings of an artist and returning for more.
Also a big BOW down to all the amazing art out there, keep it coming:)

Krishna- sketches 01

2010-07-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

A bunch of sketches from the project,
these suggestive scribbles are the most enjoyable part of the process,
when you are trying to "Search" "Derive" and "Express"
and after the drawn moment is gone you quickly jump to the next,
unaware and uncertain of the results it's only in retrospect that you rationalize
that these random meanderings were somehow connected, like familiar strangers.
somedays you are surging with meaning, and somedays these scribbles
remind you of your imperfections ,
somedays it's anguish of not "finding"
and some days it's the happiness of "locating" a lost treasure.
these scribbles delicately hang between the fertile universe of the mind( the Idea)
and the final deliverable asked by the material world(book or a film)
at times i wonder,
that we are nothing but scribbles of someone 's thought
placed on the vast canvas of life,
trying to become something and eventually nothing again.

Sea

2010-06-05T01:22:00.000-07:00

part of a story i'm working on:)

Draupadi

2010-05-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

Draupadi , the woman in the story of Mahabharata.

sneak peak-krishna

2010-04-10T14:20:00.001-07:00

"when the skies cried of sorrows with the flowers i sang
when unremembered dreams stood in silence
i like a swan carried them on my wings"

i thought this time let me share something which i've been working on for quiet sometime now ,
still not the full picture only a little sneak peak , few explorations and a panel from the book,
it's been quiet a battle with time and the finish , a mirage, but all of it has reached a suitable end, and few more days before we sail it out to the publishers,
i won't write much at this point and will save the details for later, and most importantly i owe a big "THANK YOU" (ya ,caps lock was invented for a reason) to each one visiting the blog and for all the humble appreciation, THANKS everyone!!!!!

Exhibition: Heroes and Villains

2010-01-08T04:17:00.000-08:00

a very happy new year to all of you:)

recently an exhibition is on at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, titled "Heroes and Villains: the Battle for Good in India's Comics". it's on till 7th feb '2010

you can see a glimpse online as well:
home:
http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=epage;id=502130;type=803

gallery:
http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=epage;id=502155;type=803

The exhibition prominently features brief history depicting God's and Goddesses in comic books in india, namely amar chitra katha , virgin comics
their modern face and as well as some amazing folk art interpretations( i love these) of the epic Ramayan and godess Durga , which were the prominent themes of the exhibition.

my work on Ramayan 3392AD. along with works on Devi by the genius artist Mr. Mukesh singh (his work's just too terrific , do check out his title called"gamekeeper" and a short run on the tiltle for jenna jemson, lovely work), the amazing Saumin patel's work on devi ( his detailed layouts and keen sense to display the story is a treat),along with work by Mr. jeevan j kang ( on spider man india , beautifully rendered)were featured.

a special mention goes to the talents who colored the pages back then , ashwin for ramayan , thanks friend!and other's who colored the devi pages nanjan , kanna , mohan , thanks guys.

would like to extend my regards and thanks to all at virgin comicbooks(now liquid comics)
sharad devarajan and suresh seetharaman, gotham chopra, to Mr. Sekhar kapur and Mr. Deepak chopra.
thanks for a great gesture and an endeavor like this.

also thanks to avinash who very humbly have posted a review of the show on his blog , there are many other interesting articles there , do scroll through his blog.here's the address:

http://designhook.blogspot.com/2010/01/super-ram-and-durga-woman-contemporary.html

little nostalgia..so sum pieces from the exhibition and some more ..enjoy!

ladakh02

2009-11-09T20:02:00.000-08:00

the real sun is within you it's called Wisdom ,
compassion it's rays and intelligence it's light,
look inside and you would find me.
buddha

ladakh01

2009-11-09T19:52:00.001-08:00

Ladakh

2009-11-09T19:34:00.000-08:00

Long long time ago, there were grey giants with blue faces and moustaches which changed color by seasons, they were cursed to walk eternally, and to never stop. They had been walking for eons, devoid of any sensation or feeling they just walked and walked, until one day one of them stopped. He looked down as the first flower bloomed out of natures womb, he stood mesmerized by this blissful experience, he felt that the joys of life entered his soul once again, he felt alive, he kept looking at the yellow flower, which looked like the rising sun flecked by dew drops.
Others looked at him and paused, they all looked at the flower in bewilderment, the blooming flower never thought he would get such a reception, after all he was the first out of the womb, they all stood still rejoicing the idea that the flower was looking back at them smiling, they have never moved since that time, they became the mountains.

(Chronicles of the eternal yak: 02)

My trip to Ladakh was more like visiting an ancestor who's on his way to leave this mortal journey, all I intended, to the best of my patience,was to listen to the vibe of his life, the stories of wisdom he possesses.

Rustic and physically enduring the place had a temperament of a story teller, each rock and grain had a story embedded in it, the faces of the old world still smiling through those clouds which seem to be shimmering and scattered like pearls around the cobalt blue sky.

As much as you embrace the landscape you can't ignore the change taking place there, the trucks coughing thick black smoke and murky spots growing around the place where it'll be hard to distinguish plants from polythene wrappers, swamps of our own greed have engulfed nature enough and one day it'll eat us too.

Change is a positive entity, if one embraces it like that, if Earth is an organism and if we all are connected by an eternal force, why isn't this the premise of our plans, by not acknowledging this fact we are just making our future more bleak. If change is inevitable, one has to examine the possibilities of a optimistic future by looking back and noticing these wonderful ways of co existense, man wasn't born without a role , he was the voice of nature, the one who will sing it's song, lost and forgotten this voice is caged in the void of pretense and one day it'll diminish.

If nature has a consciousness, it's us, and that's what one should attempt through his endeavors,to intend to connect with a tree as much as you connect with a friend , to draw what it really says will a sketch worth while, and sometimes when you are listening closely, the wind will whisper the muted tales of love and change.

All the sketches presented here are incidental to my trip, I just wanted to go there and not be tempted by the idea of drawing what I see but rather absorb the ambience and inculcate patience,observe!, a place devoid of sky scrappers , most of the time I dwelled in the vastness of the place finding hidden clues to stories

As I made any of these silly sketches they made me look deeper, they were my gateways to a world unknown to a digi cam, monasteries, monks, mystic deities were all sources of deep philosophies and stories, though I shot many photographs to understand the representational quality of the place , the clicked form of experience assured me of how the real geography looked like.

Drawing in lines and washes of color gave an emotional motive to my trip; I did not get any time to do more detailed stuff. As we walked and trekked mountains, I did not get more then a few minutes to draw, and sometime later at night I would give them a color wash while my memory is fresh of the location.

There are people who find their voice through a view finder and some who sing to express , some who walk from place to place telling tales , some who just read a book about Buddhist psychology sitting in a cafe, some who volunteer for work with the locals, the one's who have become hermits in their two years of continuous travel, some out of their college exploring the world. I met them all, and I had great conversations, I am inspired to travel more and find more stories.

One night...post dinner we guys were sitting on the terrace of a lovely home stay in one of the villages, watching the sky sprayed with innumerable stars, shinning bright, staring along my friend asked, “Have you ever seen so many stars before?”
And I said, only in my dreams.

Swan-the soul

2009-07-14T16:58:00.001-07:00

life is a perennial search for truth,
The restless swan the human soul is
flying with his will as wings outstretched,
back to the source it came from .

(Rig veda,from the verse- restless swan)

wanted to do something special for the blog , so made this to get away from the usual work .
the book is near completion and will soon put up some work from the developmental stages.

Villains-Taarkaa

2009-07-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

feed my children feed,
as we have slaughtered the one who consumes our forests,
to surrect his own brothels and palaces,
he may not even find redemption in his death
feed my children feed
we will march and look like chaos incarnated
as our souls stink of hatred
the blue prince will come to save them , a pawn to his own kinds,
but have no fear
cause what we fight for breaths flames beneath the earth,
and dances among the wolves
he who rules the realm of death
feed my children feed
as today...
....we bathe in our salvation

(taarkaa to his two son's su-bahu and ma-reech who were shape shifters (leopards in this one) )

Ramayan:elements

2009-07-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

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 .

Krishna-Raas Leela

2009-06-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

"Listen to the melodious music of the divine poet,
he plays upon the flute of love , the notes soar to high heaven
and reach the stars and dance on the raging waves of the sea"

The earth, the sky, the stars are all woven together by the soft straints of the divine music"

It's vibrations echo through the corridors of time in the endless canopy of sky"

(sama veda.446)
hyms of creation

YES, finally an update , the story is long and full of obvious excuses ,

there's much which has happened in the last couple of months ,like six months of no post , quiet insane ,
lots of work and the kinds which for a while i can't share with anyone , but now i'm back with a promise to myself that whatever may come i will still fill my virtual art space with some thing or the other,

A big thanks to everyone who kept floating me mails and leaving comments on my blog inquiring lack of updates , well blame the alien abduction ,and the numbness post scanning.
from now on i shall be more promt and will atleast update each week ,

on the work front some really exciting things are going on , my graphic novel is close to a "real" finish , and we are putting it together ,n soon i shall post some stuff on that but beyond that in last couple of months i've tried to improve more on my visualization and story writting , understanding and exploring ways to conceive a story, trying to obzerve details from your surroundings and mixing it up with your own ideas is an excercise of sheer excitement .there's no set approach or a formula ,just a lot of fun, some part is born with you and some part of it somewhere else .

these are some of my very recent experiments , paintings on lord Krishna and a humble attempt to depict his "RAAS" leela , the cosmic dance of love with maidens (gopies).i'll elaborate more on this as the graphic novel i'm working on is based on his mystical journey and contemplations
i've tried a very loose approach with colors giving them enough breathing space to mix and blend , it's too difficult to control a water medium or even a pallette with many colors , values , color harmony and interaction are still subjects i'm trying hard to learn but it's fun and exciting .looking at work of masters helps a ton , n how in those painting they suggest time and space so beautifully, remarkable.

cause of this long gap i have much to share , n i will , thanks again,everyone for being so nice and patient .

"A Homage"

2008-11-28T09:48:00.000-08:00

“Is war the road to Peace…

..then why one has to fight for it”

It’s been sad and has left us all with remorse,
But one hope and believes in light after dark,

A Homage to all those people who lost their lives in,
26/11 terrorist attack on Mumbai(Bombay),
our prayers..

For ..
Peace

"A Hunter's Tale" - short film n swamp morning

2008-10-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

i thought that i'll post in sumthing new also before i put my film up,so here's a very quick color study called the "swamp mornin":)

I thought this time I’ll share my short animation film with u all .

It’s called ”A Hunter’s tale” a pretty simple story. about a hunter and his realizations towards the animal world.

This was a wonderful experience and my small n humble attempt to understand various aspect of story telling and visual tonality which goes into making a film ,and the pursuit to know more about the story world still continues ,

.i enjoyed each n every bit of it .sleepless night’s, drawing away to my life and mixed paint stored in big soda bottles so I have enough supply of a particular shade to maintain color consistency of my characters in the film sheets scattered around in my room and that constant buzzing of studio scanner ,took me close to six thousand fully hand painted frames to complete this Everest job n a big thanks to all those who helped me scan these big bundles.
And I owe it a lot to all who helped me put this together,

now when I look back at it I can see zillion ways I could have made it better ,but we all evolve as people and artists n it’s good if we feel this way in retrospect .but one can’t take away the fact that something’s which u do for your own self and with so much heart will always remain emotional n at sum level will define you.

i think after my current project is over which I’m very excited about .soon will share some work ,

maybe a short film after that ..who knows:)

few explorations of te cha and environments..did one 14feet long bg for this film ..was trippy:)

"Karna"

2008-09-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

so finalee a nu post !!! it's been really long since i last posted ,
...this post is a sketch i happen to do of one of my fav cha from the epic "Mahabharat" called "Karna" he was born to kunti as a result of a boon given by the "Sun" god himself. over his life he became to signify "Selflessness" ,it's a journey of a man who's so gifted but how fate conspires against him ,it's a story of a man against himself..he's also the only one in the war who get's cremated by Lord "Krishna" himself. will post more on this soon :)

...also hav been workin on an extremely interestin project ....all underwraps but soon will share bits .i'm really excited about this one as on this project i'm doin the story too n it's been great so far.

n Thanks a lot everyone for takin time out to post in a comment ...THANKS:)

chime explorations

2008-08-03T04:59:00.001-07:00

few more sketches to explore the characters ...still on !!!!
enjoy:)

more"The Chime"

2008-07-29T05:34:00.000-07:00

I’ve been away for a bit …
Travelling and working on some of the stories …
So heres an add on …
More on “The Chime”….

"Raas-Leelaa"

2008-07-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

part of sumthig i'm workin on these days ,,, an explaoration for a dream sequence ...can't reveal much ..
it's a rough thematic conceptual sketch ..i do a lot of these to pour out my thoughts on the subject ..more spontaneous and feelin based ..it's always a two way traffic with drawings and what ur thinking while doin it ..most of the time my explorations are channelized towards finding an emotional connect with the story ...
hope u'll like the attempt
:)
abhi

The Chime

2008-06-30T02:42:00.000-07:00

blue god

2008-06-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

jus sumthing i've been workin on these days ...
will keep the rest for later
hope u'll enjoy:)

water characters

2008-06-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

these are my water characters .i just call them so .
mura the fire bubble maker ,kinda the language scientist
and ankuuu the toy eater and the one eyed fairy..i won't tell who's who here ..lol
enjoy

tea n coffee

2008-06-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

this was a very interesting project
a series of illustration for a local cafe called tc's (tea and coffee)in Ahmedabad (gujrat,India)
to depict the history of tea and coffee
so while sittin in the cafe u'll know about the origin of tea and coffee
enjoy

more ramayana 3392a.d.

2008-06-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

some work from the project ramayan 3392a.d(virgin comics). it was lots of fun to explore this fantastic futuristic world .
on the book the colors were done by my friend and very amazing Mr. Ashwin chekirur
the preview of the entire isssue one is available at :

http://www.newsarama.com/virgincomics/ramayan/01/Ramayan01_full.html

ramayana 3392a.d.

2008-06-02T14:13:00.001-07:00

few more on ramayan as i said that issue #1 is preview is available online at:
http://www.newsarama.com/virgincomics/ramayan/01/Ramayan01_full.html

i love working with brush and ink ,some how i'm able to achieve a sense of movement and mood through that.
that's something i've tried to explore in my work on ramayan. the story gets pushed at a different level when you start dippin in how your character feels and somehow realize it in your visualization.
brush strokes creating moments of intensity, silence and romance.
hope u'll like the attempt.

2008-06-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

some more samples
the colered pages are from a book called KALI (india authentic series)i did for virgin comics with the amazing writer MR.Sourav Mohapatra .
the black and whites are from my work on ("Ramayan 3392 A.D.) again for virgin comics (with sekhar kapur/deepak chopra/shamik das gupta as writer) this was ramayana reinvented which takes place in an apoclyptic future.
enjoy:)

a begining

2008-06-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

well for a start these are some mix samples of my work , i'll soon elaborate on the process and the ideas behind many of these as i spread my blog . hope you enjoy scrollin through.