25th march - riyaazriyaaz.in/downloads/reports/riyaaz_report_march_2017.pdf · 2018-07-19 ·...
TRANSCRIPT
Riyaaz 1st session
25th March - 31st March
Hoshangabad
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Team : Atanu Roy, Chandramohan Kulkarni, Dileep Chinchalker, Mitali, Shashi Sablok,
Sushil Shukla, Swetha, Taposhi Goshal
Guest : Kalapini komkali, Udyen Vajpei
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25th March
The first session started off with Sushil warmly welcoming the students and
promising them an exciting year. He formally introduced Eklavya – its origin
and current areas and range of work that it has been involved in. Parag initiative
of TATA Trusts was introduced as the one supporting Riyaaz financially
because of their interest in development of progressive children’s literature in
various languages across the country. Riyaaz was started because we felt that
illustrations were not being taken seriously and very less work is being done in
that area.
Introduction by students
Students introduced themselves in very different ways – some through their
artwork, through stories of their personal and professional lives, some through a
PowerPoint presentation or video clips that they had made especially for this
session.
The students were given absolute freedom to present in a way they felt
comfortable. The students were informed through watsapp that there will be a
student introduction session and they could introduce themselves in whatever
way they wanted, but an introduction beyond mere name and place. It was an
interesting mix of audio, video, power-point and photo presentation. This year’s
batch has a diverse group of students. Diversity in age, language, profession,
interests are sure to make the experience an enriching one for all.
There are 7 students who in their professions have worked very closely with
children as teachers or art facilitators. 14 of the students have had a formal
training in art or design. All of them seem to be excellent narrators of their
personal lives. Apart from talking about their interests, they were able to also
provide meta-narratives of their life which was quite interesting.
We have among the students those who are interested in cooking , baking,
history , animals, photography, nature, toys, teacher education, tribals, writing
poetry, theatre, counselling, graphic design, anime, stories, artists, dance,
architecture, travelling, caricature, working with children, Japanese language.
It was particularly interesting to note that Niharika had created an animation –
graphic medium to narrate her story. It was heartening to see the efforts that had
gone into making it. She also shared her favourite sloka “purnamadah
purnamidam..” and a story and
illustration based on the same. She
explored the profundity of the words
in her work. She is a trained
counsellor and a freelance writer.
Debarti had worked extensively with
children. She had indulged in a wide
range of activities – educating
teachers, story- telling, puppetry, toy
making, facilitating story writing by
children, making beautiful toys.
Manoj’s determination to learn art irrespective of the system being unfavorable
to those who were not able to complete secondary education is very inspiring.
Manoj hails from a tribal community living around the Kanha Reserve forest.
His earliest memory of drawing is with charcoal on wall and relief work on the
land prepared by the rains. When he could not get admission into college of art,
he only requested for permission to hang out in the campus and that he needed
no certificate or degree. His stay in Khairagarh University for 3 years exposed
him to multiple mediums and he continues to work as a professional artist in
painting and sculpture. His life
rich with stories and experiences
of his tribe and forest seeps into
his work most naturally.
Bhargav has so far displayed the
most expressive landscapes. He
has formally learnt art and was
also teaching painting at an art
college. It was interesting to hear
his objective views on painting,
what he perceives as the
difference between painting and illustration. He said what he would like to
explore is the narrative quality of illustration that seems to be lacking in
painting. His reading and travelling seems to have added a dimension of critical
thinking towards his work.
Minakshi has been a student of art and currently pursuing her B.Ed. She is also
a poetess, and is actively involved in a group that travels to places and to
sensitize people regarding social issues through theatre. Having parents who are
social workers has oriented her towards to extending her engagement with
societal issues through theatre, art, photography and working with children.
Shubhangi has a formal training in art and also exhibited her works in art
galleries. She recounted an endearing incident from her childhood, that of a
relationship with a Gulmohar tree. The felling of which has left her distraught
and irreconcilable. She has managed to channelize the energy of that bonding in
expression through art and writing. She
is also provides for art experiences, that
naturally stem from and extend to other
aspects of life, for children in her
locality. She believes that there is much
to be learnt from children and is
consciously trying to understand children
and society through dialogues. She
enjoys reading and travelling too.
It might be that each student has to them a lot more than what was made
available to us. A couple of students did not introduce us beyond their name and
the place that they are associated with. There could be a lot of cultural reasons
for the same and hopefully their interests and inclinations emerge through the
year and hopefully becomes a meaningful journey for all.
Classical recital cum demonstration by Kalapini Komkali
Kalapini Komkali is an accomplished
classical vocalist of India. She was born
to Pandit Kumar Gandharva and Vidushi
Smt. Vasundhara Komkali and was raised
into a family of music genre. This
excellent inheritance ultimately resulted
into a quality Indian classical musician.
Kalapini Komkali belongs to the Gwalior
Gharana. The style of Kumar Gandharva is the revolutionized form that after
reconstruction and transformation created a modified style of Hindustani
classical music.
It would be rather insufficient to say that she sang or gave a performance, it was
an evening where we were taken on a musical journey on the smooth sailing of
her notes. Interspersed with anecdotes of inspirations from nature and culture
that have shaped her recitation. There was a melody even in the shifting
between singing and lecturing.
She elaborated on each of the bandish, scripted in a dialect called Malwi that
was a different from Hindi. She rejoiced the fact that each of the bandish
although quite simple a sentence it would create multiple imagery and meanings
for each one listening.
An interest in architecture and travelling, has taken her to places to look at
architecture. She specially mentioned her visit to Angkor Vat temple in
Cambodia. She recounted her feelings of being under the spell of those
magnificent temple and temple ruins. With a disclaimer that it is impossible to
imagine the expressions of the sculptures, she recounted the experience to be
stupefying. The sculptures in their rawness and beauty of horror were
highlighted with a requisition that we visit Cambodia to experience it by
ourselves.
26th march
Student briefing regarding rules and fees
The students were briefed about the rules to be followed on campus and the
payment of fees by Shashi . Shashi and Mitali collated information regarding
details of fee and mode of payment. Students were given printouts of
information regarding the same which they had to return with a signature of
agreement.
The students were split among the 5 faculty members. 4 students were assigned
to the each of the faculties by a method of random selection. This arrangement
makes it easier to conduct baseline and endline, allows for interaction between
the faculty and students during the contact session and the faculty will be the
contact person for their mentees during the distance mode.The students will be
mentored by a particular faculty for 2 sessions, the faculty gets rotated among
all groups.
Baseline assessment
The faculty discussed the mode of conducting baseline on the previous day.
Dileep who had worked on the baseline briefed the faculty regarding the
method. The faculty would assess the 4 students assigned to them now and asses
the same set of students during the endline.
The students were to be assessed on the following criteria – A: Drawing skills
B: Understanding of text
C: Conceptualization / visualization
D: Social awareness
E: Interest and Attitude
F: Knowledge of the field of illustration
G: Acquaintance of other art forms
H: Aesthetics
A, B and C were given scores (0 -10) based on the illustration made by the
students. The students were given the story “ kaala aur mein” written by
Chandan Yadav. This particular story was chosen thinking that it would serve
the purpose of evaluating the students on all the criteria better.
D ,E , F, G , H were scored (0-10) based on the discussion with the students
guided by the questions in the baseline document.
[The baseline data and evaluation form is available in a separate file]
2 of the faculty members assessed the students individually and 3 of them
assessed them in a group. The faculty would transit between the questions of the
the document and their own questions to understand the students better.
Illustration kya zaroori hain? by Dileep Chinchalker
Dileep shared a presentation questioning and trying to understand the necessity
of illustration. He gave examples of illustrations used in various contexts. He
was exploring the journey of illustration over a very broad timeline. He also
hinted at the importance of knowing the content, context and target group for
whom the illustration was being made.
Lecture notes in the voice of Dileep
Before asking if illustration is important, let us ask what is illustration?
Although definition is not as important as making illustrations, it’s a good
exercise to start thinking about.
Can a text stand on its own without illustration?
Illustration is an accompaniment to support the text. But illustration can also
stand on its own without the support of a text. What is important is to
understand its role with respect to the content.
Painting is complete in itself and the onus is on the reader to make meaning.
Illustration needs support of other things, a clue, like a word to explain the idea
behind the illustration.
With an example of illustration Bhagavad gita, a book most read in Hindustan
has no illustrations but still a lot of people read it. No other book is read as
widely as this, and people across ages read it. Contrasting between the earlier
versions of Bhagavad gita with no illustration and then as with a small
illustration of Arjuna and Krishna in the coming years it was felt that it may not
have been necessary but now after its introduction one would start feeling that it
is an integral part. It becomes part of the print culture to include an illustration.
Emergence of illustrations in the form of Drop letter: looking at the change in
font of the beginning letter of a paragraph as an illustration, A visual
disturbance to break the monotony of the page and decorative elements around
the page were also introduced.
When we make illustration for children we have to make the visuals interesting
because they cannot read. For early readers, the visuals are much larger than the
text. They may not be able to read but can recollect the “text” based on the
visuals if they are captivated by it.
An experiment with newspaper where it was necessary to design without using
images; Just the placement of the text and playing with the fonts and headings it
would add visual elements and create an illustration by design.
The case of an illustrated dictionary: illustrated with images to inform the
readers about things that may not be available for the readers for reference in
real life – for example, a pangolin. Factual aspects and accuracy of
representation is also taken care by illustration. Publishers also capitalize on the
fact that a particular book is illustrated.
The spectrum of illustrations have reached such a point where there is no need
for any kind of text. Text will emerge from the illustration. With the example of
a dance video where the dance moves were an animated translation of the words
into actions without any rhythm in the body movement, he attempted to say that
it is important to know what kind of illustration is best suited for a particular
context.
Musing over whether we have to depict every scene or is few illustration
sufficient to serve the purpose, it was opined that illustrations should not be a
dead giveaway to the important crux of the story. It should instigate curiosity in
the minds of the readers.
There should be a current of continuity running in the illustrations if there are
more than one. The illustration should hint at the subject without being very
obvious. The illustration is specific to a certain class of people and that needs to
be considered.
The illustration shouldn’t be a literal translation of the text, it should travel
further from the obvious meaning and should have the interpretation of the
artist. It should have multiple layers within the same illustration. Sometimes
illustration does not depict a particular scene necessarily, it could also just be to
illustrate the historical period without focusing on any particular character or
incident.
The font, the white space around, the arrangement of visual elements are also
important in enhancing the experience of an illustration.
He ended with the opinion that each one of us would have a different perception
of illustration and that is important to keep exploring the questions pertaining to
illustration from various perspectives.
Introduction by faculty members
Chandramohan gave
us a glimpse of his
work and shared with
us his personal
journey as an
illustrator and artist.
He talked about his
style of working
from memory and the
nonnegotiable need
to observe the world
with attention to the
smallest detail. He
strongly believes that everybody has the capacity to observe and be able to
recall any image just like a computer and transfer it to the paper if skilled. His
passion for art has to his credit about 15000 illustrations excluding other art
works like painting and sculpture. He feels that there should be no fear
hesitation associated with any medium and that one must explore all the
possible mediums including digital art and photography. It is in the broad and
deep exploration of the mediums that an intuitive knowledge of choosing the
right medium for expression emerges. He said that the expression of ideas in the
most suitable form is what is needed and that need not be restricted to the
traditional mediums. He was of the opinion that an illustrator must also be a
good photographer, a typographer, a designer, a calligrapher, an art director and
so on.
Sushil introduced himself through one of his writing. It
was title “Farvari” (February) based on the changes in
the nature during the month of February. It is a record
of the delightful intimacy of the writer with his
surroundings –leaves, trees, ants, tea-maker, flowers,
grass, children and his own self. The longing to see in
nature, the fantasies of his mind and expressions of
hope in a beautiful play of words was enchanting to
hear in his own poetic voice.
Taposhi shared how her
inclinations and aversions in
childhood translated to her
becoming an illustrator. She
traced the course of her
professional life after
graduating from Delhi
college of Art. She had
worked with an advertising
agency, Katha, NBT, and as
a freelancer with many
publications like Ladybird, Chakmak, and Pluto. She reflected upon the
dynamics of her professional life and her inspirations and her style of working.
She humbly noted that she is here to learn just like the rest of the students.
Atanu shared his passion for illustration by
sharing a range of illustration works that he has
created over the years. He took care to explain
the details of each work displayed– purpose,
medium and ideation. He was of the opinion that
there was no need to be scared of using
references and one can adopt it. He shared with
us the story of him becoming an illustrator
despite his aversion to it. A narrated hilariously a couple of quirky events that
led him to join an art school and how he became a professional illustrator. He
filled the evening with stories from everywhere.
Dileep started with a bold statement that he is
not an illustrator at all, but a seeker. He then
traversed through his life journey with an
interesting presentation of his college, work and
family life interspersed with his life
philosophies. He had dabbled in various
interests and occupations. An exciting journey
marked by quirky events of his life that gave
him a wide range of experiences. Creativity and
outlook of life as he saw it in various forms
were shared with the students which made it all
the more interesting.
Film screening- Babe
A 1995 Australian-American comedy-drama film directed by Chris Noonan.
It is an adaptation of Dick King-Smith's 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig. The main
animal characters are played by a combination of real and animatronic pigs. It
was an important film to study visual effects and angles in which the scenes
were shot.
27th march
Understanding the text by Sushil Shukla
Illustration could be decorative, informative, explanatory, interrogative, political
or amusing and so on. Its role like most art forms will take multiple meanings
based on the context it is placed in. In this course which focuses on illustration
for children’s book, it’s a core necessity for the illustrators to understand
literature in its form, content and the social
and cultural context in which it is being
conceptualized.
The textual content has to be understood by
the illustrator at various levels. One reading
of which will give them a rough idea of the
story or poem, another of understanding the
characters and what they depict, or inform,
another layer of extending the story or
poem to a more universal experience that goes beyond the characters of the
story and reaches out to resonate with more fundamental experiences that runs
common for most of humanity.
Lecture notes in the voice of Sushil.
Identify the form inherent in the prose and poetry. What are the basic criteria
based on which a text can be differentiated into prose and poetry? How did the
poet arrive at the creation of such a poem / prose.
What does it mean to understand? When can one say that they have
“understood” something?
I used to be afraid of “understanding” for the fear of not being able to enjoy it
for the immediate pleasure it gave me while reading it. It is more important to
enjoy it for the pleasure that is obtained from reading it at least once. Further
one reads it to locate the source of its aanand (joy). Over interpretation can ruin
the essence – plato.
There is a lot of literature when being chosen to publish, a lot of good literature
doesn’t get selected because people assume that “children will not understand
it”. 2 things – It is unfortunate that one assumes that someone will not
understand something. It is also audacity to think that we know what a child can
understand and cannot, underlying which is the assumption that all children are
the same. And we also have a single interpretation of “understanding” itself.
Children are very different from each other, and each person is different at each
moment of their life. So what are children like? What does it mean to
understand?
Suppose there is a poem about a mango tree, there will be no difficulty for
people to agree that this can be understood by children. Hence, ninety percent of
children’s literature is based on seasons. Season is a much exploited
conversation starter when we meet someone whom we do not have anything
meaningful to share. Probably that is why we do the same with regard to
children’s literature.
It shows how we think about children. So what does it mean to ‘understand’ a
mango tree? Is it possible to understand the mango tree without also
understanding soil, bird, sunlight, water… and so on? From there to understand
water, we have to understand fish, clouds and so on. It is quite amazing how
everything is so interconnected. It is in the nature of modern education to look
at things in isolation although that is not how things are in reality.
Understanding is not discreet but a silsila – a continuous process that grows and
transforms with multiple experiences that we have with our environment.
While art and literature gives ample space for the many audiences from
different places to participate in their own way to place themselves and
complete the creation, Modern education focuses more on very general aspects
of a person and doesn’t address the uniqueness (apnapan)/ individuality of the
person. In school, an essay on cow would say that cow has four legs –
something that is also common for a buffalo, goat etc. It does not explore the
distinct feature of the cow that brings out the cowness or the individual’s
experience with cows. A child once very honestly wrote in an essay, “hamari
gaai ke bhi chaar pair hee hotey hain” .”Gai ke do hi seeng hotey hain agar
ladai main ek toot na gaya ho toh”, was the response of one of the students.
“Drishya ek purdah hain” by Ashok Vajpei illustrates an important point in that
simple sentence. He says that when we see a certain thing, it veils all those
things which we do not see because of the seeing of that particular thing. That
which is being made visible is a deliberate attempt to hide all those which must
not be seen. In literature, Dekhna (seeing) and Dikhna (that which is seen) has a
positive connotation and nahi dikhna (that which is not seen) is considered
negative. But in this sentence it is almost reversed, the writer throws light on
that which is not seen as being important in the vis-a-vis which is seen.
In the light of this sentence we can relook at everything that we have been made
to see.
Women, Children, Dalits, and other minorities being depicted a certain way in
art and literature shows us their status and outlook we have has a society about
each of the category. If you analyse the lyrics of Hindi film songs, written in the
voices of women are actually written by male lyricists. They write about how a
woman feels and that actually shows us what the male feels about those things.
Try reversing the gender of a joke that you found funny, you will realize that it
is not funny anymore. So the joke is not in the content but in the social reality.
So when we are laughing, we are laughing at the vulnerability of the subject.
The meaning is not located in the words alone. It is located in different sources.
To arrive at meaning, mere words are insufficient. If you listen to the words in a
conversation of a couple in love, one would wonder what is going on. The
meaning is contained in the act of being together and the spoken words are
meaningless in that context. Hence when creating a particular artwork, one
needs to capture the essence of what one wants to communicate, construct it in
the mind and from there device ways to express it. The meaning, hence is
located in various aspects and not just in words.
Bolu is a character in a story. He is like a green- bee eater. It flies it chirps,
when it rests, its quiet and Bolu was like that. He would talk when he walks and
walks when he talks. If you tell him to stop, he will stop talking and then stop
walking. Suppose I met Bolu and think a lot about him, there is a smriti
(memory) of Bolu that is formed within the reader. Smriti (memory) of Bolu and
someone I met in real are at the same level and it’s the strength and potential of
a good story to make that possible. The association the reader has with the
character is the same as the kind one has with people in real.
When we say, role of literature is not mirroring the society that means we
assume nothing changes in society. Whereas it is actually we are creating our
realities – so the language, thinking, dialoguing, everything changes after
reading a good literature.
Understanding the poem Hatasha by Vinod Kumar Shukla– how do we
understand it?
Kala (art) creates a moment. It creates a moment where we lose all our identities
and identify ourselves with the most basic nature of being human. In this
moment we connect with everyone and become equal to all in very fundamental
ways. The activism and revolution that the literature can attempt to is only
possible in that moment is what Abhinav Gupta claims. The journey of art is to
create a particular kshan (moment). In that moment it creates a universal
experience that can be shared by all and proposes for such a moment to present
itself in the life of all.
So looking at Hatasha in this tradition, what do we know about the person? In
terms of gender, geographical location and so on. We don’t know anything. The
more important aspects are hatasha (despair) and saath dena (togetherness).
Someone is unhappy and that person needs help. And the two individuals are
equal in all aspects.
In contrast to that now let us look at stories with start with, “Ek baniya tha….”
What does that mean ? Who is that person? Here the person is not important, its
being a baniya (the caste) that is important. Another problem is that it assumes
that all baniyas are the same, but that is not true at all.
Comparing the two we see that in Hatasha, the individual is more important
than the identities that define the individual. But when we say “baniya”, the
caste of the individual is given importance.
The content and craft of writing a story is changing these days. It need not be a
linear narrative, but can also be like a dance, where there is a certain movement
without linearity. One can look at the same story standing in one place but with
different perspectives.
In the way one writes about a particular thing, so many other things / qualities /
nature of writing come along with it. Maybe because of the tradition of
exposure to stories for these many years, we have been oriented towards
literature. This orientation prepares us to naturally handle a given story. There
are some stories where we can easily identify how a story works – anayaasi -
unknowingly, without having to think too much.
Hungry leopard finds a tortoise. Tortoise retreats into the shell. A fox, a friend
of tortoise passes by. The fox asks the leopard to throw the tortoise in the water
so that shell becomes soft and can be eaten later. So the leopard does that and
the tortoise is saved. Nobody asks why couldn’t the leopard eat the fox?! That is
because we are oriented to understand where the story actually lies. The story is
not about what the leopard does, the story does not lie there and that is known to
even a very young child.
IDGAH (1933, Premchand)
Very few stories have been written about lower class muslims and this is one of
them. Hamid is a central character in the story, he is 5 or 6 years old. He doesn’t
have parents and live with his grandma who takes care of him with great
difficulty.
On the day of Idgah, he goes out with his friends. The description of the day of
Idgah is in such a way that the reader is able to participate in the imagination of
the ambience of the environment and festival.
Hamid avoids buying sweets, toys, and so on by giving quirky yet logical
excuses to his friends about how those things are useless. Hamid reaches a shop
that sells chimta (forceps). The conversation between Hamid and shopkeeper,
which Premchand has ornamented very interestingly. When he takes the forceps
home and gives it to Amina, she feels very sad. Although there were so many
attractive things and Hamid might have felt hungry too, yet, in all those
moments, all he thought about was Amina. Some writers exclusively write a
line or two about the emotion that they want to capture in the story. In this story
too, Premchand writes “Amina was crying like a child and Hamid was watching
her like an elderly man”. In today’s literature, people believe that all that the
writer has to communicate must be done within the story and not outside of it.
For that may mean that the writer is doubtful whether the story was able to
communicate the ideas and it had to be said separately.
Like Ashok Vajpei said “Drishya ek purdah hain”, Amina was not sad because
Hamid brought her a forceps. If you look at the craft of the story, you will find
that it reiterates the fact that there are things that someone has but not Hamid,
and this is repeated again and again. It creates a mood where what is available
in the mela cannot be afforded by all. So then who is the mela really for? How
many of those things in the mela are available for all? Even if they are available,
they cannot be afforded by all and so making them unavailable for a lot of
people.
The craft employed here by the writer, of announcing what is available in the
market and also distinguishing that those things are available for someone and
not for Hamid. The craft of contrasting that there are certain things and at the
same time they are not, is so strong in the story. Premchand has never
mentioned about those basic things that constitute a childhood as being made
available for Hamid. We must not look at childhood from a middle-class
perspective and assume that a child who is a rag picker has no childhood. Each
of their childhood is a unique world – one which is complete with material
environment and the mind.
When we talk about deprivation, Amina with great difficulty tries to collect
money for Hamid’s outing. Amina saved the money like her dignity is how the
writer describes it. This has been excluded from the abridged versions made
available to children in textbooks assuming that children will not understand it.
Amina constantly tries to pull together and make available a few things for
Hamid, so she giving him money to spend at the mela was another attempt to do
the same. But, even then, Hamid behaves very unlike a child, and like an old
man, when he buys her tongs to pick rotis that she bakes.
Premchand tries to typify a “child” by assuming that children have a certain way
of looking at the world and that they loves sweets and certain kind of toys but
Hamid has not been influenced by those. Hamid talks and acts like an older
man.
If I was an illustrator and had to illustrate it according to the story that surfaces
after the first reading it would be different from the illustration attempted after
understanding this part of the story.
The students had a prolonged discussion on the story and the discussion covered
aspects of multiple meanings, intent of the writer, assumptions in a story, what
is the position of the writer in a society and so on.
Visit to Sethani Ghat
It was the first outing for the session. Everyone got ready with their sketchbooks
and were on the ghats in no time. The students were asked to sketch the
happenings of the ghat. Outing serves many purposes.
The visit to Sethani Ghat with sketchbooks was to induct live sketching as a
method to learn drawing and composition. The students were asked to freely
capture the life in Sethani Ghat and they were to receive feedback from the
faculty members. The students and faculty dispersed to various parts of the Ghat
and got down to sketching, observing, conversing, photographing, and so on.
Most of the students were sketching human figures. Each one at their own pace
and style went about sketching for about an hour. The students received
feedback regarding each of their works the next day during a sharing session.
28th march
Presentation on sketching by Chandramohan Kulkarni
I thought there was no need for sketching and was proposing the same, but I
stand corrected that sketching is very important. But before one jumps into the
act of sketching, it is important to see. It is also important to know what we are
doing and why we are doing.
At Sethani ghat I was not sketching, but only observing. This morning, I opened
the megapixel camera of my mind and sketched from my memory. We tend to
react too quickly, but it is more important to see. There was a lot happening on
the ghat, which many of you have missed out. My sketches are not
proportionate, but there is a language of the line.
The hand is not about proportion, it is about the movement – the hand tying the
hair – hence I do this deliberately. I am putting forth what I do, but not what you
must do, you must find out what you must do. It is best that you do not copy me
so that you do not ruin your work. I have studied anatomy very closely, I know
what is and what I want to do. There is a difference in photography and
sketching. That which is not there in photography is possible in sketching and
we have to find out what that is. Do not get carried away by just photography.
Look at things more closely. Sketch when you feel like it. Observe people, their
postures, their shape, the objects in their hand etc. Drawing and sketching are
different. Sketching is more rapid. Did you notice that there were footwear lying
around? Those footwear become a prominent part of my sketches. There is life
in it. A moment is created. There was a photo of a deity, and … observe what
strikes you the most. It is not necessary to be outdoors, one can do sketching
exercises indoors too. In the future if there arises a need to make an illustration
of Narmada ghat then you must be able to do it without having to use photo
references.
While I am working I do not know why I am doing a certain thing, I just keep at
it only knowing that the hulchal (commotion) and mahoul (ambience) that I
experienced should be visible in my sketches and all my decisions are based on
that. Suppose I made a sketch on that spot it would probably be different from
the one I have made. It is important to not react towards sketching, it is more
important to pause and reflect before jumping into sketching and also develop
one’s “seeing” and observing.
All the students have to sketch from memory without looking at old sketches or
photos captured.
Purpose of sketching by DileepChinchalker
Role of sketching is seen as an important aspect of all art programmes. I am
unable to say whether sketching is important or not. It has been a disadvantaged
that I have not sketched enough. Guruji had a stronghold on his sketching skills.
In his time it was not possible to use photographs for reference in his artworks.
The sketches are that of Guruji’s to show an example of good sketches.
The sketches are not very well defined but tell us about the nature and form.
The necessity is also not to be realistic in sketching but personalize it according
to one’s needs and calling.
Sketching helps to understand how one needs to handle the tools – pencil, pen,
etc. the feelings in the artist will translate onto the medium if one understands
the handling of the material.
During outdoor sketching, there is a large view to be captured onto a small sheet
of paper. We have limited time to complete the task. So it is more important to
capture the contours and forms in view instead of getting lost in capturing the
details. It is very important to be habitually observant nevertheless.
Practicing sketching will strengthen one’s lines. It also allows for movement -
being able to sketch well will help the viewer to go over the parts of the image
one after the other just the way the artist wants it. One gets distracted by
excessive shading, but it is more important to bring the contrast in other ways.
An alternative to shading is to notice what the dark and light areas are and
highlight the images by positioning the sun and creating shadows. It is
important to visualize the positioning of the object/ figure on the page. An
estimation of how much space each object/figure would require is also
something one figures out while sketching. The sketches may go on to become
works of art in themselves or be the supporting materials for creating a painting.
Human figures and animal figures might seem difficult initially but it is
important to capture the form to resemble the animal. People have a style of
their own even in sketching. It is possible to distinguish certain trees/ animals
by capturing their form and without having to get into the details of every leaf.
Human figure sketching opens out a range of possibilities for expressing many
things by capturing the body language and expressions on the face. Capturing
postures and expressions and likeness of a particular person can be captured
with without having to draw in detail, but with minimal but vital features of the
person.
Some places look very similar. It is possible, though, to bring about the special
character of the place by focusing on the special features of the place that define
the place. The magnanimity of rocks, mountains or characteristic features of the
locals are things one can help capture the essence of the place. It is not
necessary that one is always sketching to be able to do this, but one has be a
very good at observation to do justice.
Everyday objects are equally important to be sketched, it is not necessary that
we go to a scenic place every time to study and practice sketching. The intention
of sketching is not to indulge in meaningless physical labour but to sharpen
one’s observation skills.
Feedback on students’ sketches
On seeing the sketches made by the students, the
faculty decided to hold a feedback session to
understand the difficulties of the students and to
address them. The students one-by-one presented
their sketches and reflected on the exercise.
Students expressed their difficulties while sketching.
The problems ranged from habits that students are
not able to get out of – using eraser, not being able to
attempt sketching smaller objects, resizing, human
subjects moving away while sketching them,
perspectives, inability to capture the quality of water,
inability to remember and sketch from memory,
pencil leaves a very light mark – too scared to make darker lines for the fear of
making mistakes. It was important to recognize the difficulties so that they
could be worked upon.
The general feedback was to be aware of all the preferences, things that they do
and do not
Taposhi’s comments :
Imagine that you are already illustrators and a client tells you that they do not
like your work. That is because what is looked into while selecting or rejecting a
certain work is when we look at human figures. Usually people find it difficult
to get the hands and legs right. So if not enough sketching has been done, it is
very difficult at a later stage. One has to sketch everything without
discrimination. A lot of minor errors can be avoided by looking at things
closely. Although references are easily available on the internet, there is no
substitute for the practice that the hand needs in order to be able to do good
illustrations.
Atanu Roy shared with the students his feedback on each student’s work. He
pointed out to the areas that each of them need to work on as they presented. He
was also encouraging them to work harder and emphasising on the fact that
there was no substitute for sketching.
photos of some of his earliest sketches and interesting snippets that led to those
sketches.
Film Screening - Not one less
It is a 1999 drama film by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, adapted from Shi
Xiangsheng's story "A Sun in the Sky". Set in the People's Republic of China
during the 1990s, the film centers on a 13-year-old Wei Minzhi, in the Chinese
countryside. Called in to substitute for a village teacher for one month, and is
told not to lose any students. When one of the boys takes off in search of work
in the big city, she goes looking for him. The film addresses the economic gap
between urban and rural populations, and the prevalence of bureaucracy and
authority figures in everyday life. Minzhi possessed of a stubborn streak,
determines to bring him back. She enlists the 26 remaining pupils in earning
money for her trip. She hitches to the City and begins her search. The boy,
meanwhile, is there, lost and begging for food. Minzhi's stubbornness may be
Huike’s and the village school's salvation.
29th march
Relooking at kala illustration
After looking at the illustration
of the students for the story
“Kaala aur main” given for
baseline assessment, Sushil
decided to discuss the text with
the students and help them
attempt illustration for the
same with a nuanced
understanding.
He pointed out to consider aspects like the way in which the story is crafted,
what is the writer saying and what are the things unsaid directly but emerges
from other things in the story. It is possible that there are confusions regarding
what the author is trying to say but that can be effaced from understanding each
character and looking at inter-relationship between the characters
“A poem is actually speaking of those things which are not written in the
poem”
So an examination of the relationship between kala and the writer brought out
the responses of the student’s understanding – they are friends, the writer is a
friend, philosopher and guide to kala, writer and kala as migrants, writer as an
empathizer, writer and kala as being not 2 different but the same – in sharing a
common lived reality wherein they both have been displaced from their land but
during different time zones. Shared reality of having been forcefully displaced
from their forest and land is what emerges from the story. And that aspect which
is not obvious from the story is in the hands of the illustration to bring out.
He said that there are certain aspects which speak about the craft of the story,
understanding of which will help one to fill in those information unsaid by the
writer in words, but said in other way. For example instead of saying that kala is
from an adivasi background, it was sufficient to say that he spoke in korku. It
tells you who the story is about the adivasis, a language speaks a lot about
people’s culture, so adivasi life, like their language is a reflective of minimalism
and resourcefulness.
In an illustration for this story, it wouldn’t matter if there is a juggi (Shanty) or
not or kala or not. But, it would be incomplete without factory and buildings
because it is a story about snatching away land – by whom and from whom are
the questions to be addressed in the illustration. The emotion that if the land is
gone, along with it is gone many other things that are meaningful to the person
is the underlying emotion.
The use of the phrase “koila nikal aaya” and associating that to the end of all
fears pretty much captures the gravity of the situation. It is important to arrive at
the Bhaav (emotion) of the writing and to compose an illustration by staying
with the emotion, one can afford to forget the details of the scenes, but it is
more important arrive at the core emotion and attempt illustrating again.
Study of an object and its distortion by Chandramohan Kulkarni
A bit disappointed with the quality of students’ works, Chandramohan decided
to organize a demonstration.
Sketching in the context of a fine art course and that for an applied art course
are two different. It is important to develop the understanding related to
sketching and the intention also becomes very important, There was a tendency
to look at sketching through the window of illustration and that too in a very
hurried way. Hence this exercise of sketching the shoes and then bringing out its
unique character.He asked them to forget defining sketching, drawing, and other
technicalities. He proposed to move away from sketching and looking at things
more closely. He took off his shoe, placed it on a table and did a close study of
it. He studied it with utmost care and focus. The students quietly watched him
complete the image of his shoe, line after line, stroke after stroke and careful
stippling to produce various texture. Once he completed it, he asked the students
to do the same - to sketch their footwear by being in love with it. He also asked
them to compose it creatively and be cognizant of the space and positioning of
the drawing.
While the students darted off with their drawing materials to occupy various
parts of the campus, he was busy creating distorted imagery of the shoe that he
had studied. He was of the opinion that if one sees closely, one will be able to
see and experience things beyond the shoe and that needs to be explored and
recreated without losing the form of the footwear. His shoe had transformed into
a monster baring its teeth.
Once the students had completed their first task of studying their foot wear, they
were asked to look at it again to see and experience the footwear differently and
draw their mind. This exercise on one hand opened up the idea and experience
of seeing things closely, by paying attention to every curve, texture, form that
makes a shoe a certain way. The extension of the exercise also brought in the
element of imagination and creativity to be expressed through distortion of the
footwear to produce an interesting image.
30th march
Home assignments
The students were briefed about their assignments that they would be taking
home. The students were asked to fill their newsprint sketchbook with as many
sketches of humans, animals and objects that they see around them. The
importance of sketching exercise was emphasised by all the faculty members
univocally. The students were reminded about their reflection logs. They were
asked to record their feedback regarding sessions and make note of their
understanding and dilemmas related to illustration.
Each student took home books from the library that they will review in the
coming session.
Apart from this, the faculty is available to converse through phone and internet
if the students need any assistance.
Understanding of Text by Udyen Vajpei
Poetry is not a commodity that can be used and understood without
understanding the tradition from where it is coming. It is not possible to
understand a poem in a few hours, to understand a poem is a matter of
understanding the culture and that is a longer journey. So taking James Joyce’s
advice, one must remember the poem and take it along with oneself and
understand it newer ways as we understand the world and the culture of the
poet. Understanding poetry and the logic of language is work of many years.
There is no guarantee of when one would understand a poem and fall into its
depth, “it will catch you unaware”.
Brijbhasha by its inherent nature was the language of poetry. This language had
a sensuous nature, compared to Hindi which is a more stiff language.
Premchand’s stories because of nature of Hindi itself are quite non-sensuous.
Nirala tries to consciously and determinately look for ways to better the
language. Bengali was his first language and after having listened to Ramcharit
Manas from his wife in Brijbhasha, he experienced the language to be very
pleasing and was impressed by the sensuousness and learnt the language from
her. Being an outsider to the language, he was able to see the nature of the
languages, the difference in the quality of Khari-boli and Brijbhasa, and tried
consciously to bring the sensuous nature into his Hindi. It was not a given, but
something he created by tampering and playing with it in his poems without
compromising the philosophical depth and reflective character. This was later
exploited by other writers. In those terms, this is one of Nirala’s best poems
because Hindi as a language is opening up to be more perceptive.
● Poem 1 : Baandho na naav is taav – Nirala
The poet is in a space where once his lover used to meet him. The lover is not
physically present but in his memory and mind. The reference to the bank of the
river is iconic of sanskrit literature conventions where bank of the river is one of
the eight places that is considered as the places apt for rendezvous of lovers.
The poet transitions from one space into another to be able to see different
things from various perspectives. He then transforms to become his lover itself
to understand what kind of a person she is, there is this movement from being
him and then his lover. The emotions running through the poetry are varied and
not discreet. It keeps shifting from one to another and gets juxtaposed too. At
any given moment, one can experience the existence of more than one bhaav.
Each line of the poem was tried to understand at the level of its meaning,
metaphorical meaning and those which are unsaid but comes from a certain
tradition of Sanskrit literature that the poet was exposed to. Poetry is not written
by words alone but by the context in which it is written. So if one doesn’t know
its historical and cultural underpinnings, then one reads not a poem but just
words. So, even having a dictionary and knowing grammar become insufficient.
● Poem 2 : Mangal - Vinod Kumar Shukla
The poet is from Chattisgarh but his first language is Hindi and not a language
local to Chattisgarh. He was one of those families which migrated and kept their
language alive in the hope of returning to their land.
Stars and astronomical objects are usually used as metaphors to indicate
distance. In this poem, Mars, as a planet is the subject. The convention of the
poem is reversal. The subject –mars- towards the end of the poem is only
symbolic and the poem is not talking about mars as much as it is talking about a
redemption for earth by being more conscious and responsible towards it.
When he says “मंगल ग्रह इस समय पथृव्ी के बहुत पास आ गया है” it is not
just that mars is closer, but mars as a subject for poetry too is closer now. The
silence of mars, is observed not as the lack of sound, but lack of life is an
interesting usage. The aspect of vyanjana is demonstrated when the poem
reads,” अब पथृव्ी के पड़ोस में क़ोई नह ं …. समय पडने पर पथृव्ी का कौन साथ देगा” but what it actually means is that the earth better get its act together
in light of ecological degradation that is taking place and there is no one to help.
Earth is imagined to be a home for all the creatures, complete with neighbor –
Mars. Something as untenable as earth and mars has been transformed into
something more familiar.
The poet talks about the neighbourhoods on earth. The earth was described as
home, but the home is now referred to as the planet, complete in itself. There is
a comparison of earth and mars to one’s own home and neighbor. The poet
keeps shifting between referring to home and earth ; mars and neighbor , but the
space is the same.
Mangal ho is a phrase used to shower blessings. Here, the usage of “Mangal ho”
is taken as “becoming part of mars”, or “making the mars, one’s own” as well as
a “blessing”. An everyday act of jumping has been transformed into a cosmic
event and in that jump, the mars is owned. The imagination of this spectacular
act is a highlight of the poem. Comparing mars to an empty house which needs
to be inhabited by all those animate and inanimate things that occupy the earth
is a cry of desperation trying to point to the fact that there is no other planet like
earth to save it from being destroyed and hence wishing that forests, rivers, sky,
mountains, all the creatures including that last person be able to move into mars.
Since there is no neighbor to help the earth, in time of its need, there will be no
one for the earth and hence, mars needs to be populated so that mars will help
the earth. The cry of hopelessness comes from seeing the plight of the earth and
placing that hope on mars. In trying to see mars as a neighbor, he is proposing
for a new vision where one sees one’s neighbours as an entity that deserves all
that oneself seems to enjoy.
Visit to Sethani Ghat
The students and faculty had a second visit to Sethani Ghat. The students were
looking forward to another session of sketching and being outdoors was a great
break. This time, Atanu did a live demonstration on the Ghat. It was quite
amazing to see how he seemingly effortlessly sketched the people and the
temple. His every stroke was a defining the object more and more clearly and in
no time, there it was captured in all its liveliness. The students gathered around
him studying his hand and eyes.
Taposhi too demonstrated sketching with pen.
Confident lines flowed through the pages to create
images as effortlessly too.
The students then dispersed driven to make their
own sketches. They remembered their sharing
session and the feedback that they had recieved
from the faculty and expressed the difficulty being
unable to put it into immediate practice.
31st march
The students continued to work on the kala aur main illustration that they were
attempting for the second time after having a discussion with the students. The
students were given the art materials that they needed. New set of books were
made available for the students to take home for their book review assignment.
In the class, the faculty- Taposhi , Atanu , Dileep and Chandramohan were
interacting with the students and giving feedback on the students’ work.
The session ended by 3pm since some of the students had left for their homes.
Those students who had completed their second illustration submitted their
works. The others are yet to finish and will hand them over in the next session.
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Everyday there was an hour each set aside for Library and Mentor-Mentee
interaction.
● Library hour : It is mandatory that students spend this hour only with
books. The students are free to access the Eklavya Library as well as the
Riyaaz Library. The collection includes children’s book, books on art and
education, magazines etc. All students spend a quiet hour reading either
alone or in a group. It was decided that two students everyday would give
a book-talk about the book that they had read during the library hour.
Maybe it will be looked into from the next session.
● Mentor-Mentee Interaction : This time allows for the students to discuss
in detail the topics dealt within the class and other aspects related to
illustration. It is also the time where faculty can share their personal
experiences, work and otherwise for
a more holistic learning. It was
observed that some students do
interact with the faculty members
while others continue to spend the
time reading or interacting with their
peers. This period of interaction has
great potential to encourage a
culture of dialogue and also provide
insight into the realities of working as an illustrator in the industry.
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