Saturday before last, we found ourselves bright and early (at 9:3o am, haha!) on the shores of the mind bogglingly HUGE Bellandur lake. Remember, it was World Environment day then? We had our eyes open and our sketchbooks out (wands at the ready!) We found HSBC employees on a tree-plantathon, here.

Our next weekend event is at Lalbagh. We’re planning to draw doggies, or the trees they patronise. Bring your watercolours along.This is going to be a lot of fun.
RSVP to the event here…

We’re meeting to study nature at the Lalbagh botanical gardens this weekend. We’re going to draw plants! You know, those with li’l neat labels attached to them that tell you that their name is Ficus religiosa or Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. The idea is to make careful, slow studies of some pretty plants, aiming to make them recognisable and experimental at the same time. You could also perhaps collect a few leaves and flowers and feathers while you’re at it, and add those to your sketchbook! So …

So! you couldn’t wait for the weekend to draw, huh?. Well, good for you! Here’s our first Pencil Jam assignment and it’s on gesture drawing. Our teacher will be the legendary Edgar Degas.
However, before we get into the assignment, i’m going to first just explain what’s going on here.
Why an assignment.
Drawing is sublime yes, but more importantly drawing is fun, especially when you’re drawing as a part of a group. Our Pencil Jams happen just once a week (every weekend) and that’s perhaps not …

This time around Pencil Jammers focused on colour. We carried all sorts of colouring equipment with us to Cubbon park where we painted trees and landscapes. Arun and Smriti brought along a fascinating watercolour brush that CARRIES IT”S OWN WATER! Will wonders ever cease? See Arun’s sketch session here…
Here are the highlights of our latest Pencil Jam.

It’s like a concert tour, except with sketchbooks! A very interesting concept from the art house scoop, the sketchbook project invites artists to fill a moleskin textbook with sketches and send them in for participation in a touring exhibit. Take a look.