Art Journal.. improvising pushes creative boundaries!

The background of this page was freeflowing, childlike fun. The theme 'just happened' as I went along playing. All it took was a few watercolour pencils, left over patterned paper,a few embellishments and a whole lot of childish imagination!

This is the envelope I made and the note inside is accordian folded so it springs out. I also like the sparkly blue on the inside of the envelope, makes it feel like a magical surprise awaits me!

This page was originally quite different when I started it, I had stuck words all over and I didn't like the look, it bothered me and kept me from moving forward...so I pulled off the words and made the envelope containing the quote instead and I really like how it looks now. It's really taught me that if something goes wrong you can always go back and fix it! Improvise!!

Card Making...

It's so much fun to think up designs for cards and play with colourful handmade papers and pretty embellishments. I thought they would make great gifts.. and I made envelopes to match!

Album making: in honour of my beautiful Aunt

I'm enjoying the process of creating this album. I started from scratch making the hard bound cover and stitching in the pages. I wanted to bring out the indian-ness of the old photos and so I embellished the pages using traditional colours and patterns.

My Aunt is an inspiration to me and I was thrilled when I found these beautiful old pictures of her. It's a creative way of treasuring memories instead of cold blank albums and it adds that personal touch! (I'm hoping to make lots more!)

A lil more art journaling

The Truth of 27.10.08

Art Tools!

These are an artist's possessions, these are the tools that help us create. They are the means by which visions become reality. An artist's space is sacred. It is where colour and imagination combine. This is where magic happens.

T Shirt Art

T Shirts are great to paint on.. I love experimenting with images, colour and of course texture!!
I love the autorickshaw image and I gave it a kitch feel with sparkle to make them artsy icons!
The black and silver was more intricate as I wanted to play with pattern and being a graphic art student, create a balanced design.

'Naughty Molly'...Children's book

It was a pleasure to illustrate this sweet story book wonderfully written by my sister. It's a few words with a lot of meaning! We both loved how the book came together all hand-done! I really wanted to depict the pages in complete simplicity with a 'cute' touch. I hope this sneak peak adds a little sunshine to your day!

Illustrations for 'Acid Rain'

'The 5 stages of grief'- 5 abstract face illustrations I created for a group of College students(my sister included) for a book project. I was quite happy that I was able to move away from my comfort zone and successfully complete the challenge of creating depressing images. The writing was intense, along with these dull grey stroked features against strong dark colours, I think it definitely set the mood.
It was great to see the finished product-the printed books! (I think everyone smiled at the end of the day!)

New thought..

Today's Thought

Children's Books

Towards the end of 2007, I was given the opportunity to illustrate Children's books. It has been an amazing journey, I have learnt so much through the process and I'm thrilled that the first books I worked quite hard on have been published. I really love how they have turned out. These are the two cover pages.
These are wonderful Christian based stories of God's purpose for our lives. The author 'Jonathan Cooper' has been able to bring powerful meaning through the simplicity of the narrative which is quite remarkable. A lot was revealed to me about my life and it's purpose as I worked on the illustrations. So, although these books are for the young, they have meaning for the "young at heart" as well!

My illustrations for Children’s books are simple and playful. Bold colours bring out the mood of each page. I try to awaken the reader’s imagination. I really feel for the purpose of 'inspiring young minds'. I love this particular line of work as I feels it is a great challenge to my creativity and I see each page as a work of art and fresh ideas are always required.

For more information on these books and others on 'God's Creation' wonderfully written by Claire Osborne and beautifully illustrated by Heidi Hendriks and on how to order them, please visit this site: www.saltandlight.com.au

Fun with Photoshop!!

A digital art portrait of myself!

I love how this turned out. My version of 'Think outside the box' was created from scratch on Photoshop.
These images below are from photos that I turned into digital art:


These images below are what I practised creating on Photoshop, logos, titles, framing and composition:

I feel I've learned so much just by playing around with all the tools and effects. The possibilities are really endless and it can get quite addicting!

Magazine Covers

The Front Cover (up)
The original characters in the boxes were hand painted by us.

The Back Cover (up)

The Front Cover (up)

The theme given to us, we were thrilled at the visual we came up with.
The Back Cover (up)
Shireen and I were on the Editorial Committee of our Church in the years 2005-06. We were on the design team and we really enjoyed being creative and innovative. We are really proud of how these covers turned out and I feel the imagery gave artwork a more current feel.

Water colour

Watercolours are interesting to work in, it requires a certain amount of practise and skill, I don't feel I have mastered this media completely as yet. It isn't a forgiving medium, we have to really avoid any mistakes. It can be great fun once you have some practise and know how to control the flow of the water colour. The first painting (2007) is a definite witness to it's flow, wash, transparent, translucent and layering qualities.

These paintings were done in 2004-06

Pencil Shading

Pencils are great for details and delicate work. These are some of my favourite pieces done in college in 2004-05.