Art Society of India's Annual Art Competition

Here are the entry dates for the All India Annual Art Exhibition held by The Art Society of India, Mumbai . It is one of the major art competition in India as it is organised by one of the prestigious and oldest art society besides the Bombay art society.

Check out the Details:
Painting can be submitted on 11th and 12th jan08 between 11am and 5pm at Balbhavan,Near Charni Road Station(W) , Mumbai. Size should be minimum 12" X 16" and maximum 36" X 48". You can submit maximum two paintings.
The Exhibition of the selected entries would be held from 23rd to 29th Jan08.

So thats all. All the best to all of you. I would let you know more about the other compeditions. So keep watching this space.
Bye.

Portrait demonstration by Rajesh Sawant

Few days back a Portrait demonstration was held at the Art society of India's office by Artist Rajesh sawant from Nashik. The medium was oil pastels.
I took this snap to capture the model as well as the painting in progress.When you see a portrait demonstration it is very important for you to see the model and as well as the coloring process or the application, the color mixing etc.which is going on very closely.

Many time you are standing in the back of the crowds and you don't know what's going on.
This time i was lucky, as i was standing just next to the artist.


The tinted sheet which was used for the demonstration here is not really the shade which is showing here.You can see the actual shade of the paper in the image below of the completed painting.

After every demonstration there is a interaction session of the artist and the audiences, students. One funny thing what i have observed after many demonstrations. A very common question which is asked is, which quality-brand of paper or colors should be used.

On the back side wall you can see the original paintings of Masters like John fernandes, Vasudeo kamath, Shivaji Tupe, Suhas Bahulkar, Anil Naik etc. who have given demonstrations in the society. You should atleast visit the office once to have a look at them. I am sure you will get good inspiration to work and it would refresh your mind if you have got stuck anywhere in your practice.

Kala-nishtanchi Mandiyaali

Kala-nistanchi Mandiyaali. This words i have adapted from Pasayadaan which was written by
Sant Dnyaneshwar. Pasaya means prasad , which he had asked from the god,for every living being.In which he has quoted the words Ishwar-nishtanchi Mandiyaali (gathering of the followers of God).

I changed the first word as i thought it would be the most suitable title for this.

This is a bit late to put this on the blog but still..
Last month there was a painting camp organised by Shri Shivaji Tupe Sir and the Lokhitwadi Mandal in Nashik.In which above 200 artists attended the camp.There were various demonstrations and sessions on art which included Senior artists such Shri Vasudeo Kamath,Datta padekar,Ashok Dhivare and many more.

I have given the newspaper cutting for all of you to read.
As it was a big event held recently.I really missed this opportunity to participate in this camp.

Exhibition by Sachin Naik

Artist Sachin Naik from Pune would be displaying his Watercolour works from the 16th to 20th Dec07 at the Sangrah Art Plaza, Model colony, pune.
Check this out to see, Water Colours at its best.

He also conducts Watercolour courses. For those interested please click and enlarge the image for more details.

Elephanta Caves

There was a painting tour to the Elephanta caves, of the Art Society of India's artist group a few days back.

Before getting into details just a quick brief for those who are unaware of this location :
These are Caves built on a hill, on a island close to Mumbai by Buddhist monks. Just like the Ellora and Ajanta caves. It takes atleast 45 minutes by a launch which starts from the Gateway of India to reach there.

So, you can see the end of this rocky track. Here is where you get down by the launch. A mini train can also be seen which starts from there and it takes you to the base of the hill from where you have to climb up the hill.
We preferred walking instead of this train as it is very close and does not take more than 10 minutes to reach.


There are stairs built as you can see which go right up to the caves. There are stalls on both the sides which sell handicrafts etc.


There is a saying that there are 38 crores of hindu gods.
Seeing this one, can make you believe that.

The front view of the Caves ....

And the top veiw of the same....

The main attraction or like the climax of the movie is this sculptor of the Trimurti. The photo of this didn't came out good due to poor light. It is called Trimurti but according to the legal information given here, it has got four heads, of which the fourth one is at the back.

Its peaceful looks, really get into you.

Its huge and magnificient, you should visit this once. It is really worth.

Our group of artist....

This group of girls were not from our group. They were so engrossed looking at the painting going on, i couldn't resist the urge to catch that moment on the camera.

They must be art lovers because they sat for nearly half an hour watching the painting done.

Here are some of the paintings done there....

This Foreign tourist had brought her dog all the way.....

The inside scene of the caves.

Sometimes I just wonder how this buddhist monks had so much energy and motivation in them to build this caves hundreds of years ago, with so much creativity and architectural excellence. Also on such locations which are even today not easily accessible.

For example the kanheri caves in national park, the Ajanta and ellora, the karla caves just to name a few.

Many such sculptors were disfigured by the Mughals for the spread of Islam.

There are guides, who take you to each sculptor and explains the idea and the symbolism behind it. Here you can see some foreign tourist listening to the guide with the white beard.

This is a sculptor of the Nataraj, Shiva.

One of the incomplete carvings.

This is the museum maintained by the archeological survey of India. Here you can get details of about the sculptors inside the caves and also about the other caves situated in India.

This is a hotel run by the MTDC, (Maharashtra Tourism Department). It opens up facing the sea. You get a good view from the top.

Ratrichi Mumbai

I took this snap from the launch returning to the Gateway of India. It was almost dusk. You can see the shape of the Taj Hotel in the dark.

Vintage Engine

This Mini train has been put on display in front of the Main building of the Western Railway HO. Churchgate. You may think that it may be a dummy model, but this is a real engine that was used by the Indian railways in during theBritish rule.

The Engine has been repainted, and it has that charming and classic vintage look.

Take a close look here, you can see the year and the name of the company which built it.

It is built in 1923 by some NG Bagnall Ltd, Stafford , UK.

Jamrukh, Karjat.

This is the very first posting on this blog.

To start with , I am a member of the Art Society of India, Mumbai. Their are some members in the society who really strive and are dedicated for the development of artists and art. The society organises outings for artists to paint outdoors. Which are like one day tours just in the outskirts of mumbai.

We go out in small villages to paint and sketch. Last month it was a small village called Jamrukh, near karjat.

It is a very satisfying experience for any artist when he works in these kind of locations for the whole day leaving your worries back. You get more close to nature with so many beautiful subjects like mountains, Farms with so many shades of greens, cows ,sheeps, buffalos, bullock carts, small huts etc. around you to sketch and paint.

This a very common scene when we start to paint. People gather around you and even in front of you unknowingly when we start our work. It is really a test of your patience and concentration to work in such a crowd. But it is still a lot of fun.

Our friend here, has got a lot of young audiences.


A demonstration of watercolors was given by Mr. Kishore Nadavdekar. During such demos you get a real close look at how a artist apply there skills and how they simplify a complicated subject in their paintings.

The artist group of the society can also be seen watching the demonstration here.


Work in progress.....


And the finished painting......