Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Weekly Sketch #8: Young Sarbloh

Been busy the past few days with other projects. I spent most of today working on one of my Sikh history paintings. The plan is to finish it by the end of next week but we'll see how it goes.

This week's sketch is Young Sarbloh in the Anti-Sikh Riots. It's actually last week's sketch but I got lazy and busy... ??? ... busy lazying... haha, and so never posted it.
It's just a quick speed painting of young Sarbloh. I was doing a face study while learning Painter, when I got the idea. I know I kinda rushed the background but...meh... my focus was the emotion anyway. haha

The 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms were triggered by the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards. The assassination itself was in retaliation for Operation Bluestar, in which the Indian Army attacked Sikh militants hiding in the Harmandir Sahib, the holiest Sikh shrine. Over the next four days, as many as 3100 Sikhs were killed in retaliatory attacks. The most affected regions were neighborhoods in Delhi.
from wikipedia, July 23,2009

His whole family gets killed in the riots. When Sarbloh finds out, he gets pissed, and goes on a bloody rampage...

At the time, he couldn't "turn into metal" but he could still gain the offensive capabilties, which he wouldn't normally get without his dense protein exoskeleton( AKA metal skin).
He does however, get this reddish colour and glow in his eyes (which is why everything around him is red). This partially obstructs his vision, making everything look greyish, reddish and blurry.

Other Sarbloh concepts:
http://prince911.deviantart.com/art/Sarbloh-Wallpaper-81988078
http://prince911.deviantart.com/art/Sarbloh-77927150

Sunday, July 12, 2009

This is Khalsa! BoC - Sahibzada Ajit Singh

This is blasphemy, this is madness!
Madness? This is KHALSA!

So I finished BoC, the day before yesterday. I got a few suggestions since then so I might work on it a bit more but then again I might not. I have been working on the critiques for 3 weeks so I am a bit burnt out by it, and besides there are always things you can improve. Especially, since my anatomy, clouds, etc. are quite weak. But I have been taking care of that with studies; I want my upcoming paintings to be even better.
Anyways, this was a huge project. From the size of the canvas down to the armies in the background to the amount of research that went in. I used a lot of references, pretty much for everything you see in the painting. This project was a massive learning experience as it created a lot of frustration but I kept at it and finished it. This is truly something for me to be proud of!
If you're wondering why I removed the poll, it was because the poll website is not working, and it was messing with my blog. I did not lose out on the results, however. I was keeping an eye on it. It was clear that Udasis of Guru Nanak and Banda Singh - Battle Charge were tied with the most votes then Machiwarra and Akali Phula Singh WIP, followed by Mai Bhago - The Brave Kaur and Akali Phula Singh SP. I think the poll really showed the split in my audience. Half of the people voted for a war painting and the other half voted for a non-war type. Either way, I will be doing both. In a couple days, I will do a major update on my website, which will include new versions of all WIPs, and sketches of new ideas.




Battle of Chamkaur - Sahibzada Ajit Singh
for prints visit:
www.sikhiart.com
for a better experience play this track! 300 soundtrack


Background Storyline: Sahibzada Ajit Singh's horse has been seriously wounded, forcing Ajit Singh to fight on foot. The young Prince, after being wounded himself, notices a Mughal cannon being readied for teh seige. He charges the infantry that guard it. Some high ranking Bhumi militiamen and Cavalrymen see his strategy and rush to the spot...

The story of course is based on an actual event where Guru Gobind Singh's oldest son (Ajit Singh) volunteered to defend the small fortress they were in. The Mughal army had surrounded it, and there seemed to be no escape. Guru Sahib was sending Singhs in fives to keep up the defense. Inside the fortress, many Singhs prepared themselves for death, and many defended the fort with showers of arrows, along with the Guru.

This is one of Bhagat's more detailed paintings. There is a lot to look at, much to learn, and many things to discover. Once you receive the print (and make sure you get the biggest one you can), lookout for: Mughal cavalry archers, Chamkaur Di Garhi (It's there alright), the fortress with Khalsa forces, two Singhs who charged the forces along with Prince Ajit Singh, Mahouts (elephant riders) see how many you can find ... and there's much more... seriously!




Some details of the work here, 3 of them are updates of the WIP details I had in this post, the other 2 were randomly picked:

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Weekly Sketch #7: Sikhs

Just taking another break from Battle of Chamkaur. The whole critique process really slowed me down but I am going to keep at it until I finish. Expect some sneak peeks of the work real soon.

Anyways, this sketch I did really late at night when I couldn't fall as sleep. Again, I'm using Charles Meacham's photos of Sikhs. So it starts from the top left. Then I did the guy to the right. It got better but proportions were a bit off. Next was the smiling kid. Then scary man and finally the guy on the bottom right. At that point I signed it and dozed off.