#29 - Quarantine & Chill
In the previous issue, I shared SneakyArt of us packing things in Chicago and setting off for Vancouver, Canada. See it here.
In this post, more notes from mandatory quarantine, art videos and a fun throwback.
It is Day 8 of our mandated 14-day quarantine. It’s a strange feeling to be in a new city for so long while learning so little about it. Explorations can begin only after Day 14, which makes this time a strange period of limbo. For anyone concerned, technically we have left Chicago and moved to Vancouver. Friends and family ask us how it feels. But we can only say that it feels like nothing, because we are neither here nor there. This is a disappointing answer which we serve with a light chuckle. It must be difficult, they sympathize. We shrug our shoulders, playing the good quarantiners.
I am grateful for the loft interiors, because I gives me different vistas and interesting perspectives. Here, I spy on the wife-person from above.
It’s been a good time to Netflix and chill. But after binging on Broadchurch, we needed something to make us laugh. We turned to Pretend It’s A City, a narrative short series starring the acerbic wit and opinions of Fran Lebowitz. Her words makes me feel warm inside, as does her disdain for other people. I think we would get along very well if we ever met.
Below, I draw the resting wife. Just as I click the pic, she wakes and finds the remote. I suspect she doesn’t enjoy Fran Lebowitz as much as I do. We switch to Superstore, a fun sitcom set inside a store in St. Louis.
Outside our living-room window is a small park. Every morning, I watch a woman feed the birds. On Day 4, I tried drawing her but it rained suddenly and she was gone.
Across the street, next to the park, is a daycare center. Children laugh and run and jump in the play area, corraled by enthusiastic daycare workers also jumping and running and laughing. It’s a fun sight.
Having not much to do, our mornings are all the same. Some coffee, a bite to eat, doom-scrolling on the phone, and remembering to exercise before forgetting about it again. On Day 6, I draw the wife-person absorbed in morning rituals.
Out of the windows in another direction you can see the main street intersection. Drawing this scene was the big thrill of my Day 7.
This week, I was drawing live on Instagram with an artist-friend in Malaysia. We drew the same scene together in our own styles, from a picture I had taken outside the BnB. It is a scene of Vancouver harbor, with North Vancouver across the water and mountains on the far horizon.
You can catch the full video on Instagram here.
Doing the laundry was a highlight of Day 8. I sat to watch the clothes spin. It occurs to me that we are doing a lot of idle cat things in quarantine mode - watching the washing machine, looking wistfully out of windows etc.
So it goes.
Talking about SneakyArt
Urban-sketching colleagues Paul Wang and Suhita Shirodkar host a weekly Sketching Play Lab on Zoom. There are dozens of participants guided through interesting play sessions to draw and paint from observation using household items. Sketching Play Lab is a wonderful name for it.
I will be a guest on it next week, talking about the podcast, my style of ink-drawing, and the work I have done as a SneakyArtist. The session will stream live on YouTube on 5th February 5pm PST / 6th February 6:30am IST on this channel. Do join!
Art Commission
I delivered some art pieces to clients in NYC. The final two out of the four-piece set were scenes from Chennai and Hyderabad. Both were a lot of fun to draw, because a good degree of creative control was left to me even after the detailed brief.
For Hyderabad, the scene is of friends playing cricket in a park. The batting team snacks at a gupchup stall, with additional refreshments brought by motorcycle. The match proceeds in the background.
For Chennai, the client wished to recreate evenings at Elliot’s Beach, chatting with his friends and eating at a fish fry stall. As an added touch, we put a young VP Kamala Harris with her grandfather at bottom-right!
All the pieces were delivered last week, plus extra copies in the form of fine art prints.
Throwback
Two years ago I was in India at the Jaipur Literature Fest. I drew a lot of speakers and attendees, among whom was a reporter from the Times in London. She saw my work on Twitter afterwards, and recognized herself from the shoes. This was quite lucky because I often do not draw feet or shoes at all. I only drew hers because they were so striking.
In conclusion, chasing curiosity can have unexpected pay-offs.
Catharine got in touch about featuring my art in the Times Literary Supplement. Of course I said yes. It was published in an April 2019 issue. She also purchased some prints to frame on her wall, of which she shared pics this week on Twitter.
Podcast Update
The SneakyArt Podcast will be back from hiatus in the second week of February. Until then, catch up with past episodes here:
Spotify | Apple | PocketCasts | Google | Web | Gaana | JioSaavn
Catch SneakyArt as it happens on Instagram or Twitter.
Thank you for reading. See you next week!