#31 - Looking Back to Go Forward
new podcast episode, art, and hard lessons.
In this issue, I introduce the latest episode of the SneakyArt Podcast, some art I made this week, and lessons from listening instead of talking.
Ep 11 - Looking Back with … me!
After a brief hiatus, I am pleased to resume work on the SneakyArt Podcast. The latest episode is a look back at previous conversations. It came out to be nearly 6000 words - scripted, edited, recorded, and produced. Phew!
The idea is to look back at previous conversations and follow the threads of commonality that weave between them. I do not try to portray unique ideas, but ideas that we all have in response to obstacles we all face. In this way, I hope that the moments I have chosen will inspire you, bring confidence, and show you a way forward in the fog of solitary, creative pursuit.
I like to think that we don't suffer from a lack of ideas, as much as a lack of confidence in the ideas we have. Consider that the solutions to most problems are not unique, because our problems themselves are not unique or exclusive to us. From hearing the journeys of others, we gain confidence in ourselves. In that sense this is not a "Best of" episode. But I trust that listening to this diverse selection of guests will give you the courage to chase your ideas, big or small. If you have not heard all the episodes yet, I hope the snippets will send you back to listen to them in full.
I enjoyed putting together this episode, and I think it will be very useful to you as well. Give it a listen, and tell me what you think.
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Family/Time
I made a digital painting out of a 1978 photo of my father. He is 19 years old in this photo, holding his eldest niece soon after her birth. I have been away from parents for nearly 2 years now, and this was as good a way as any to connect and spend time with him.
Pushing Against Myself
These days I am reading a lovely book called “In Service of the Republic” by Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah. Both are policy experts working in the government of India. I heard about the book from the latest episode of The Seen and the Unseen podcast, where host Amit Varma speaks with Ajay Shah about policy-making and the farm laws.
I objected to different things at different times. If I was reading on my phone, I might have quit. If I was listening in person, I might have interjected. But it was a podcast, so I shut up and listened.
This matters because my first reaction, like all first reactions, can be quite useless. Defense mechanisms spring up at once. We jump away from things that cause us ‘pain’. But pain can be a good thing and sometimes we need to push through.
I find a podcast is the only format in which I allow myself this. I heard the conversation in entirety. I learned many things. I did not agree with some things even at the end, but that is irrelevant. I only know what I know. And now I know a little more.
SneakyArt
I made a drawing of a merchant ship in the Port of Vancouver this week. We went out for a walk, sat in a park that faced the water and watched big nature move big clouds on the horizon.
On a sunny day, we went to a nearby park. I saw a couple of people on a bench across framed by a tall tree. The footpath snaked under their feet and disappeared to the left. It was an ordinary day, an ordinary park, and ordinary people on an ordinary bench. But it was a moment of great beauty.
Finding another sunny day last week, we decided to see more of this new city. We bought a public transit pass and headed to Kitsilano beach. I boarded a bus after over a year, and I didn’t draw anything on the onward journey because I was so moved by this entire experience that I had missed for so long. On the way back, I made a drawing of a fellow passenger. I didn’t tell them. They left a couple of stops after I was done. They will never find out. So it goes.
My favorite drawing from this past week is this one of our loft-style bnb. I had been meaning to draw it for many days. After recording a podcast conversation yesterday, my mind reeling from ideas and thoughts about sketching, I did the drawing on auto-pilot. Straight to ink, as usual.
Straight to Ink
People ask if that’s difficult. I guess it is if you’re concerned with getting everything right. With practice, you learn a couple of things -
how to make anchors of your first lines, and take calculated leaps across the page. Sometimes it is all about picking the right set of first lines on the blank page. In this case, my anchors were the lines dividing the two floors, and the pipelines at the ceiling.
how to not make the big mistakes, and manage the small ones in a way that gets called “style”.
What is Style?
I was a guest on the Sketching Play Lab, a Zoom-based art conversation and painting session organized by fellow-artists. We discussed our understanding of the word ‘style’. I quoted my favorite musician Miles Davis, because this is what I believe -
“Once is a mistake. Twice is an idea. Three times is style.”
This can mean many wonderful, liberating things. Stay with it.
Buy Me A Coffee
It’s been over a month since I instituted a support feature on my podcast, and I’ve had wonderful responses from listeners already. Today I set up a membership tier, allowing people to support me on a monthly basis. In exchange, I offer some nice privileges and gifts.
If you are interested in supporting my work, take a look by clicking the link below. Your support allows me to continue being an independent artist and podcaster.
Here is how I made the digital painting of papa.
Also read
Womaning - a fascinating, weekly newsletter about the travails of being a woman in India. I learn something important with every issue.
Thirteen - a podcast about mundane, everyday things. In this episode, the life of an insect from the human perspective.
20 Teeth and Counting - a weekly newsletter from my wife (a dentist) answering the common questions parents have about their children’s oral hygiene.
Next week, I will have sketches from the new apartment, new things to say about Vancouver, and some more words from somewhere. Thanks for reading.
Becoming a massive fan of your writing as well as the sketches, Nishant! The vancuover sketches kept me gazing - but its your father's sketch that steals this week's edition! thanks for this and more power to you!
Loved the way you have drawn the woman on the #4 bus' hair. Not entirely black....