I love rapidography. It is interesting to see illustrators bring a picture to life just by using a pen and ink. I consider it a great skill to be able to do so just with that. I am not a pro but I am learning, still learning. I was inspired to do my own black and white pen illustrations when I was in my late teens… I've read and even learned from personal experience that the mind can get more creative under pressure and hence this is why I guess some of the best of my ideas have struck me while studying for my exams… Lol! Here are some of my illustrations as a teenager. I would also like to add I did them not with black and white sharpies but just a black gel pen on a white paper… Anyway, enjoy:
1.) This was one of my 1st black gel pen contrasting-shadow illustrations. I made it while keeping a beautiful friend in mind. A picture of a beautiful delicate coy dame.
 |
| My fair lady |
2.) I love nature and I love Tora plants. This was an experiment and I am glad it didn't fail miserably :)
 |
| Nature |
3.) This one is my favourite, impressions of women. Beauty, class, grace, style, passion, fun… This one took a bit longer than the rest, I guess you can tell why. I wanted to put everything I associate with a perfect woman in it. Marylin Monroe's iconic flying skirt pic, dragon tattoo with heels inspired from "Devil wears Prada", the power of women to control with just one innocent look, a style diva, sexy back and a fun lone time all in an alternating black and white skin tones.
 |
| Women |
In close-up:
 |
| Strong and sexy... |
4.) Then here is a picture I was inspired to make from a famous story in my year 10 (GCSE equivalent) english literature book called "The Lady, or the tiger?" It was about an unsolvable problem and its consequences, making the readers guess what fate awaited the strong warrior in a gladiator arena whose life depended in the hands of his beloved princess, left to choose one of the two doors. One door lead to a beautiful lady ready to be his bride (meaning happy life) and other to a tiger (meaning death)…
 |
| Lady or the tiger |
5.) Here is a mosaic like b&w picture I made probably in a happy mood :p I can't remember the story behind it anymore, must have been over 5 years now… But I think you can guess the scenario in the picture :)
 |
| Bath time |
6.) Now here is one that was drawn during one of my semester exams in college, it's called "The love letter". It was drawn on a scrap paper while taking a break form the studies… It is about a man writing a letter to his love who has betrayed and left him for reasons unknown, and he is looking at her picture, heart broken, drunk (there was a wine glass that wasn't captured in the photo) when the ink spills and he is left staring at his own distraught, hazy reflection...
 |
| The love letter |
 |
| The writer |
7.) This one was a gift to a friend, not so much a rapidograph art but a charcoal drawing on a sheet of hand-made paper. I love the feel and effect on a hand-made paper, once complete the picture looks like it's been painted on canvas, and it soaks paint like filter papers too. This one depicts a woman walking down a hill side by the sea, on a carpet of mountain grass.
 |
| Mountain grass |
8.) Here is a simple doodle of a fairy, again made as a means of time-pass while I was busy with studies or something (can't keep track any more :p). I call it "Mi mariposa".
 |
| Mi mariposa |
9.) This is the deepest I may have been so far while expressing myself through paintings and sketches. It is a person sitting in the dark, symbolically she thinks she knows who she is, what she wants, where she wants to be which is why she is in white, meaning she thinks she's in light, but instead her world is a big space of void and darkness, hence her black background… However, the other side which she is oblivious to (hence she is dark there) it is actually the place that is lit bright, that's the place with promising enlightenment and a life worth living. But a hand of hope is reaching out to her calling her towards the light...
10.) Finally, another experiment that I tried and was fairly happy with how it turned out to be is this picture or three pictures rather drawn side by side as if a collage of the same picture in colour, black and white and in inverse of black and white. This picture is called "The Hero" because it was inspired from superhero comics where an adoring woman looks up at the hero in awe who just saved her life from her peril. Just by that look in her eyes you know she's in love, swept clean off her feet, and wonderstruck at the bedazzling enigma, poise, courage and heart of a hero.
 |
| The Hero |
Btw, I took these pictures about 4-5 years ago with a potato of a camera hence the quality is quite crapy. Unfortunately I lost all the original photos and the paintings/sketches are not with me currently (they are back at home in India) so I had to use the Facebook versions that were uploaded ages ago. So please pardon the quality.
Hope you liked my teenage art. I hope I've retained the little skills I had for I haven't sketched properly in a while. See you next time with some new art.
Till then,
Love always,
rJB ac
Comments
Post a Comment