Holiday Postcards

Flipping through his sketchbook,Khanna shares a drawing that captures his persuasions this summer. He has been rendering heads of elderly men and women,highlighting their years of wisdom. One of the charcoal on Conte is of a sage or dervish with his curling beard worked in furious dark strokes. The form of a crow is essayed in negative space as it nestles,almost in his beard. It’s a tender and humorous retelling of Saint Francis and the birds. “In India,I imagine it would be a crow and not a sparrow that would be his mascot,” says Khanna. The sketch is for sale at the India Fine Art gallery in Mumbai.

Anjolie Ela Menon uses her time on long haul flights or airport lounges sketching and doodling. “I have been doing this ever since I can remember. It’s a great exercise,not only does it while away time but it keeps my wrists nice and loose and my lines strong,” says the painter whose studio in Nizamuddin has several cupboards full of sketches and drawings. We selected three that capture her delightful sense of humour and sensitivity towards the human bond. In one,she has caputred an elderly couple waiting at the airport with their luggage,looking rather bored. Menon’s witty title Honeymoon? gives it a tongue-in-cheek edge. In another,made at a Bronx subway in the US,a portly man and woman tentatively touch fingertips while seated on a bench.

In Menon’s neighborhood,painter Paramjit Singh takes a walk in the evenings to soak up the verdant surroundings of the area. These images,he says,come back to him as memory drawings. “I like the rough vigour of sketching; when I sketch from the actual spot,I find that I focus on details. But when I paint from memory ,I look to simplify and capture the soul of the surroundings. This is why my sketches have moved in that direction,” says the senior painter whose ongoing solo at Vadhera Art Gallery showcases his signature style of large-scale paintings.

Getting away from the hustle and bustle of Mumbai,painter Akbar Padamsee goes to Coimbatore’ s Isha Yoga Centre every summer. “It’s a beautiful place to rejuvenate but,while I do my yoga and detoxify,I also take along my sketchbook. I never want to be without it,” says Padamsee,who sent us three of his recent works by snail mail. The yoga centre is located at the foothills of the Velliangiri and is lush with flora and fauna,but Padamsee’s drawings still emerge from an inner exploration of pain and longing. Over the years,the artist has aimed to bring to the surface those feeling that usually remain hidden below.