Bring on the color!

We had a painting competition in our office. Very excited, I gave my name, thinking I cud revisit those fun times – not that I excel in painting… wait … excel?? Do I even know painting? Yup … wats in painting… All u need is a paper, a brush n sum fun colors n u r done :) Dip the brush in the paint n get it on the paper in the pattern u desire… hehe Well when the workloads not too much I think tryin ur hands at some things new is definitely the way to go…. :) Never know … u might get a hidden treasure within u … Hidden talent … that’s wat I found der that afternoon … not in me as such but in all the wonderful people that I spend my day with….

A handful of us gathered in r recreation room – normally called the TT room … very often the meeting venue of r company … It’s the BIIG room of r office that easily camouflages the way we want it too. :)

The TT table served as r desks… A collection of pencils, erasers, sharpeners, brushes of various sizes, wide range of water colors– tubes n bottles, palates, water n tissues sat together comfortably. Each of us was provided with a sheet as we entered the room. All of us enthusiasts took r places to start. At that moment, my mind went as blank as the sheet… Wat do I draw?? People were all prepared! They instantly started with their pencil work. Some drew beautiful Disney characters. Some others started sketching beautiful nature on their sheets. As I sat there, I remembered the pillow cover my mum had made for me when I was a kid. It had a beautiful phrase surrounded with colorful flowers that wud get me ready for the day. I decided to do the same here on my sheet of paper. Not that it was the best thing to do for a painting competition but I was der to have fun :)

Having done with the lettering with the pencil, it was time to start with colors. But looking around I found out that people had already reached too far … n I had a long way to go… As I took the brush in my hands, I realized how long it had been I had dun this… Well let’s begin with the base color for the pillow color. I chose a light shade of orange. Dabbing the wet sheet with a tissue gave it a beautiful pattern. Sumthing unplanned gave such a nice effect. Wow! I was already enjoying this so much. I shud b doin this more often yaar! Being a computer professional, it’s so difficult to just write some words on a piece of paper neatly and beautifully. Now doin the same with a paintbrush!! oooohh. But I managed. It didn’t turn out very uniform but nonetheless, very colorful n readable :) hehe. Now all I needed to do was to adorn it wid flowers. So wat pattern, size? Ahh just chuck it… all I did was take the brush, dip it in the color n place the brush hair horizontally on the paper in a circular pattern. 4-6 petals made a beautiful smiling flower :) wow. Now these beauties went all over the sheet in different colors. N voila! I was done. Satisfied, I submitted my entry.

In the meantime, the people who had started with me were also either all done or almost done, giving it their final touch. Cinderella running away leaving behind a shoe as the clock struck XII... A happy yellow tweety flying over some bright beautiful flowers... A branch of a fully bloomed red hibiscus... The outside of a house with amazing rose pots n other creepers... Butterflies flooding over blooms... A pigeon carrying the message of peace on the earth... Great! The afternoon really turned out to be really colorful n imaginative! I shud b doing this more often. Art brings out so much…

Now n again, the room was filled with all r anxious colleagues to check wat v had been up to… Some of them, unable to contain themselves, took up a sheet themselves n started painting. Wow! Onlookers who were now participating … That’s just great. Trapped in art... thts wat id say ;) One just simply started directly with a brush n made a beautiful scene. I wud just love to sit there under the shade of that tree on the cool green lawn on the bright day. Then there was an appu among green trees... There were more flowers and birds… There was a nice twilight scene with pink sea n palm trees n a couple of boats away from the shore… A modern day tiranga like on the cover of A R Rehman’s Vande Mataram. Wow man!

While all this was happening, I just cudnt keep quiet or go away from that fun zone. I took up a small sheet of paper, folded it right in the center and used the tube colors to get the mirror image like outcome. It was a hot favourite during school times. N fun to do even now.

Finally it was time to end the session. The judging would soon start. I had no tensions no expectations … but definitely wanted to get to know the results. Vande Mataram was the winner, with other nature scenes n Disney characters to follow.

The colorful event is over but has given me sumthing to look forward to when I have sum time to spare n some batteries to recharge... hehe Happy Painting…