Best of Calvin and Hobbes

Calvin and Hobbes has always been one of my all time favourites. I feel if you are looking for wisdom, you need not look any further and here you get it in a fun way too. Through this comic strip, a lot is said that is quite deep and meaningful through the eyes of a six year old.
Here I am going to put up some of the best Calvin and Hobbes comic strips of all time.

My cooking experiment- Madeleines

Hou la! c'est délicieux.

There does seem to be some French connection with me because after dabbling a bit with the French language, today I made The madeleine or petite madeleine, which is a traditional small cake from northeastern France.

Original Madeleines (the way it should be)

Portraits my work of art- II

* This is the original work of Achyut Telang and you may not reproduce or distribute this information in whole or in part and all photos, images etc on this blog post cannot be copied, edited, reproduced or used without the prior written permission of Achyut Telang.

I already have another post with this name. Please see- "Portraits- My work of art"

The only thing is that in that post I had put up a few of my portraits but they were taken by a digital camera and so aren't that clear. Thus, in this post, I have again put up 3 of those 5 portraits this time scanned for better results. Hopefully I will upload that other two portraits after getting them scanned soon enough. Do watch out for them.

1) Akshay Kumar :

2) Franziska Almsick :

3) Preity Zinta :

GHAJINI

* This is the original work of Achyut Telang and you may not reproduce or distribute this information in whole or in part and all photos, images etc on this blog post cannot be copied, edited, reproduced or used without the prior written permission of Achyut Telang.

Just recently I saw the movie Ghajini. For those of you who might not know, Ghajini was originally a south Indian movie made similar to Memento. And this movie was made in Hindi with the other actors and the team being the same except the main actor. The actor in the hindi movie Ghajini was Aamir Khan- the 'perfectionist'

And what a perfectionist he is! Initially he was skeptical about playing this role but others convinced him and he made a wise choice. For this he underwent one year of training to build up the kind of body required for this role.

Below is the portrait I have made from the movie Ghajini:

* NOTE : Click on the drawing for a larger and better view.

MY DRAWING OF AAMIR KHAN IN GHAJINI

Ever since I saw this movie, I have not been able to get it completely out of my mind. And this movie being directly a remake of the south indian movie, they have kept it the same except the last half an hour. It contains a bit too much of violence and is a little gory though, but is essential for a theme of revenge.

The story itself is interesting and something that the audiences would not have come across much- the concept of Anterograde amnesia, called 'short-term memory loss' in the movie in the layman's language. A man affected by this disorder, who forgets everything after 15 minutes, seeking to take revenge of his beloved!

It was emotional and also touching many a times, mainly due to the sincerity of Aamir Khan. That is one thing for which I would recommend this movie to everyone. I really admire such sincerity which two actors in Bollywood definitely possess that come to my mind- Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan. Obviously Amitabh Bachchan is always there but for me the tag of 'perfectionist' and 'the most sincere' would be for these two.

Sincerity comes through everything and directly touches your heart. And this quality was what made me do this portrait and I tried to show the same sincerity here too and hopefully I have done justice to it. I wouldn't say it's perfect or as best as it could be, still I tried and am happy with my effort. I was motivated to do it and would constantly listen to the song 'Tu meri adhuri pyaas' from this movie while making this portrait to surround myself by that environment that I required to make this portrait.

* See my other post- PIANO NOTATIONS for notations on the song- Tu Meri Adhuri Pyaas from Ghajini movie.

PIANO NOTATIONS

So, you always wanted to learn and know how to play your favorite song or tune on a piano, or harmonium or even guitar or violin? Even if you have never learnt music and still want to play your favorite songs , you don’t have to worry. I am here.

First let me tell you that I am not an expert musician but I have learnt it mostly by myself. And I am mainly interested in the Bollywood, Hindi songs. And whatever song or tune I like, I find out how to play it. Now, even if you don’t have a musical instrument, you need not worry. Even I don’t have one with me! All that you need is a computer and it can become your musical instrument. I always loved being able to play my favorite song and people recognizing it when I did. And since I did not possess a musical instrument and neither did I want to spend money on it, so I found it out through the internet. Yes, internet- the current God!

If you too want it, it is quite simple and free too and just 24 K bytes. It is the t-piano and you can just download it from this- http://www.geocities.com/tacc21j/tpiano-e.html

I have had it with me for a few years now and still I don’t know about all its features! You can do so much with it! I just used it to play the tunes; that’s it. Just read all the things mentioned on that site and you will come to know. It has lots and lots of musical instruments options and a few others as well, you can adjust and even reassign etc.

Now for a sample, the latest song that I love and play it is- “Tu meri adhuri pyaas” from the movie Ghajini.

Here I will provide you with the notes, not the normal musical notations that you might know but specially for this t-piano- The keys on your keyboard that you need to press. Perhaps this might be the first time that such notes will be used. Maybe I am the first one to provide t-piano notes instead on the normal western notations or the Sa re ga ma notes!

Enjoy-

Movie- Ghajini

Song- Tu Meri adhuri pyaas

Music Director- A.R.Rahman

Instrument in t-piano- 25. Acoustic Guitar (Steel) for the main part

Initial music for the humming-

(Flute)

ytrertr erte w qweq Tab ?

? q r y tyut r ert

You can use any other instrument and it will not make any sense reading it, you only have to play in order whatever is written here including the various keys like Tab or even numbers. All are related to the song itself and no other extra key or comma etc is used.
Hope you were able to play it.

Now the main song-

Tu meri adhuri pyaas pyaas……..aaja paas paas

r ri uip tu tt (repeat 3 times)

Hain Guzaarish

y tyi [repeat full] for Hai haal to dil ka……….

Kehde tu haan to zindagi chain-o se chhutke hasegi

oi u u y uiu i u y y y t y u y

Moti honge moti rahon mein Yeh yeh yeh

tt tt tt ti i iii i u y t r

Humming- r t y u ytr

Sheshe ke khwaab leke, Raaton main chal raha hoon

uyuyu uy ui uyuyu u y u i

Takra naa jaau kahin

p i u y r e r …………..(2)

Bas ek haan ki guzarish Fir hogi khushiyon ki baarish

r ri u y tre r r i u y t r e

* Please see my other post for notations of more songs- PIANO NOTATIONS II

As I have already said that even if you don’t know how to play a musical instrument or never learnt music, still you can play on this because now you have an instrument and also the readymade notes. But my observation is that it is still difficult for most of my friends who have never played an instrument before. The only thing is you have to have the tune in mind and decide how long to press a key or after how much gap to press the next key. The only thing that you need is an interest. Perhaps even the desire to impress your friends might act as a motivation. The more you play on this and the more you practice, the better you will get as it.

Remember, in the beginning you need a deep interest and later on just one word- PRACTICE! Have a great time playing your favorite songs, and do tell me about whether you were able to download it and also play the song? If you are not able to play it properly, just ask me and I will put up here or send you the recording of me playing this so it might make it clear.

You can also request the notes for other songs that you like and want the notes for it to be able to play it. I will do my best to provide it to you to the best of my capabilities. Do write in your requests in the comments here itself.

But do note that it might take time before I put it up here. So keep coming back to check it.

Portraits- My work of Art!

* This is the original work of Achyut Telang and you may not reproduce or distribute this information in whole or in part and all photos, images etc on this blog post cannot be copied, edited, reproduced or used without the prior written permission of Achyut Telang.

* NOTE : Click on the drawings for a larger and better view.

Yesterday I got a bright idea and I thought - How about including all the other stuff that I do on my blog itself?

If you have seen my profile, you will know that my hobbies include - the very first one being drawing portraits. So for those of you who might be wondering what kind of portraits I make, fret not, here it is, just for you to look at and marvel, if I may say that!

Also note that these pictures that I have made on paper are not scanned but taken by a digital camera without even switching the flash off! So it might not be the best to look at. I will soon update these portraits scanned. So watch out for it.

1) Akshay Kumar-

For those of you who might not know, Akshay Kumar is a famous Bollywood actor in India. He has always been my favourite and for me to draw portraits, that is an important requirement that I love the subject whatever I am doing. Yesterday someone asked me to make his portrait and I have got many such requests and have been getting them since my childhood. But those of you who have never tried their hand at drawing, specially portarits won't understand. He also asked me to put an ad like- Get your portrait done for some amount of money.

Now though that is tempting, it is really not for me.

- Firstly, I can't just draw anytime anyone asks me. For me it is more of a personal thing rather than commercial. I have to be in that frame of mind and inspired to do it. -

- Secondly, I can't just make anyone's portrait; for me I need to have an interest almost a deep interest in that person whose face I will be making. And only when I love that person, can I draw it beautifully because that love comes out in each and every mark that I make or a line that I draw. The intense care with which I make a person's portrait whom I love cannot be there for just about anyone.

- Thirdly, I would rather prefer drawing from pictures rather than a person sitting in front of me. The reason being, one that it is much easier to draw a 2-dimensional portrait from a 2-dimensional picture rather than from a 3-dimensional person and also most of my attention would be on the fact that I would be making the person wait, making him sit like a statue which obviously isn't quite pleasing or comfortable is what I would like to think. So drawing from pictures, I don't have to worry about that.

In this picture, the frame that I have made was not in the original picture but in another one hanging on the wall in my home. I made it from there, just to add to its beauty.

2) Amitabh Bachchan-

Again for the people not knowing, Amitabh Bachchan too is a Bollywood actor, perhaps the best in India and among the world. He is really an icon, the man who can and who does represent Bollywood and India to the world.

In this picture, the look was what was inspiring to me - the intense feeling portrayed by the face, the agonizing look, to capture that was what made me do it and I am glad that if not anything else, it has managed to get the look which is conveying so much.

3) Franziska Almsick-

The name is already written in the drawing.

Now I don't really know who she is. Perhaps many of you might know her. And neither do I know why I did her portrait.

One thing that I would like to mention is techniques in drawing, just in case many of you might want to know. Generally I don't use any kind of technique at all. Neither did I have any kind of formal training in art or anything. Although, my grandfather who was a good artist and his daughters i.e. my maternal aunts did suggest a few things.

One was that we can make boxes i.e. grids on both the original picture and the paper on which we are going to draw. If the size of the picture is too small or too large and you want to draw a normal size, you can make the grids in various ratios whichever would be appropriate like 1:2 or 2:1 , 1:1.5 etc and you can take it one box at a time and make the 1st box exactly as it is in the picture, then the corresponding second one and so on.

Though useful for people learning art, I did not find it too useful. The reason is that the grids can never come out exactly matching and so after you have taken it a box at a time, finally the picture won't be perhaps quite as you might expect it to be! The only suggestion I can give for this technique is that even though taking it a box at a time, do keep an eye for the whole picture as well i.e. constantly have the 'big picture' so to speak in your awareness.

The examples of the grid technique( I don't even know if it is called that, or whether such a technique exists or it is just a name I gave!) are- Akshay Kumar and Franziska Almsick. Others are just free hand.No technique or anything.

Another thing that I insist on, just my craziness, fussiness, that noone should look at my drawing before it is completely done!

4) Jennifer Aniston-

There she is- Jennifer! Need I even mention her name?!

Actually it was also kind of a fun game at the end when I would ask my family members or anyone whom I showed the pictures to tell whose portrait it was. And if they got it right, it would please me that I did a good enough job and atleast it was recognizable! The secret to this, whoever wants to achieve it, might be to capture those stand-out features or the unique features of that person which we link to that person very strongly, like for example, although I haven't done her portrait, Keira Knightley's famous pout. If you get that right and other features might not match as well, rest assured, most of the people will immediately recognize!

Now I did Jennifer's portrait mainly because I absolutely adore 'FRIENDS'! Those of you who have seen FRIENDS would understand. It was a sitcom about 6 friends and Jennifer played the role of Rachel Green in it and interestingly she was the reason I started watching FRIENDS in the first place! An interesting circle don't you think?

So when I came across her beautiful trademark look, I just had to do it, perhaps as a tribute to FRIENDS!

From this portrait, one another thing I would like to mention is an advice that my maternal aunt gave me from one of the mistakes I had made in one of my portraits- draw the hair-lines in the same direction as given in the picture. So one thing I understood from it was basically, make it exactly as the original picture is!

And talking of techniques, the one that I have invented which I feel is quite revolutionary for me specially if you are into the kind of art I am in of trying to create almost the same picture is to from time to time to just turn both the picture and your paper upside down and then look at it. You will find a new perspective and what you thought you did exactly like the picture might not really be. It was that only from one view point. When you look from different dimensions, you become aware of so many other things and dimensions.

5) Preity Zinta-

Ah! Another one of those pretty ladies. There isn't a thing as too many portraits of pretty ladies is it?

A secret that perhaps very few of you might know is that this woman, whose portrait is there just above is one whom I really love and admire from a long time. She is Preity Zinta -another one from Bollywood, India and is an actress.

Perhaps you can feel that in this portrait and the point that I made below the first portrait- the love and care with which I made this. This is what I am talking about.

This picture is saved for the last because according to me it is the best. What is your opinion? I know it might differ but I consider this the best I have ever done and lovingly call it- "My Master-piece"!

It is such a simple picture, the eyes are very simple, just a circle and a 'windows' kind at the centre of them, as my sister famously once remarked!

For me the eyes are the most important in the portrait and perhaps called as the most difficult. But I do them first and usually that is what I do best. Lips and teeth feature among the things that I do worst in addition to fingers! I really don't know the reason behind this!!!

Also a difficult thing to negotiate is doing the left side proportional and properly complementing the right or vice versa. Generally the eye level of both eyes is what you need to watch out for specially if the head is tilted to a side etc. Just a practical advise for you wannabe or budding artists or anyone who wants to know. I feel like an art expert giving expert opinion and advise to novices etc which by no means I am.

Infact I don't even consider what I do as 'creative'. Because basically what I am doing is I am taking a picture and recreating an almost exact one on another paper. I work on making it as similar as possible. Not even a smallest line I make without making sure it is exactly as in the picture. This is the difference between a good look-a-like portrait and others. I have seen many people just see a line in the actual picture once and just make it on their paper, assuming it is the same. No! it is not. Even a smallest point or dot misplaced can completely change the picture specially in the eyes atleast that's what I found when I do it.

Now what I was saying was I don't consider my work creative because afterall basically I am just copying! I am making another one alike. But what is the point of it? Even a photo-copy machine does it better, infact much better, with absolutely no difference! So what is the point of me making it. One is I enjoy it and second it gives me joy! Yes, yes I hear you saying that the first and second point are no different but that is what it really is! After 2,3,4 or 5 hours I look at what I have made, it makes me feel proud and brings a smile to my face.

But still it isn't creative. Creative would be when we make something new, something out of our imagination, our original ideas expressed. That's creative, not just copying. So though people marvel and appreciate my work and compliment me for what I have made, within I know it's not much.

They say a good work, a portrait or sculpture is not made, you don't make a good sculpture rather let me put it this way- it is said about a great sculptor that he said about a Jesus Christ statue he had made that he did not see the rock but he saw Jesus Christ beckoning him and he just removed the parts of the rock surrounding Jesus Christ and there it was! He did not create it, he just removed the unnecessary things and there it was which was already existing. It only became apparent and manifest.

That is really art. That is the perfect definition on art. You are not the creator, you can only allow existence to create through you. You can become a vehicle for the creator just like an empty flute!

Most beautiful woman and Most handsome man

Is this the most beautiful woman in the world? And is this the most handsome man in the world?

I know you are smart and by this time you must have already figured it out a bit atleast but in case you are still wondering who these people are, and are wondering where you have seen them, you have not really seen them exactly because they aren't real people....but are made up of real people though.

Ok, enough of playing around. These pictures are actually morphed pictures, as you can see written on the pictures the name of the website wherein you can morph various faces together.

Most of the faces on that website are of Hollywood actors and actresses, few sports stars, singers etc. From the Hindi film Industry (India), there is Aishwarya Rai, Deepika Padukone (!), Shilpa and Shamita Shetty (!!!) so far. Really surprising list!

It is a very interesting thing to morph various people together and it gives you a mixed face with the combined features of all. You can select the people you like or dislike, or morph a man and woman picture or two people who might be friends or even enemies ..Anyone.

As far as I am concerned, I tried to find out morphing what faces would give me the best looking man and woman. I tried various things. I searched for 'The most beautiful woman' and 'The most handsome man' in Google and whatever list I got, I morphed those top 10 women. Didn't find such list of names for men though and even on this website, majority of the pictures are of women anyways.

An interesting thing is that not necessarily the morphing of best looking top 10 women would give the best result. No, in fact it could be anything. And since you can morph 4 faces at a time, you can morph any 4 and with this morphed picture, you can morph another 3 and so on. So if you want you can morph together all the people given on that website to try and see what is the final result! I have no idea..but should really look weird.

You can even upload your own picture and morph with the celebrities or upload your favourite celebrity who is not in there or whose picture given there you don't like and so you can upload a better picture of that celebrity. But I should tell you that the pictures you upload might not give the best result as compared to the pictures that are already there on that website because of the image size and that you have to specify a lot of points like the top of head, bottom of chin, left and right side of face, a few points of eye-brows, eyes, nose, face etc.

All right. Now finally I will reveal the celebrities that I have used to morph together and get a face that I feel is the best I could get out of all the experimenting and morphing together all kinds of celebrities.

For the woman pic, the people are-
1) Catherine Zeta Jones
2)Alessandra Ambrosio
3) Cindy Crawford
Not too unexpected..is it?

And for the man pic, it was quite easy-
1)Brad Pitt (who else?)
2)David Beckham
3)George Clooney
4)Leonardo DiCaprio

I had a few other good pics too like the ones below-

Alexis-Bledel--

-- Allison-Mack--

-- Alessandra-Ambrosio-

- Alicia-Silverstone

Britney Spears--

--Lindsay Lohan--

--Paris Hilton

In case you are wondering if or why I didn't use people like Angelina Jolie or Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, Aishwarya Rai, Kate Winslet, Eva Longoria etc and Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves etc, let me tell you that I used them all in various combinations and even others like Cameron Diaz, Halle Berry, Drew Barrymore, Kristin Davis and a lot more. I don't think I missed anybody while morphing although I might have not written all the names here. But I consider the topmost pics as the best ones I could get. Decide for yourself.

So do visit this website and try it out for fun, upload your own picture, try weird combinations or try to find out what gives the best looking man and woman picture. If you do indeed get very good results with any combination, do let me know!
Enjoy!

* Also there is another website which you might be knowing, for face morphing where you can make your face into various ways like Caucasian, Afro-Caribbean, East Asian, West Asian, Ape etc. You can visit that website here