About The Customer: Saanvi is an ethnic Indian clothing brand based in Lucknow in Northern India focusing on traditional Indian clothing native to the area. Fusing contemporary designs with ancient Indian art of Chikankari (ancient Indian embroidery style) is what Saanvi specialises in. Along with die hard Chikankari fans in India, Saanvi also caters to major markets across the globe.
The Brief: The wise Owl is the ride of Shri Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth in Hinduism. The Owl represent everything good and holy and bring luck and prosperity. Customer had a simple brief - ‘Owl Mandala in your style of drawing’
The Journey: As the customer had asked for my style, I wanted to keep it black & white and throw in some floral and galaxy elements in the Mandala. Galaxy represents the vast scope of the Goddess and the Night feature of the Owl. What could have been better than throwing a big white moon along with the twinkling stars which can brighten up the whole night. A lot of stippling was added to add a sparkling touch to the moon and stars. When it came to flowers, I chose Peonies as they symbolise Prosperity, Good Fortune and Wealth.
Talking about the main Owl, I knew a lot of shading is needed in the feathers to give depth. The big shot camera eyes keep a guard and protect from evil.
The rough drawing was made on A3 paper size with pencil and then inked using black fine-liners. The owl I knew had to be symmetrical to keep the mandala feature. Peonies and moon were used to break the symmetry. The first look became visible in about two days and somehow I knew I am going to love this one after it finishes. Next came the detailing. Black background had to be done three times to bring out the lustre and maintain the uniformity of the black ink. This was followed by stippling with white pen to bring out the night sky and balance light. When the artwork was finished, the eyes came out to be the centre of artwork - drawing in the viewer. The work was intricate and took more than a week to finish.
Normally I share the draft with my customers but this case was unique. I find brief as simple as - in your style, to be more challenging. It is an opportunity to be creative while bringing in the stress of creating a masterpiece so as to bring a smile and remembrance in customer’s mind every time they looks at it. Here I wanted to surprise the customer. The piece was rolled and packed in a drafting tube for shipping.
Client Speak: The uniqueness, creativity, drawing, finger movement and imagination is outstanding. Great going girl !!
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