Sun Rise at Wendt: Life on canvas with many shades

Recollections in water colours:

By Ranga Chandrarathne

[email protected]
 

“Sun Rise”, the maiden sole exhibition of water colour paintings by Lalith Ranjan Morawaka, a second year student of the University of Visual and Performing Art will be held from November 7 to November 9 at Lionel Wendt Art Gallery. The exhibition will open at 4.00 p.m. on November 7, 2008 and remains open from 9.00 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. on November 8 and November 9.

The exhibition will make up of about 30 paintings on diverse themes ranging from beauty of nature, country side, human figures and places of religious and historical significance in Sri Lanka. Although the artist has made use of the medium of water colour for his paintings in an attempt to improve his skills in the medium, most of the paintings in the collection were made on the site.

Looking at the series of paintings depicting the life in a fishing village, it is obvious that the paintings not only captured salient characteristic of life in a coastal village but also the activities of the fisher folks.

For instance, artist has painted fishermen journey into the deep sea by boats and some of them taking the catch onto the ashore.

Here, he has used bright colours such as grey, blue and black against the white backdrop. The painting of two fishermen carrying a basket of fishes onto the shore amply demonstrates artist’s innate ability to portray the scene in natural manner.

Although facial expressions of the two figures are not clear, the manner in which they carry the burden onto the shore is depicted brilliantly.

The artist has cleverly used properties of shades and light to distinguish sea from the sky and the land from the sea though white is predominantly used for the painting. In one instance, Lalith has smudged the mask of a boat in order to depict powerful gust of wind.

For this painting, he has primarily used grey, yellow and white. Light blue has been intermittently used to make a distinction between the sky and the sea.

However, Lalith has taken an entirely different approach in portraying scenes from the country life. For instance in a painting of a bullock -cart driven by two bulls along the country road in a bright morning, Lalith depicts the effect of bright sun rays on the bulls and environment by subtle manipulation of the white background.

However, he is careful not to depict details of bulls, as if in a photograph, to strike home the fact that his is a creation from the village life. The shadow of the human figures, bulls and the cart on the road re-enforces the idea of the dawn. His signature of style is engraved in almost all of his paintings.

By now, Lalith has evolved his own diction in paintings which is amply manifested specially in his paintings of both Buddhist Viharas and Church. For instance, his painting of a church is an instance where his diction is demonstrated. His penchant for using grey and green is marked here. The church is in grey while the background of the picture is dominated by white.

However, the effect of light on the church has been captured with shadow details. One of the interesting paintings is the painting of monastic Buddhist monks. Predominantly colours like yellow which is the colour of the robe, green and white have been used for the painting.

The monk in rain climbs up the steps, perhaps, leading to a monastery. The rain is demonstrated through monks with umbrellas in their hands. The forest in the back ground and the atmosphere of rain is re-enforced through fog which is manifested through smudging the environment obliterating threes.

The artist has achieved this by manipulating shading however, with shadow details. Shading the objects has been characteristic in his most paintings including those on places of religious worship.

Among the scenes from the street, one which epitomizes the life in a shanty bazaar is, perhaps, very attractive.

In a bright morning women have come from their humble dwellings and the washed garments are hung on strings. Washed garments and the kind of dwelling depict the quality of life in the shanty town. Lalith Ranjan Morawaka ‘s exhibition of paintings on diverse themes is of educational value for students of paintings who wish to master the medium of water colours and be a novel experience for art lovers.

Drona to salvage the world

by Indeewara Thilakarathne and Ranga Chandrarathne

[email protected]
 

‘Drona’, a latest Hindi action filled movie will be screened from November 14, at Majestic Cinema. Above all, the film is a manifestation of technological advancement that Bollywood achieved. The computer animation and special effects have been exploited to the maximum in order to represent mystic elements.

Here the Chairman and General Manager of the National Film Corporation should be commended for the interest they have taken in order to promote a technologically advanced film.

By now Bollywood has proved that India is second to none in terms of technology and application of special effect on Hindi movies.

The story is woven around a wicked magician with the ambition of acquiring ancient secret of the universe.

If the secret is unravelled, the magician will be able to destroy the world and even the cosmos. The only person, who is capable of salvaging the world from it, is Drona. Drona though looks like an ordinary human being, posses superhuman qualities and extra ordinary powers. A boy named Aditya grew up in a distant town with a foster family quite unaware of his powers and his identity.

However suddenly nightmares began to haunt him and eventually leading to the discovery of his true identity as Drona and to be confront with an evil sorcerer, Riz Raizada, a descendant of the asuras (legendary demons). Riz Raizada is in a constant quest for the secret to the power which would enable him to rule the entire humanity and the power to destroy the entire cosmos.

But Riz has to kill a Drona to gain the truth.

It is a modern day clash of good and evil and triumph of good over evil. It is studded with mysticism, evil and pure innocence.

Deeply rooted in mysticism, Drona offers a movie which can be equal to the Lord of the Rings in terms of special effort and computer graphics.

More than anything else it shows the technological advancement in Bollywood.

If not for its weak storyline, it may be equal to Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and even Sin City. Drona also contains epic elements though it falls short of an epic.

The cast include Abhishek Bachchan. (Aditya/Drona), Priyanka Chopra (Sonia), Kay Kay Menon (Riz Raizada) and Jaya Bachchan (Queen Jayanti).

Kusa Pabawathi at Vishwa Samadhi

The Old Girls Association of Princess of Wales College, Moratuwa have planned to stage the drama “Kusa Pabawathi” by Vijaya Nandasiri at the Vishwa Samadhi Hall, Rawatawatta, Moratuwa on Sunday, November 9 at 2.00 p.m. and 6.00 p.m.

The proceeds of the show will be in aid of the development projects of the College.

Vijaya Nandasiri, Devika Mihirani, Douglas Ranasinghe and several popular stars will perform in the drama.