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A stream of consciousness by Ganesh Rao

[ganeshnrao]

“I am an automaton” is my new series of automatic drawings on 4“×6” field note books. Made with black and white ink pens.

[ganeshnrao]

Chana Dal Vada

Ingredients

1 cup of chana dal (split chickpeas)

1 garlic pod

1 tablespoon ginger paste

1 medium red onion (chopped)

1 green chili

6 curry leaves

A few cilantro leaves

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon asafoetida

½ cup of coconut oil for deep frying

Salt to taste

Method

Soak the chana dal in water for about 4-6 hours, then rinse it and drain the water, and transfer it into a food processor along with garlic, onion, green chili, curry leaves, cilantro leaves, fennel seeds, asafoetida, and salt to taste. Blend it into a thick batter, by adding a small amount of water if necessary. Try not to add too much water. Make six or eight even sized balls from the batter and slightly flatten them between your palms and keep them ready for deep frying.

Heat coconut oil in a deep pan (kadai), add a drop of the batter and wait till it begins to fry. Deep fry the flattened balls in the oil one by one. Fry them on one side till it turns brown then flip them and fry the other side. It might take about 2 minutes to fry on each side. Once fried, transfer them into a plate lined with kitchen towels to drain out the excess oil. Serve hot with some tamarind chutney and masala chai.

[ganeshnrao]

Okra Curry

Ingredients

About 20 fresh medium size okra (about 3 inches)

12 dry roasted cashew nuts

¼ cup grated coconuts

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1 small tomato, diced

1 red onion, chopped

5 curry leaves

¼ tablespoon mustard seeds

A small piece of fresh ginger root (grated) or ginger paste

4 fresh garlic pods

2 small dried red chilis

¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

¼ teaspoon of asafoetida (paste or powder)

Salt to taste

¼ cup of water

Method

Rinse okra and pat dry. Cut them up into thin long pieces along their length. Sautee them in a large pan with one tablespoon of coconut oil. Stir them occasionally until they start to brown, which might take about 8-10 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and the lemon juice and simmer with the lid on for another 3 minutes. Set aside.

In a food-processor, blend the chopped onion, garlic pods, cashew nuts, ginger, dried red chili, grated coconut, and ¼ cup of water into a thick paste. Transfer into a sauce pan, add diced tomatoes, and cook on a medium flame, stirring frequently until the paste starts to turn brown, might take about 5 minutes. Add water if the paste becomes too thick. Add the turmeric powder and salt to taste and let simmer for another 5 minutes. Add the sauteed okra and slowly stir them in.

Tempering

In another small pan, heat up 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, add mustard seeds, and when the seeds begin to pop, add the curry leaves, one dried red chili, and asafoetida. When the aroma intensifies, pour the flavored oil into the curry. Add finely chopped cilantro to the curry and simmer for another minute with the lid covered.

Serve hot with steaming white rice.

[ganeshnrao]

Visit Original Link

My wife is a quilter and she's been blogging about it on her blog. This past weekend I learned something from her process. The idea of using constraints to propel the process of artmaking.

About five years ago, I made music religiously and I posted at least one new track every few weeks on my SoundCloud account. I had a routine where I would wake up and play guitar for a few minutes to capture some ideas I had in my dreams. My routine fell apart when I moved to Chicago, got married, and took up a full time job. I soon stopped making music and posting content to my soundcloud page. I felt like I had put my music life on hold.

When I took up a remote job this year, I found myself with more time on my hands, especially in the evenings. So I thought I will revive my love for music making. Howveer it had been nearly five years since making msuic and I had to relearn the process, and I was struggling. I would record small bits of melodies, and then obsess over the sound of the recording. I would tweak the sounds fudging with the hundreds knobs in Logic Pro without ever producing any meaningful music. I was feeling frustrated.

So I asked my wife how she goes about making quilts. She said that quilting involves too many steps to fuss about the details, plus all limitations of the medium (2-dimensional, material costs, available fabric, sewing machine, cutting, stitching, etc.) really help her be more productive, because she has to work within the constraints. So I thought I should give myself some constraints as well.

After thinking about what were some of the things that were holding me back, I came up with this list.

Make an entire album with just drums and guitar

Using only default settings available in Logic Pro

Write one new track every weekend

When writing you can only add segments going forward in time, but never remove or add segments in between or rearrange segments

Release one new song every Monday

With these new constraints my process became easy. I was able to come up with two short pieces this weekend. And here's the first complete track that I've made in about five years! This melody poopped in my head while I was walking my dog, Mr. Harold, and I plan to make a small video for it too soon.

My goal is to follow this process until I have about fifteen tracks. Let's see how it goes.

[ganeshnrao]

Entertaining AI #illustration #black #red #white #ai #artificialintelligence #oaklandartist #oaklandart @procreate (at Oakland, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpKnYxKFWId/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1tafcphul1yz9

[ganeshnrao]

Daspletosaurus chase #illustration #oaklandartist #oaklandart #oaklandillustrator #dinosaur #black #white #lines #curves #minimal #simple #daspletosaurus https://www.instagram.com/p/Bopv7hslnxT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=4bhq9h4ob3kv

[ganeshnrao]

“Making Contact” . I was thinking about combining some of the elements that I like, effeminate forms, silhouettes, red, and dinosaurs! Message me if you’d like a 8.5”×11” digital print of this one. My goal is to make and sell art full time . . . . #illustration #art #dinosaur #corythosaurus #black #red #lines #shapes #simple #figure #fantasy #umbrella #minimal #oaklandart #oaklandillustrator #oaklandartist (at Oakland, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BoYNM3_Fh0n/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1jioro2vt79a1

[ganeshnrao]

Two of spades #cards #spade #black #white #curves #simple #minimal #oaklandart #illustration #oaklandillustrator #oaklandartist #red #pose #dance #impossibledance https://www.instagram.com/p/BoQQCJAFwCi/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1brzs59mlkakr

[ganeshnrao]

Five of diamonds ♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️ #carddesign #design #cards #diamonds #forever #oaklandart #oaklandillustrator #illustration #oaklandartist #procreate #black #white #red #curves #simple #minimal #form #figure #dance #impossibleposes #pose (at Oakland, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BoN9Djll66t/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=pa6g08yq3dhn

[ganeshnrao]

“Secrets” I was thinking about people who have the gift of the gab, people who can some how extract any information from anyone using just their voice and words. I made this with @procreate #illustration #art #black #red #lines #shapes #simple #minimal #oaklandart #oaklandillustrator #oaklandartist #secret #key #help #reach #extraction (at Oakland, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn-YsNjl_f4/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=119djewywgs27

[ganeshnrao]

“Black Hounds” When I was a little I would spend some summers at my grandfather’s house. It was a distinctly beautiful southern Indian house built in the nineteenth century. It had a large court yard with coconut, mango, and jackfruit trees embellishing all corners. On one such warm night, when the moon was full and everyone was asleep, I suddenly woke up. I looked out the window onto the yard and to my astonishment saw three monstrous black hounds, each standing about twelve feet tall with large white teeth and glistening red eyes. They were tracking a scent, stealthily inching closer to our front door. My heart was pounding and palms sweating. I moved slowly as to not make any sound, and carefully closed all the windows, and latched all the doors. Before I could wake up my grandfather, I saw that one hound was at the window. I could see his shadow on the floor. I held my breath and sneaked into the kitchen pantry, where the smells of the spices I thought would cover up my tracks. In there I heard a slow panting. I turned around and opened the skylight. The moon light shone brightly to reveal a large white greyhound, laying on the floor, wheezing. He was stuck in a thick white ooze and very looked ill. I heard the three black hounds gently pushing the front door. In my mind I heard a voice, “we have come for your soul.” #hound #greyhound #blackdog #dream #oaklandart #oaklandartist #oaklandillustrator #moonlight #angels #whitedog #shadow #procreate #illustration #art #fear #nightmare (at Oakland, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn5NirdBmrC/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=sleb08gr1zrg

[ganeshnrao]

Eight diamonds #cards #diamonds #illustration #black #white #red #combing #oaklandart #oaklandartist #oalkandillustrator #curvy #hair #simple #minimal (at Oakland, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnzxHvgBPIF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=sdbwgiycd8qg

[ganeshnrao]

Queen of clovers #cards #illustration #art #black #white #oaklandartist #oaklandillustrator #procreate #simple #minimal #figure #shapes #nude #queen #clover #woman #power #pose #silhouette #clubs (at Oakland, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnxXW0dhyNH/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=8h1yjlxs7zs2

[ganeshnrao]

Made this for @illustrationfriday This week’s topic is “Wig”. Made with @procreate #illustration #wig #oaklandartist #oaklandillustrator #blackandwhite #curves #shapes https://www.instagram.com/p/BnMvr0ClYOo/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=19yta0q7ksh65

[ganeshnrao]

Bitten. There were a couple of guys having a loud conversation by our window last night around two in the morning. I heard their voices in my sleep and dreamt that they were in a squabble biting each other. I woke up and saw that they were just partying on their balcony. Jessica stormed outside and politely asked them to “take their party inside”, it was pure silence afterwards. #squabble #bite #bitten #illustration #oaklandillustrator #oakland #ipad #art #oaklandartist #blackandwhite #fight #quarrel https://www.instagram.com/p/BnMRAjpF-tX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1e01vnu7v1r2f

[ganeshnrao]

Hi there, do you do commissions?

Yes I do. Please email me at [email protected] or send me a private message here for details.

[jpnostalgia]

Jurassic Park early pre-production meetings with Steven Spielberg 

part of the extras from the DVD

https://jpnostalgia.tumblr.com/

[ganeshnrao]

Steven has such a clear vision of the dinosaurs in his mind as he explains it. His description seems to fit very closely with what we know of dinosaurs even today. And his ideas on behavior are so specific. Jurassic Park still stands to be the most entertaining and scary dinosaur film. The newer films lack a sense of realism. The drop in the price of digital technologies has made it easier to create and animate dinosaurs. This means that smaller teams with fewer detailed discussions (as this one) can execute such scenes, however due to the lack of detailed thought put into it, the scenes sometimes feel unrealistic, in terms of movements (lack of weight), hyper/hypo realistic textures, and uncanny behaviors.