Nandan Nair

The lava was pouring out. People were running for their lives. Houses were being devoured and melted. “Get away from the lava! This is not a drill!” says a police officer. A lady freaks out, “We’re not going fast enough!“. But suddenly, the ground begins to shake more rapidly. The volcano looks like it’s ready to “release the kraken.” “Everybody brace for the worst!” the police officer yells. Everyone turns and closes their eyes. But then, someone yells in amazement. One by one, like a disease, everyone looks, and admires the sight in front of them. The police officer can’t believe his eyes. They all stare at the huge treble clef that was towering above them.

This is the story I see when I look at my latest painting, “Eruption of Music“.

I made this because the band room in my school had mostly empty walls. So, my band teacher, Mrs Schmidt, asked me if I could make some posters to keep on the band wall to “jazz it up.” I agreed, and thus this painting came to existence.

To make this painting, I first drew it on paper and asked her and other teachers for their comments. I got good ideas after listening to them and then this evolved into a volcano erupting. I then sketched the final design onto the canvas.

While painting, I worked on giving the mountain a rough, bold texture. To do this, I made many random strokes on the mountain with different colors. I tried to make different strokes and colors in each part, so that it didn’t look like some organized design. I then focused on making the lava look molten and red hot. To do this, I made a thick layer of pure red, and then I made yellow in different parts of the lava. To get the effect that molten, I pushed the yellow outward into the red.

Finally, I worked on the treble clef and the other notes. I made it a dark shade of yellow on the bottom, and as it went up it transitioned to a light shade of yellow on top. To make the notes noticeable and to make them stand out, I made them white with a black border. Can anyone guess the composition on the notes? A hint: It is a Beethoven composition. To finish it all off, I made my signature, also in white.

I am hoping that this painting will jazz up the band room walls. Do write about your thoughts.

This is the link to the flickr album.