The document is a portfolio presentation by Bina Sohail containing sketches and studies focused on shops and palm trees. It includes 8 sketches and studies of palm trees done in various media such as watercolor, pencil, ink, and acrylic exploring form and color. It also includes 4 sketches of shops exploring mannequins and a shoe shop in different styles and media such as watercolor, acrylic, and imitating truck art. The portfolio aims to capture different elements beyond iron grillwork and bring them together in a final composition.
3. I remember growing up, holding these bars of rot iron grill, looking out at the palms in my garden. The shapes of this grill gave me a feeling of mystery, as if there was something more to it. Thus, I captured different areas of the grill and made a composition out of it. I felt that while the straight lines of the grill were in a sense, shutting me out of the garden, but the wavy forms reflected the plant forms. I have tried out different media including, ink, pencil and watercolor. 25.25 by 20
4. I decided to explore the palm ferns and developed this study in watercolor. 18 by 12 inches
6. I tried to capture the feeling of peace and harmony that one gets when they see sunlight falling on the palm ferns. And thus, I transformed my palms into blue, purple and orange colours respectively in the style of the artist Toeko Tatsuno. 12.5 by 22
7. The bars of light falling on the palm leaves seemed almost cubistic to me and I created this study in the style of the artist Francis Acabia. 17 by 23.75
8. I had started of with my memory of the grill work, beyond which was the garden. I brought back this iron grill. I used the elements to create the collage. 20.5 by 14
9. Working further from the zen colours of the earlier study, I experimented further with the forms of the ferns in acrylic. I felt I was now ready to bring together the elements of the palm ferns beyond the iron grillwork in my final work. 14.5 by 23.75
12. SKETCH I had composition in mind for my first page. I wanted to include several different shops and try various media, thus I made these sketches to get a clearer image of how I wanted my first page.
13. I have often heard it said that shopping and the collection of the material possession is an obsession with us Pakistanis. Certainly, I know some people who seem to believe in the motto “shop till you drop.” Now, I may not be that obsessed about buying things. However, since shops are so much a part of our lives, they are a particularly interesting subject for my portfolio. But which kind of shops did I want to depict? And which aspect of the shop? Perhaps one should just depict many shops in one. This is what I tried to do in this first study, where I have used various media such as watercolor, pencil, ink and collage. 27.5 by 20
14. SKETCH For my next painting, I wanted to see which media would suit the mannequins, thus I made this sketch. 17 by 11.5
15. The artist, Kenny Mencher, was the reference for this study. What was particularly note worthy for me were the mannequins in front of the counter, and I placed it looking inside the shop in three different postures. 24 by 16
16. SKETCH For my next study, I made 3 sketches in Truck Art style. And rendered them in acrylic. Top-11.5 by 8.75 Right- 8.75 by 11.5
17. Truck art is a special genre in Pakistan. I used the truck art style for this shoe shop study. 22 by 14.25