Marigolds

During the summer months, Aditi Anand travelled through India with her sketchbook (E.806-2024). Among many observed scenes of interest, from birds, to city architecture and cafe scenes, are sketches of the wholesale flower markets of Delhi. The "stark juxtaposition between the colourful flowers and the hardships of the people working in a dark, dingy area" and the generational aspect of "parents teaching their children the craft of making wonderful creations with flowers" gave her the ideas for her 'Marigolds' narrative.

In her peliminary sketches for 'Marigolds' the artist used a variety of media, using the quick coverage of pastels and gouache to convey atmosphere and colour and turning to pen and ink for recording information and detail. She used tracing paper to transfer some important details to paper for the next stage of the work, especially the crafting of the gajra (flower garlands). Colour sketches and the worked up full page drawings are in mixed media of crayon, charcoal, pastels, coloured pencils and inks, and capture colour and atmosphere through texture. The drawings were finished digtially using Adobe Photoshop (see E.765-2024 to E.768-2024).