In this video, I draw on top of your sketch of a Sikh Soldier and show you how you can improve your drawing by paying attention to your reference, and how to apply your observation to the paper.
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Bhagat Singh – Sikhi Art’s Painting Channel
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Background
Ever since I played my first video-game at a young age, I have always wanted to make one of my own.
Recently, while working on my sikh art projects I have been working on a game as well, which I am calling Singh and Gun (working title).
Singh and Gun is a run-and-gun platformer, inspired by Contra and Halo, where you fight alien invaders, who seek to capture earth and to drive humanity to extinction. It is your job to find out what they are upto and to stop their nefarious plans.
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I need your help with further development of this project.
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When the game is finished, I want to eventually release it for free, to the wider audience.
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“Whatever speaketh the animals, the fish and the birds, other than Hari they speak of no one else.”
– Guru Arjun Dev ji (Guru Granth Sahib, 262)
Guru Arjun Dev ji – Spiritual Blossoming
Sikh paintings of Guru Arjan Dev ji Maharaj have never radiated with so much spiritual energy as Bhagat’s original painting. Buy prints to express your love for Guru ji.
Artist’s Notes
This painting developed over time as the result of reading Guru Arjun Dev ji’s bani and feeling the emotions expressed therein. I was moved to tears by the love Guru Maharaj expressed for Akal Purakh Sahib so I just had to create this portrait of my Gurudev.
ਹਉ ਨਾ ਛੋਡਉ ਕੰਤ ਪਾਸਰਾ ॥ ਸਦਾ ਰੰਗੀਲਾ ਲਾਲੁ ਪਿਆਰਾ ਏਹੁ ਮਹਿੰਜਾ ਆਸਰਾ ॥1॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
I will never leave the intimacy of my Husband God. My Beloved Lover is always and forever colourful. He is my vital support. ||1||Pause||
– Guru Arjun Dev Ji, 761
ਨੈਣ ਅਲੋਇਆ ਘਟਿ ਘਟਿ ਸੋਇਆ ਅਤਿ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਪ੍ਰਿਅ ਗੂੜਾ ॥
With my eyes I have seen him, resting within each and every heart; my Beloved is the sweetest ambrosia.
– Guru Arjun Dev Ji, 924
ਹਮਰੀ ਗਣਤ ਨ ਗਣੀਆ ਕਾਈ ਅਪਣਾ ਬਿਰਦੁ ਪਛਾਣਿ ॥
He did not count any accounts of my past actions, after seeing my current nature.
ਹਾਥ ਦੇਇ ਰਾਖੇ ਕਰਿ ਅਪੁਨੇ ਸਦਾ ਸਦਾ ਰੰਗੁ ਮਾਣਿ ॥੧॥
He gave me his hand, saved me, and made me his own; forever and ever, I am enjoying happiness.
– Guru Arjun Dev ji, 619
I found myself listening to these shabads over and over as I painted. They filled me up with joy, peace and inspiration.
ਸਭ ਦਿਨਸੁ ਰੈਣਿ ਗੁਣ ਉਚਰੈ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਉਰਿ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਗੁ ॥
All day and night I chant the qualities of Hari, and in my heart, I become focused on the name of Hari, Hari, Hari.
ਸਭੁ ਤਨੁ ਮਨੁ ਹਰਿਆ ਹੋਇਆ ਮਨੁ ਖਿੜਿਆ ਹਰਿਆ ਬਾਗੁ ॥
Meditating on Hari, my body and mind are totally rejuvenated, and the garden of my mind has blossoms forth in lush abundance.
– Guru Ramdas ji, 849
Inspired by Guru Ram Das ji’s hymn, I painted a lush, flowering, garden, with free-flowing birds, as a metaphor for the state of Guru Arjun Dev ji’s mind.
Each element of the garden and each article that Guru Arjun Dev ji is wearing, has spiritual significance and is a symbol of spiritual ideas and of hymns from Guru Granth Sahib.
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“Wherever the Sadhus and Saints gather, they sing praises of Hari with music and poems. In their gathering there is peace and bliss. Only those obtain the company of Saints, who have good actions and habits.”
– Guru Arjun Dev ji (Guru Granth Sahib, 676)
Bhai Vir Singh ji
Sikh art of Bhai Vir Singh ji is so rare that artist Bhagat Singh Bedi wanted to promote Bhai Sahib, through Sikhi Art™.
Bhai Vir Singh ji was a giant in Punjabi literature. His works have rejuvenated Punjabi writing and have heavily influenced the Sikh psyche many generations after him.
Born in Amritsar in 1872, Bhai Vir Singh ji grew up training and learning Sikh scriptures in gurudwaras. He became fluent in multiple Indian languages, Punjabi, Urdu, and Sanskrit.
Bhai Vir Singh ji’s father, Sardar Charan Singh ji was also a poet, musician and writer. Following in his father’s footsteps, he used his novels and poems to teach the core dogmas of Sikhism.
Amidst the foreign and native pressures of politics and proselytizing, Bhai Sahib revitalized the Sikh and Punjabi culture through his literary art.
This painting was created upon commission, to revitalize the legacy of Bhai Vir Singh ji.
To commission art that enlivens the memory of your loved ones please contact artist Bhagat Singh.
My salutations to the Adi Guru, to the Guru of all ages, to the True Guru, to the Guru Lord and Master.
Last week, on November 4th, Sikhs all over the world, celebrated Guru Nanak Dev ji’s arrival on the Earth.
I celebrated his birthday by contemplating his teachings and by meditating on his virtues.
This week I wanted to share my meditations and also some of my paintings and sketches of Guru Nanak Dev ji that I have created over the years.
When Guru Nanak Dev ji was Born, the Haze of Ignorance was Gone
The birth of Guru Nanak Dev ji was a blessing to the world. Guru Sahib came to the Earth to dispel the darkness of Falsehood and guide mankind towards the light of Truth.
He taught that world is full of suffering, which can only be dispelled by following the light of Truth.
Pita Kalu ji Holding Baby Nanak (2016) Guru Nanak Dev ji’s Father, Mehta Kalu ji, looks at his newborn child in a peaceful and serene trance state, holding him in his hands for the first time.
Adi Guru, the First Guru
The first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev ji was born in Punjab, in what is now known as Nankana Sahib, situated in modern day Pakistan.
From a young age, he meditated a lot and in adulthood he set out to fulfill his purpose on Earth.
Already trained as a trader, he travelled and traded, all the while spreading the Essential Teachings.
Young Guru Nanak Dev ji
The Whole World is Suffering
Those who pay attention to the process of Life, realize that everyone Suffers in this process.
Life is full of Meaningless Suffering.
Guru Nanak Dev ji taught that Liberation from Suffering can only happen when one becomes Truthful. When one realizes the Truth and speaks it and acts on it.
In Jap ji Sahib, Guru ji says that in order to speak and embody the Truth, one must learn to walk in the way of The Order of God.
By walking in the way of God’s Order, one learns about the Truth and gains the strength to act out the Truth.
Guru Nanak Dev ji – Shabad Vichar (2010) Over his lifetime, Guru Sahib travelled all over India to spread the essential teachings, which are present in the roots of all religions.
The Order of God
Guru Sahib explains that the Order of God cannot be stated, you can only be with it.
He says that it is in the Order of God in which things take form, in which living beings come to life, in which greatness is obtained, in which one becomes high or low, in which pleasure and pain is received.
Everything happens inside the Order of God, there is nothing outside of it.
He adds that those who recognize that everything happens according to the Order of God, transcend their Worldly Identity.
In modern terms, we can say that the Order of God, or the Presence of God, is the Present Moment.
By aligning ourselves with the Present Moment, we come to realize the Truth.h.
Guru Nanak Dev ji – Flow with the Hukam (2015)
The World is Impermanent
The Truth is that the World is Impermanent, it is constantly changing.
Our environment constantly changes from moment to moment. Now we might be faced with the birth of a new baby, in the next moment we might be faced with the death of a loved one.
Our emotions, constantly change. One moment we are working seriously. Then we are laughing uncontrollably. Within seconds, our state can change and we can become very sad.
Our self, who we think we are, constantly changes from moment to moment. With some people we behave one way, with other we behave in a different way.
Our actions, our thoughts, our understanding changes all the time.
Guru Nanak Dev ji taught that those who cling to things that change all the time, they suffer meaninglessly.
Clinging to our Worldly Identity, the story of our lives, is the cause of our Meaningless Suffering.
Adi Guru – Guru Nanak Dev ji (2017)
Rise Above Worldly Identities
When Guru Nanak Dev ji emerged from the river and claimed “na koi hindu, na koi musalman”, that no one is a Hindu or a Muslim, he wanted us to rise to the eternal Truth.
He wanted us to recognize that the True Self transcends the Worldy Identities.
The world is a play of God.
He has created it so that the mind creates Identities for itself and other minds, for many reasons.
We identify ourselves through relationships, such as mother, father, sister, brother.
We identify ourselves through our profession, such as Doctor, Lawyer, Plumber, Driver.
We also identify ourselves as the Sikhs of Guru Nanak Dev ji.
These Identities are very helpful in a practical way. However we must also follow Guru Sahib’s teaching and transcend these Worldly Identities and realize the eternal Truth, which is beyond identification.
Guru Nanak Dev ji – Sketch (2015)
Ignorance is the Hurdle
Guru Nanak Dev ji always said everyone follows Religions blindly without Understanding. So he tried to instill Understanding in everyone.
To Guru Sahib, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs, everybody was the same, they were all Ignorant of God.
To Guru Sahib, Religion was not a hurdle. It was Ignorance of God that was the hurdle.
That’s why Guru Sahib focused on deepening the Understanding of Religions that people followed. He focused on deepening their Understanding of God.
Seli Topi de Malak – Shri Guru Nanak Dev ji (2017)
Deepening People’s Faith
Guru Nanak Dev ji deepened the understanding of Religion and shed light into the Rituals that people performed.
He was not against any particular Rituals. He wanted people to bring the Order of God into their awareness when performing their religious Rituals and ceremonies.
When speaking about the path of an ascetic, Guru Sahib said –
ਪਤੁ ਵੀਚਾਰੁ ਗਿਆਨ ਮਤਿ ਡੰਡਾ ਵਰਤਮਾਨ ਬਿਭੂਤੰ ॥ ਹਰਿ ਕੀਰਤਿ ਰਹਰਾਸਿ ਹਮਾਰੀ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਪੰਥੁ ਅਤੀਤੰ ॥੩॥
Contemplation is my Cup. Spiritual Knowledge is my walking Stick. Dwelling in the Present Moment is the Ashes that I apply to my body. Praising Hari is my Tradition. To live as a Gurmukh, facing my Guru, is my Religious Path. (Guru Granth Sahib, 360)
Guru ji explained the Essential Teachings of Religion to people.
He says that the way an ascetic covers himself with ash, he must also cover himself with the Present Moment, meaning he must align his mind to towards the Order of God.
The Essential Teachings
When we live in the Order of God, we start to become Truthful.
When we become Truthful, then we overcome our Ignorance and transcend our Worldly Identity.
When our Ignorance is transformed into Understanding, then we stop Suffering Meaninglessly.
When we stop Suffering Meaninglessly, then our Faith Deepens.
When our Faith Deepens, our Rituals become more Meaningful.
When our Rituals become more Meaningful, Life becomes more Meaningful, and thus more enjoyable.
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