Animal in Watercolor and Acrylics

Life is constantly changing, priorities keep shifting all the time.We move them around, fiddle with the goals a bit to fit it all in! I have been painting continuously since my last post here but sadly the time seems to be slipping from me. Well I am making time this morning, to share little snippets of my work through last few months. I have dabbled in oils, acrylics and what not; this has been an year of change. Watercolor still takes the place of pride, but oils are not far behind- if only I had someone to clean up the mess after me!

SOLD

'Edith' 10x14 watercolor

'Igor' 10''x14''

'Lloyd'' 10x14''

'Baron' 14''x10''

Clara 12''x16''

''Red Dust''  21''x14''

''Pete'' 16''x12''

Acrylics on Canvas:

''Slick City'' 23''x16''

Striped Sky Over London

23''x16''

A Street Somewhere

23''x16''

SOLD Acrylics on Canvas

Acrylic Inks 24''x 24''

Acrylic on Canvas 12''x12''

October Painting Gallery

October has been a busy month with a exhibitions, commissions and family. I am so glad to share the the 'Coral King' was exhibited and sold at Winchester Annual Exhibition. It was an ambitious work, 36''x24'' acrylics on canvas.

SOLD

I am posting a few more that I did since my last post.

''Delia'' is the latest Giraffe waiting for a good home. She was painted on waterboard sized A4

Delia -Watercolor on Board, A4

I was trying to get in more detailed background in this painting of two little elephants ready to explore the world, with mom in tow. it was a enjoyable experience.

The Guardian 10x14 watercolor on paper.

SOLD now

Realized that I hadn't painted a baby Zebra so far..here goes a little one in watercolor.

Baby Zoey 10x14

Available

 These two monkeys were painted sometime in last couple of months. Lately I have been into apes. chimps and monkeys! I added the darker background as an afterthought but it looks nice against their pale fur.

14x10, Available

This is Luna. She was painted last month and was very quick to find a home! She was in fact, claimed the very next day I put her up for sale. 

LUNA. SOLD

Same goes for Larry; a repeat buyer fell in love with him as soon as she spotted him!

SOLD

Glo was painted very loosely on winsor and newton cold pressed paper. This is a paper I have been enjoying lately.  

Glo. watercolor on paper, A4

Available

SOLD

Snowy was sold very quickly, now on its way to the USA

I hope you enjoyed browsing through this little gallery. Have a great week!

Still Life Step by Step

When I decided to paint this mixer I was well outside my comfort zone - Still life is not usually my thing- but it turned out so well, it makes me want to smile every time I look at it! Luckily I had taken pictures through out my process so I can outline the process for those interested.

'Mix it Up'

Acrylic on Canvas 16x16 in

1. Started with very thin base coat of burnt sienna and here I have added a little background in neutral hues.

2. Some more blocking in and establishing the color tones.

3.This painting is all about RED and I intend to make it pop out! Keeping it loose, not going in too much detail.

4. Working on the reflection in the metal and completing the next coat.

5. I think the mixer whip dripping cream is the focal point of this painting, so working on it now, just loosely.

Final Painting

As you can see, I have not fussed about the details in this painting, the broad strokes add a bit of drama to it. I hope you like what you see and the process pictures are helpful.I am more than happy to answer any questions!

This is going to be a part of my upcoming exhibition in Basingstoke Willis Museum which starts 22nd September and runs till 27th October.

Painting for Relaxation - An Artist's Diary

Being an artist means you love what you do so you never want to turn away from your 'work' even when the day comes to an end.When I feel drained after finishing a rather complex work, I usually draw or paint another quick, expressive one to unwind and to recharge my batteries.The exhilaration that follows is unlike any other buzz! I would sketch, doodle or just throw some color around; before I hit the sheets.The best de-stressor for us artists, I would say.

This is the one I did to unwind yesterday, though it is a bit more than that- I got carried away and turned it into a finished piece, complete with all the bells and whistles :)  Elephants are irresistible..

Blue Ellen

A4 Watercolor on Paper

Farmer and His Tractor Watercolor

I had been raking my brains over how to paint a machine that I could actually enjoy painting. I usually like to paint only living, moving and breathing subjects as you know :) but since 'Machinery' is the theme for our next exhibition, there was no escaping it this time.
So here I am, first painting done (I hope I can paint another one before the deadline) I have cheated a bit by including a man in it ..I hope the selectors won't mind!
Would love to hear what do you think.
Here are a few pictures I took while the painting was in progress. Its just a little glimpse into my process.

Started with the Tractor, keeping it fluid...

Add more color , block in the Farmer..My son later told me I shouldn't have painted the farmer's T-shirt blue as it clashes with tractor's color.I thought he was right and toned it down with a bit of grey later.

More details added to the front tyre. I hate painting perfect geometrical shapes :(

Adding shadows /deepening the colors.The farmer's face is too small to have many details- I had to add a tree behind him so his face is visible, at least.

Farmer and his Tractor

10x14  watercolor

Here is the final image. I have left the details in the tractor's engine area obscure as I didn't want to spoil that feeling of fluidity.

Materials Used: Arches cold pressed paper block 

Colors Used: Winsor and Newton, Daniel Smith paints:Cerulean Blue, Manganese blue, burnt orange, yellow Ochre, French Ultra. Blue, Permanent Magenta, Payne's Grey.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Have a great day.

My new website is up and running if you wish to take a look and/or join my mailing list.

Yellow Truck in watercolor

While we are at the stage when experiment is the key word, here is a Yellow Truck. I painted it very loosely, telling myself not to fiddle too much and just play around with color and texture.The paper was Two Rivers, a highly textured British paper that had bee lying around for months as I contemplated over what to do with it!
Well there was a reason I chose this truck; I need to get ready to my upcoming exhibition in Basingstoke late this month which has a theme 'Machines'. I usually shy away from machines, don't like them very much- but this time I couldn't get away.So here I am, trying to be creative by finding something to paint  that qualifies as a 'machine' but still fun to paint!
Any Ideas as welcome :)
Reference picture courtesy Pixabay.

Yellow Truck

18''x14''/ Watercolor on heavy paper

Little Boy on the Beach

 I have been painting animals fairly regularly now, sometimes painting humans is a nice change. I saw this little guy on a Bournemouth beach this summer.It was a hot, sunny day and I snapped a lot of pictures of people enjoying the seaside; with intention to paint them some day.This fellow made to the top of the list! He looks so adorable with his curly brown hair and dark blue shorts.

SOLD

Boy on Beach 

8x8

Watercolor on Arches paper

Panda Parade

After a busy summer of entertaining guests and family I finally got my colors out today and it felt so good! Dipping my toes in, I painted two loose portraits of my old favorites- Panda Bears. Somehow a mix of deep violet, midnight blue and Payne's grey look best on panda fur. A dash of burnt orange adds some drama. For these paintings there was no messing about, just clean, quick execution with a medium sized brush and a lot of water.I am happy with the way these two turned out :)

Dudley (A4 )

Paddy ( A4)

Watercolor on Winsor and Newton CP paper

Oil Painting_ Snow Leopard

I was introduced to oils when I was in my teens and painted quite a few piece in ensuing years.When I moved to the UK I didn't have the studio space anymore as we lived in a rented apartment; and I had to abandon oil painting altogether. In want of a less demanding medium I turned to watercolor and I loved it so much that I worked exclusively in watercolor for next six years; producing a huge body of work.
Since the start of this year I have been itching to do things a bit differently. May be produce some larger pieces with more detail. It took a sometime to gather courage to start painting in oils again. I dipped my toes first by trying out acrylics.Acrylics are nice to work with as they come with no strings attached - you plan, you paint, you varnish and you are done.
Oils, on the other hand are much more demanding.You need to consider the technique,the material, the mediums and, most important- the finishing. On positive side, you paint in oils because they allow you to blend and add detail which is almost impossible with acrylics.They appear richer,too.

So, here goes a painting that I have finished recently.I might have overworked it a bit - which was not the plan but hey, it was a first oil painting after so many years!

Snow Leopard (unnamed  yet)

24x20''

Oil on Canvas

More fun with Acrylics _ Cow Shed

Must confess that the quality of canvas does matter. I painted two similar style paintings on similar sized canvases bought separately. The difference was quite obvious.One had smooth and rounded edge( I bought these online, Quantum Arts /Deep edge) and the finish was definitely superior and luxurious compared to the other...though I don't remember them being priced too far apart. It even felt smoother when painting on it.Recently bought another batch to try with oils. Looks rich, I will post the result very soon.
As for these cows, I decided to use a neutral background. Two of the herd have found a home together; rest are still waiting :)

Curious Cow_Stella

8x8 SOLD

Curious Cow_ Tia

8x8 Available

Acrylic on Canvas, ready to hang

Curious Cow_Gia

8x8 Available

Acrylic on Canvas, ready to hang

Curious Cow _ MArcella

12x12

Available

Acrylic on Canvas, ready to hang

Working with acrylics

 Being a water colorist for many years, its hard to switch over to a medium like acrylic especially when you like so much to work with fluidity. Before I go any further, let me clear- I am not switching over to acrylics, watercolor is still my first love. Its just that you have to challenge yourself and test your limits sometimes.
My first acrylic was a disaster, I hated the medium as it felt so dry! My initial thought was -  'forget it, its not for me'. But after persisting with it some more, (with a few more paintings trashed) I am slowly getting the hang of it. I have now learnt that strokes will start to feel smooth once I have built up initial layers ( the hard part!). An extra layer of gesso should help, too.
I am still struggling with details and fine brushes- it is so much easier just to reach for a big brush or a palette knife- but I am sticking with detail - at least for now- do a few more paintings and see how far can I go.

This is Harold, my last acrylic in canvas. I spent about five to six days to build all those gorgeous lock- but he is so lucky to have found a loving home even before the varnish was dry! He is on his way to Michigan right now, to the home of my childhood buddy whose husband bought it.

12x16 acrylic on canvas

SOLD

In my newest effort still on easel, I will be trying out acrylics on a surface covered with watercolor ground.Stay tuned to see how it turns out!

Pencil Sketch_ Owl

A few pieces of paper in A6 size had been lying around and I decided to make use of them! Its quite a small size so not many details in this drawing but I am happy with this little guy! I have used mechanical .5 pencil on smooth paper.

Pencil Sketch

Sketching is so therapeutic, I can easily get lost in it.Started this sketch at about 11 pm last night intending it to be a quick study.It ended up a detailed sketch instead as I did not want to stop! This is Sid, a Basingstoke man I met in town last week.He was happy to pose for a picture- it was a transport festival and he was leaning on his blue tractor.I am thinking of converting into a painting later with tractor and all!

B and 2B Pencil on Strathmore paper

Zebra Art

Some Zebra paintings that I have done in past few weeks, hope you enjoy.

      Becky the Young Zebra
10x14 Available,contact me for details.                         This one has been SOLD already                                                                   

This is Xander, a larger painting  about 24x20 inch

Watercolor on Arches cold pressed paper

Available, contact me for details.   

This one is my attempt at acrylic, took me a long time to create!

KEN acrylic on canvas 20x24 inch 

Available, contact me for details.