Friday, May 31, 2013

Frizzy Hair

14"x10"
Graphite pencil and charcoal
Taking a break from pastels and going back to pencil for a while.This is also a revisited piece.Did it again, using different paper, different approach.Pencil work needs to be pretty realistic for it to be noticed...and it needs a LOT of patience to achieve that.I still lack that patience as it is in my nature to rush things ( ask my husband!) You would wonder why I draw,then? Well ,first, because I have to draw! Teaching myself to be patient would be another bonus.
Have a great weekend, you all!

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Devotee Revisited

                                                                 Pastels on Pastelmat
                                                                          16"x20"
This is hermit from India was my first subject in my pastel portrait journey.Though the first one was appreciated, but as it was on a lower quality paper I was not very happy with the outcome.I have tried to do it differently again,this time I used pastelmat to get as much detail as I want.
Perhaps I went too ambitious with the size -50x70 cm( what you see here is the cropped version) .. in the end it looked unnecessary- I cropped it to publish.
What I am trying to achieve with my pastel work is the happy combination of realism and impressionism.I want my portraits to look as real as possible but not like a photograph.They must have a character of their own.I would leave it to you to decide if I have succeeded...
Have a great weekend, all of you.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Little Girl Pastel Portrait

10"x14"
Pastels on Canson Me-Tientes paper
This morning I decided to paint something small.True, its 10"x 14"- still I am calling it 'small' because I did it entirely using the side of my soft pastel sticks, no use of pastel pencils.Its tough to let go the control of the pencil, but I managed some how :) The paper was red toned so I chose the subject with a dark skin tone. It took me about two hours.The piece is loose but presentable, what do you say?


Friday, May 17, 2013

Lorrain -Pastel Portrait


"Lorrain"
Soft Pastels on Pastel mat
30x50 cm
Work in Progress; Try reading from bottom of the post!:)
Jumper completed, almost there, still needs finishing...

Worked more on her face; established the color of background and started on her jumper.I still don't have the 'right; green, I will make do with whatever I have.

Lightened one side of the face, now I feel better!

Added color to her face, establishing light and shadow areas.Realized that I did not have the green for her jumper, panicked, ordered some colors online...!

                                       Started with drawing and blocking in main shapes

'The chain of events' leading to the final product! I hope you enjoy watching the process.
It has taken me two days (about 10-12 hours) of work to complete this portrait.I have tried to keep my flesh tones true to life , it was a cool daylight setting when I took the picture.Thus, there are more greens and purple tones here; though I could not completely let go of my oranges!Green is the key color , which is unusual because I hardly use green in my paintings.I did not have the right color for her jumper, so I  overlayed two or three greens! I am still not sure irf its done- I may darken the background to her left...may be! Have a great weekend, friends and let me know what to do think of my efforts here...

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Pencil study

pencil on cartridge paper 6"x5"
I did this small sketch a little while ago.This is Lorrain, a member of our Art Club.Last time when our model failed to turn up,she very graciously filled in.She had awesome face, beautiful green eyes and very sweet smile.Her green jumper matched her eyes perfectly! I asked for some pictures and she obliged.This sketch was actually done later,in my little sketch book ! I liked the way it turned out, so I am already on to the colored version of her ...watch this space!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Portrait of a Teenager

Soft Pastels on pastel mat
35x50 cm

Some of you may recognize him- this is my son who agreed to let me take his picture after much cajoling ( I had to pay him ,actually, for the 'photo session'!) Well I thinks it was worth the effort, as this portrait has turned out nicely ( I will still wait for his verdict when he comes home from school!).
As he sat, the sunlight came through the full window and  fell on one side of his face.I wanted to capture not only that light, but the shadow area too, that somehow 'glows' when you are sitting in direct sunlight. I would love to hear what do you think of this effort.
Pastel mat is now my favorite support as it does not need blending.I did not blend at all.For smooth and fine details I used pastel pencils.They work beautifully on this surface.

My Group show opened last evening, with a nice little gathering.I seem to be one of the very few portrait artists here- mostly its landscape or animals painters in our Art Club.Here are a few pics:







Friday, May 3, 2013

Abandoned

Watercolor on 140 lb paper
12"x9"
Something new as a subject..this wooden barn looked locked and forgotten.I don't see this kind of locks around here much, so I use one of the pictures of a talented photographer Brian Mcnulty, with his permission.
Next group show lined up for coming week.I am submitting two paintings in pastels this time.Will update you all on Tuesday...Have a happy weekend!