Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Zebra Stripes All the Way



It was a 'stripey'day; I painted three zebras!Actually I had so much fun with the first one, I went to paint more.These zebras are very exciting,so different from other animals.I could play and play with the stripes endlessly.Hope you like them,too.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

In Sweet Memory...

                                                         20x16  Soft Pastel on Pastelmat
As mentioned in my earlier posts, this is Lala; a friend and a colleague of my husband and a fan of my art. She passed away this Christmas eve.I painted this in her memory.My husband gave it to her father yesterday.I hope her family finds solace in it.
She was a wonderful person , a sweet soul.I will always remember her.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Pencil Portrait_ Stag


14x10
I am doing a variety of things to get back into the mode..did this drawing yesterday on canson smooth paper with charcoal and carbon pencil.Not sure if I should work on this more, or leave it as it is now.Any suggestions?

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Some Silly Self Promotion

In December I was asked by the'Indian Talent Online Magazine' for my profile and some images of my works. I had forgotten about it and they did not bother to inform me.I came across it accidentally today..Please go to page 12 to read it.A bit of shameless self promotion, I guess..but I think you guys would not mind!

                                            Pls click the link:  'Indian Talent Online Magazine'

However what I feel good about is that many of the other artists featured in the same issue have all been chosen from my other blog 'Artists of India'. I started this Group blog in 2009 and now about 60 Indian artists have joined in... Feels good!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Half Truth

13x18
Hi everyone..couldn't resist sharing this work which I did this afternoon.Its a kind of painting that emerges on its own. I had started with a thought that 'it could be a face'.Then my hands took over. Initially I used charcoal on gray paper.Pastels were added later.I kind of like this effect.Gives the face two dimensions.What do you think?
It is one of the paintings that left me with a happy feeling :)

Rusty Red Elephant

14" x 11"
Another elephant to drag me out of despair...nothing is coming out right for many days.I think I over worked this one,too.Time to change gears- I will go to charcoal today :)

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Portrait Painting

12x9
It has been a long time since I painted a portrait in watercolor.This was from a TV grab, I was watching a documentary on Namib Desert.It had a lot of dark skinned African people and elephants- both my favorites.I am also working on an elephant -also from a TV grab from same source.They looked so beautiful on screen- I hope I can bring out the magic on paper,too.
Last week had been counter productive- I worked very hard on a commissioned double portrait in pastels but in the end the client simply didn't like it... I chose to refund her deposit and keep the portrait.Rejection hurts but we have to take it in our stride.Well, another experience gained.
After the elephant I will start a pastel portrait of Lala, the friend who passed away recently.My husband wants to gift it to her father.So do I.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Moon River

Mixed media on Paper
13x18
Started this as a charcoal drawing but later I fell back into my habit of adding some bright color! The base paper was dark-ish gray so I added some white and blue for contrast.Looked like a river glittering in moonlight..hence the title.(BTW I love that song,too:))

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Silent Night

12"x16"
This piece was started sometime after Christmas but I had left it midway...in fact, I did not have much hope for this as I had dabbled too much for my liking already.But last night after putting three more hours of work , it looked good enough!Now I have a painting and I can start another one- as soon as I find strength.
Past 3-4 days have been not good health wise, I have been suffering from a painful throat infection which is also giving me headaches and body aches.Arjun just had his braces fixed and is having problems as wire cutting into his inner cheek and his teeth are hurting all the time.So we two poor souls are wandering here and there in pain...and the weather is not helping either.Its gray, cold and raining almost all the time.Hmm..praying for some sunshine now!All I want to do is get better so I can paint,paint,paint.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Acrylic Experiments

Finally acrylics are out of the box! Once I started using them I realized that there is not much joy in painting with brushes like watercolors- (or was it because I don't have any good brushes for them !)
I wanted to explore the texture and the intensity that can be achieved by acrylics, so I painted this with a knife. Loved the experience, I must say....I may now paint a few landscapes and trees which I could not paint with watercolor and experiment with abstract or semi abstract- who knows.
Its new year, time to do something new!