Rich Gold_ Elephant Portrait in Watercolor

Watercolor on paper 12x9

Last night I painted this golden elephant,using my favorite  Quinacridon Gold ( tough to spell.though!) It works beautifully with Cerulean Blue.Just used these two with a hint of Burnt Sienna here and there.

These elephant paintings have been very useful to experiment with various techniques in watercolors.I understand them more now, and I  feel that I am developing a style, which was missing earlier.

On the home front ,the past two weeks have been quite hectic.My son caught chicken pox and is at home for more than 10 days.Tending to him, coupled with some commissions has been quite a task.I still have a few more to go but I manage to sneak in an hour or two in between, to paint what I like to paint.So its like working 24x7..but I am not complaining :) just wish that I did not have this pain in neck ( literally) that gets bad when I work long hours.

Hope the Holiday Season is treating you all well....

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...

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!

Majestic_1_ Watercolor

Watercolor on Langton 140 lb paper

10"x14"

I felt like painting loose today.. watercolors came to my aid!Its a beautiful day outside, and I loved painting this majestic animal in spontaneous style.In fact I intend to paint a small series on elephants in the same style- hence the name and number!