Pastel Portrait_ Woman in Lemon Shawl

I saw this woman in Rishikesh on my last trip to India earlier this year.She was one among many who flock the banks of river Ganga, seeking peace and embracing spirituality. She was not beautiful in a traditional sense but I liked her weather beaten face and world weary expression.

Woman in Lemon Shawl

Pastel on Pastel Mat 48x34 cm

About a week and a lot of effort was spent on this portrait. I used layer upon layer of pastel pencils to create smooth skin textures. The goal was to create a life like portrait. It was a disappointing moment when I learned that it was rejected by Federation of British Artists for their upcoming Pastel Painters exhibition in London.I was in fact quite hopeful for it.
This is my second rejection from this body and now I don't feel like entering anymore.May be I don't have what they are looking for. A friend suggested that I visit the exhibition to see what kind of work gets selected; but I have my doubts - should I be painting what the judges like to see, or should I follow my heart? I don't know.

Portrait of a Friend

Watercolor on paper

This is a friend and ex-colleague of my husband who had been visiting us from India last week.She had beautiful big eyes and I tried to highlight the fact while taking her pictures.I painted this from a picture that I took in the glorious daylight, though I painted it at night :) But the next day was not so sunny and when I photographed the painting it came out rather dull and flat - so I had to resort to using digital media to rectify it.(Should I call it 'Mix media' now?!)

I have been rather busy lately, working on the next New Year calendar for my sister's company as well as on my ongoing animation project.It will keep me busy for the rest of December, I guess.But I will keep popping in time to time..though not as active on blogosphere as I should be.

Wish you all Happy Holidays!

Sun Kissed

                                           A new pencil portrait of a friend.
This one was a tough call - I was all tangled up in her hair and those sunglasses were a first,too...never sketched reflections in pencil before. Keeping away the thoughts of abandoning it  midway I kept going after it -- and completed it in after about 10 hours of work!I am proud of it !
Have a great Sunday :)
16"x12" 4B and 0.5 mechanical pencil on paper

Buoyant

 A portrait of a happy looking village woman from India, in her traditional attire- saree; covering her head.This beautiful image was captured by a friend Vikram, who is a very talented photographer.
Watercolor 9"x 12"

Pretty Picture

I have been a little busy with life in past two weeks or so..not been able to paint at all. Posting here today is  a sketch I did sometime ago, and was not so happy about --(it didn't come out as I had wanted)
But it might inspire me to paint again, I hope!
Have  a Great Day!

Autumn- The sketch of mom

 This is my mom...the sketch was sitting on my drawing board when I left for my vacation. I can say my hands were itching to complete it - and that's what I did last night! Although the 'finishing up' took more than five hours....I am generally happy with it.What do you think?
Pencil on paper 30cm  X40 cm

A Day's Wait

I am not sure if this one qualifies as 'self portrait', but its me!The photo was taken by my husband when I wasn't looking- but  liked it when I saw it later.I have tried my hand at bigger workspace this time and it wasn't so hard, after all!
Watercolors on waterford coldpressed 300 gsm  22"x15"

In Black & White

I started this sketch because I wanted to draw someone beautiful...but soon realized my mistake of not choosing the 'right' subject! ( She is Alicia Silverstone, but I did not work on the likeness factor very much, here-- so you may not recognise her!) The problem was that her face did not have any shades..no gradients to work upon - so it got a little boring and I decided to speed up things and get over with it!
I hate leaving something unfinished, so I did complete this sketch, but honestly, not much time was spent on this one. About 2 hours.I think I need to find better paper...this cartridge paper shows through so much that dark tones are spoiled. I can't achieve the desired smoothness...
Any suggestions?

Happy Birthday Sis

A watercolor of my sister Deepti, who celebrates her birthday today. Its tough to capture people in lines and colors if you know them closely , but I have given it a try...Just hope she likes it!
The tilt of head is her 'trademark' trait:) so is her smile.
Happy Birthday, Sis!

The Veil

One of my not-so-good efforts...I am posting it here because I need to post regularly, to keep in touch with all of you--and I dont have anything else today!So here it goes, watercolor sketch of a rustic Indian woman . Not the usual 'youthful beauty' but she has an elegence about her.