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

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.

sketches...

This lady was done from telly as I wanted to sketch people but didn't have any models available!Hopefully I will go out and sketch people from life sometime soon.This is so much fun..

Portrait Study in watercolor

Page from my sketchbook 10"x 8"

I am thinking about converting this into a bigger painting.. maybe with some dramatic background.

This little sketch was based on a photo that I took on one of my trips to countryside in Hampshire.This elderly gentleman was admiring the garden while I admired his white hat and large sunglasses.The sunlight bouncing off his face makes him a good subject. It has been a long time since I have done a proper portrait and it kind of feels scary! 

Ladies....WIP

W I P 1

W I P 2

Yesterday I did some more work on this painting, it has been gathering dust for past month or so, but I intend to complete it now.Top image is where I left it the last time.Contemplating about what colors would look good on these ladies garments. Right now I am thinking light blue on first lady's cardigan- may be a darker blue on her skirt.Will decide about the others later!

W I P 3

OK so now we have the third W I P picture as well.So far worked a bit on the background,going from top to bottom.Also started the two women's dresses and worked more on each one's faces.Hope I am not going too far here.Keeping their clothes in shades of blue.the third one could be  more vibrantly dressed..may be some pink and violet.So far so good ;)

A Perfect Day

A4

Another figurative work, but a bit tighter this time as I did not want this to fail (like a previous one which was due to working too fast and too loose!)

I have worked a little slowly and methodically on this one, it took me about 3 hours from start to finish; and used a limited palette of Burnt sienna, Raw Umber, Burnt Umber and French Ultramarine.(And a dash of red- don't remember which one!) These are my favorite hues - I can paint with these even if I don't have any other color in my kit!

Personally I like the result, and I would love to paint some more scenes from around the town.

Please do let me know what do you think of this effort.

Blue Bag

A4  Watercolor on CP paper

I am pretty excited about this one...a figurative work I did after a long time! In fact I have been pondering over my collection of reference pictures for a long time and really,really wanting to paint them...but just couldn't decide how to make them exciting so I kept putting it off.

With this painting, I might have found something- because I loved painting this and please tell me that you like it too!!!

BTW its a self portrait- me and my turquoise bag- though this was an old picture, I still have this bag!

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 :)

Pastel Portrait Custom _Little Ben

Completed and shipped this portrait today to a wonderful client in London.It was done in pastel pencils on pastel mat.The client liked the digital copy so I hope he will be happy with it.Feels good.

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...

Ladakh Woman

Pastel Pencils and soft Pastels

9"x12"

Back to pastels again...I used a mask this time, and it was great because it actually prevented me from blowing at the painting, even by accident!..The woman is from Ladakh region of India; reference picture from a friend. I like the slow build up of pastels.Definitely.

Have a great weekend, friends!

Man from Ladakh_Pastel Portrait

Soft Pastels on Pastelmat

15"x22" 

I am so excited to share this new work- I sort of like this; though my husband thought it looked 'dark and unfinished'.......I would like to gather a vote from all of you over this subject, as I am thinking of entering this in a pastel contest.I have used Pastelmat for the first time, and I liked it very much. Pastelmat is velvety, heavy paper but it grabs colors so easily that there is hardly any dust- and virtually no need for a fixative...a huge problem solved.Thus, I am going to repeat this paper in future, though its expensive as compared to lighter paper which are three times cheaper.

I have been so busy painting that I have not been spending much time on blogging; I hope all my friends out there would forgive me for not visiting as often; I will be there, eventually...

Michael

11"x15"

Charcoal and soft pastel pencils

This is Michael, a local resident with whom I had a chance meeting in the neighborhood park a few days ago.As we sat enjoying the sun,I finally plucked the courage to ask a complete stranger if i could take his pictures for a painting!Thankfully he turned out to be a kind gentleman and allowed me to take his pictures as he chatted with my husband.Although he was convinced that he had an 'ugly face' and there was no point in painting him! But as you can see, he is quite handsome and the portrait turned out to be rather nice.

I am yet to to a black and white charcoal-every time I end up adding some color.

I hope you like this one :)

As I Pray...

Pastels on toned paper

20"x14"

I love this old man's face and would paint him again and again.I have already drawn him in pencil in the past, now its the turn of pastels.In fact I wanted to experiment with some background color.Frankly, I am not too thrilled with the results-it looks rather painterly..is it a good thing ? I don't know.

I ran out of my white pencil towards the end- just a stub left; so it was not much fun finishing his hands.Next time I am sticking with my 'drawing' mode.Not too impressed with the saturated background color.

Enjoy it while the next one is in progress.

My group show opens Friday, 8th March at Fairfields Art Center.Will update the pictures on the day!

Devotee

Charcoal and pastel on toned paper

12"x16"

Glad to share another drawing with charcoal and pastel pencils.Intended to be monochromatic but I could not resist some color and ended up doing a colored drawing instead of a tonal sketch.I must say I am getting the hang of my pastel pencils after all.I am loving building up the color stroke by stroke..just like oil paints.One more thing I like about this medium- I can use white for highlights!So much fun after watercolors' worry about leaving the paper white for highlights.

Please do let me know what do you think of this effort.

Nostalgia

Watercolor 

15"x 22"

Another one in a bigger dimensions. In fact I am liking this size - bigger IS better(though framing these would be a costly affair). This is a portrait of a friend's grand mother. I have met her many times and I just love her face.She must be in her late eighties- but doesn't look her age. I am fortunate that my friend is a photographer and allows me to use some really nice shots of her to paint!

'Venerable' -Portrait of a Friend's Mom

9"x12"

watercolor on paper

This is a watercolor sketch of my blogger friend Liz Holms' mom.This elegant lady suffers from Alzheimer,and Liz has been taking care of her for as long as I know her.I have always admired both of these ladies; its been a while since I asked Liz if I could paint her ( since Liz is a terrific painter herself, it felt awkward) but she obliged very graciously...this is just a sketch that I did on a 90 lb paper- I wanted to prepare for a bigger painting- but it turned out so well that I am sharing it here with all of you.As you can see, I have tried a different palette this time, ditching my usual yellow and blue!

Yellow Turban

watercolor

 14"x 10"

Technically this is my first painting in 2013.I have been busy with guests lately, got to paint only last evening.This Indian man is from a village and sports a traditional turban.I saw him in Rishikesh on my last trip to India and was immediately drawn to his yellow turban.People from Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat wear these turbans- these are hot desert regions and these large turbans offer people protection from elements of nature.These turbans also serve many more purposes, but here my sole purpose is to depict its sheer beauty! Hope you like it.

Life in Pastel

Soft Pastels on Gray Tinted Paper

15"x22"

It started out as a black and white charcoal sketch on a gray paper....First I put charcoal in dark areas but when I tried putting highlights in white, she looked like a ghost!Hastily I took out my box of pastels to rescue her and after an hour or so covered her in color!At least she looked presentable :) What do you think?

I have used a painterly approach this time, almost like an oil painting.

I would call this my maiden attempt at portrait in soft pastels...still getting to know them!

Watercolor Portrait

  Watercolor on cold pressed paper

11"x15"

An artwork I did to break the monotony of the past few days...I am busy in some animation work ( It gives me a stiff neck but I still do it because it pays for my art supplies;) ) It will be going on for another week or so- but I missed painting so much that I stole a few hours on Saturday and painted this young man from India.It felt so good!....I have painted it big this time, only the face takes up the entire 11"x15" area.

Hope you all like him,too.