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 ;)

Random Sketching_ Girl with Fair Hair

Graphite Pencil on paper, 6"x5"

A small sketch I did last night in my sketchbook.Reference picture by Anita Peppers.

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.

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.

Winter Sun

22"x 15"

This week I found some old issues of International Artist Magazine at my Art Club. Among some others greats,there was an article about Joseph Fettingis .I loved this artist's style! Inspired by his art, I came up with this piece.It is slightly bolder than my usual style, isn't it? I have tried to loosen up and 'leave something to the imagination of the viewer'..(though not quite there,yet)!I am trying to find a style which actually works for me.I would love to hear your opinions on the matter :)

BTW, this was created from an old photo from my India trip.In UK, sunlight seems to be a luxury..so I don't get to click good reference pictures that often for my watercolors.I needed sharp sunlight for this kind of portrait, so I dug it out from my archives.

Have a great weekend!!

'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!

Watching the Waves Dance_A Watercolor Portrait

"Watching the Waves Dance"

15"x 22"

Watercolor Paper 

Having spent a fortune on  the pricey Arches 300 lb sheets last month, I have been feeling a little guilty about not using them as yet for my portraits.The reason being- inability to find a perfect subject to paint! (or was it the fear of wasting a good paper with a mediocre painting?!) Well finally I got over this fear/ indecisiveness last evening as I fished out an old photograph that was taken in 2010.Its of my nephew on Lido beach in Hong Kong, and one of my favorites.Some of my old friends here would probably recognize it because I painted in once in the same year; You may take a peak at the old one here....but I do  feel that my art and my techniques have changed a lot since then, (hopefully for  better! :)) So I went ahead and painted it again.

My conclusion? My skills in painting skin tones on the limbs need some polishing, I particularly struggled with shadows on his legs and feet.I think I should paint a few more like these....

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.

Everyday Art_Portrait

I10"x7"

I did this one after the little boy below...I felt I was going with colors too strong!And, I am so much in love with the 1.1/4 inch flat brush that I bought a few days ago.I loved painting the background in bold strokes with that.It was like painting in oils....I miss my oil colors....!Hopefully some day I am going to find a space where I can spread my oil colors and my canvas, painting on my dining table is not much fun!

Love

Watercolor on Paper

22"x15"

A portrait of a friend with her lovely daughter.I liked the way she holds her close to her bosom and the child wraps her arms around her neck!Oozes with love and affection.

I tried big, painting on  1/2 sheet this time.The paper was Bockingford 600 gsm and I expected a lot from it, having invested grandly...not satisfied. Any suggestions for a good paper for  portrait painting?I m still looking for a  paper that retains the transparency of the colors and not just soaks them up.

I hope you all had a rocking weekend.Have a great week!

Wrinkled- Pencil Portrait of an Old Man

Pencil on Paper

17"x11" Strathmore Bristol Paper

This is the drawing I have been working on since last week.It took me about 16 hours of work, but I enjoyed every hour!The reference picture was taken about 3 years ago, in my hometown Rishikesh, which is  a spiritual town of India.There are many,many of them, like this old man here, sitting around on the banks of the Ganges river; spending their time in a blissful inertia.

Manu _ Revisited

I have been into 'experiment mode' lately.Usually I like my watercolors to be quick and spontaneous, but I was wondering if I was missing something. May be working more patiently and with layers would produce better results? So I gave it a try.Susan Harrison does realistic watercolors and she suggests a method that involves working in sections and 'priming' the paper every time."Priming' here means giving a double wash of clear water everytime you put a color wash in an area.Then letting the paper dry completely before putting colors in it again..Well the task was daunting to me, being an impatient one, but I wanted to see if the colors are absorbed more in this way, as Susan suggests.
I found out that going the whole way was not possible for me as I lost patience after putting two washes on her face.Than I reverted back to my own style to create details in her face, wet in wet.I painted the hair in my style, in one go, combining wet and dry brush.
Results? The colors do get absorbed more of you prime the paper again and again.It wont be lifted easily.But really I can't wait for the paper to dry after every wash! I think its better to combine both methods and create a new one :)
This is my niece Manu, an old photo of her.I have painted it before; even made a pencil portrait of it.But she is so beautiful,I am never tired of painting her!
Watercolor 14"x10"

Grandma Waiting

Some more practice over the weekend...could this be a lonely grandma waiting for her family to visit her ?

Watercolour on paper, 12"x9"