October Painting Gallery

October has been a busy month with a exhibitions, commissions and family. I am so glad to share the the 'Coral King' was exhibited and sold at Winchester Annual Exhibition. It was an ambitious work, 36''x24'' acrylics on canvas.

SOLD

I am posting a few more that I did since my last post.

''Delia'' is the latest Giraffe waiting for a good home. She was painted on waterboard sized A4

Delia -Watercolor on Board, A4

I was trying to get in more detailed background in this painting of two little elephants ready to explore the world, with mom in tow. it was a enjoyable experience.

The Guardian 10x14 watercolor on paper.

SOLD now

Realized that I hadn't painted a baby Zebra so far..here goes a little one in watercolor.

Baby Zoey 10x14

Available

 These two monkeys were painted sometime in last couple of months. Lately I have been into apes. chimps and monkeys! I added the darker background as an afterthought but it looks nice against their pale fur.

14x10, Available

This is Luna. She was painted last month and was very quick to find a home! She was in fact, claimed the very next day I put her up for sale. 

LUNA. SOLD

Same goes for Larry; a repeat buyer fell in love with him as soon as she spotted him!

SOLD

Glo was painted very loosely on winsor and newton cold pressed paper. This is a paper I have been enjoying lately.  

Glo. watercolor on paper, A4

Available

SOLD

Snowy was sold very quickly, now on its way to the USA

I hope you enjoyed browsing through this little gallery. Have a great week!

Painting for Relaxation - An Artist's Diary

Being an artist means you love what you do so you never want to turn away from your 'work' even when the day comes to an end.When I feel drained after finishing a rather complex work, I usually draw or paint another quick, expressive one to unwind and to recharge my batteries.The exhilaration that follows is unlike any other buzz! I would sketch, doodle or just throw some color around; before I hit the sheets.The best de-stressor for us artists, I would say.

This is the one I did to unwind yesterday, though it is a bit more than that- I got carried away and turned it into a finished piece, complete with all the bells and whistles :)  Elephants are irresistible..

Blue Ellen

A4 Watercolor on Paper

Farmer and His Tractor Watercolor

I had been raking my brains over how to paint a machine that I could actually enjoy painting. I usually like to paint only living, moving and breathing subjects as you know :) but since 'Machinery' is the theme for our next exhibition, there was no escaping it this time.
So here I am, first painting done (I hope I can paint another one before the deadline) I have cheated a bit by including a man in it ..I hope the selectors won't mind!
Would love to hear what do you think.
Here are a few pictures I took while the painting was in progress. Its just a little glimpse into my process.

Started with the Tractor, keeping it fluid...

Add more color , block in the Farmer..My son later told me I shouldn't have painted the farmer's T-shirt blue as it clashes with tractor's color.I thought he was right and toned it down with a bit of grey later.

More details added to the front tyre. I hate painting perfect geometrical shapes :(

Adding shadows /deepening the colors.The farmer's face is too small to have many details- I had to add a tree behind him so his face is visible, at least.

Farmer and his Tractor

10x14  watercolor

Here is the final image. I have left the details in the tractor's engine area obscure as I didn't want to spoil that feeling of fluidity.

Materials Used: Arches cold pressed paper block 

Colors Used: Winsor and Newton, Daniel Smith paints:Cerulean Blue, Manganese blue, burnt orange, yellow Ochre, French Ultra. Blue, Permanent Magenta, Payne's Grey.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Have a great day.

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Panda Parade

After a busy summer of entertaining guests and family I finally got my colors out today and it felt so good! Dipping my toes in, I painted two loose portraits of my old favorites- Panda Bears. Somehow a mix of deep violet, midnight blue and Payne's grey look best on panda fur. A dash of burnt orange adds some drama. For these paintings there was no messing about, just clean, quick execution with a medium sized brush and a lot of water.I am happy with the way these two turned out :)

Dudley (A4 )

Paddy ( A4)

Watercolor on Winsor and Newton CP paper

Misty the Elephant

I have always loved this style of painting, it involves instinct rather than planning. Not much emphasis on correct drawing or proportions, it comes straight from the heart!Hope you like it too.

Misty

10''x14''

Painted on 17/03/2017

Scarlet Horse

'Scarlet'

12''x16''

Saunders Waterford paper

17/03/2017

I am still in love with this rich, deep scarlet by Daniel Smith.In painting this horse I have used this pigment to its full strength, actually went a little further than I had planned.I hope this doesn't come out as too strong...?

Owl On Night Watch

This one was painted recently, an attempt to paint a subject complete with background..Usually I leave the background blank or with very minimal work. It was a toughie, painting dark around him and still keeping the edges soft but I enjoyed the job!

                                             Watercolor on Saunders Waterford Paper
                                                                       12''x16''
                                                          Painted on 19/01/2017

Intense Blue Zebra

Intense Blue

9x12

So we are back to Zebras again! And somehow they always turn out to be blue.I promise next one is going to be in warmer shades..may be red/burnt sienna.Hope you are having a great weekend.

Teal Tusker _Watercolor Elephant

16x20

Having recently acquired a couple of sheets of Two River NOT paper, today was the day to put them to test. I was stalling this for quite some time- the paper being pricey and I have not really been in my element lately.But  the 'test'  went well, after all.I chose a subject that was close to my heart; which I can paint without even thinking(though you can see- I went a bit too wild!)

This paper has a lot of texture and tooth- more towards 'rough' than a "NOT"; but it responded very well to my 'fast and furious' approach. The weight was 300 lb so there was no need to stretch.I am definitely going to use it again.Try out various styles and techniques.Lovely paper.

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 ;)

More work in progress and a beautiful Hare

Here is another bunny to lighten up the mood as I work upon the larger painting along the way.

5"x7"

SOLD

Morning has been quite productive today.I started the basic wash on the Three Ladies painting and as it dried, painted a dog and a cat! ( they will feature in tomorrow's post) a good way to use all the paint on my palette ..and practice never hurts!

Here is the progress on Three Ladies...

I have used some masking fluid on the parts that need to kept light- don't want to break the flow of paint in order to save the whites here. Basic wash was meant to be neutral but I jut can't help dropping in all those lovely colors...so it was a mix of burnt sienna, burnt orange, french ultramarine, a little bit of yellow ochre and on the lower art-- Payne's grey mixed with a little opera rose. I don't mix my colors on the palette- though I have heard that its a good practice.I like to drop them individually and let them find their own place on paper.

Barred Owl

Owls are fun to paint,,usually I like painting the ones with long, tufted ears- but this time I decided to try this round headed, barred owl.Next time i might try them in colors other than the ( natural) brown!

Cats and Dogs

It seems I can't stay away from animals,can I? Couldn't help painting these two small studies of a Siamese cat and a Lab(?) in chocolate brown.Both of them small, 5x7..

Chocolate Dod

SOLD

Elephant Painting_True Love

13x20

SOLD

I had a vision of this painting as I woke up this morning.I actually went and stretched a cut up Arches sheet (of an odd dimension- which had been lying around for quite some time) even before I had my morning cup of tea!Worked on it all late morning and finished it by afternoon.I am quite happy with the results.Talk about being 'inspired'!..

Arches works beautifully when stretched.You can paint it over and over,once the first wash has dried.My other favorite Hahnemuhle is only good for fast and loose work- but I am a fan of the swirls and blooms it creates .

The raven

12 x 9

SOLD

A new subject for me, a raven.These are considered mysterious creatures, considered to be having a special vision in some cultures.

I have used indigo ,blue, sepia to replace the usual black to make the composition interesting,

Puppy Eyes

Puppy Eyes

12" x9"

SOLD

Recently I realized that even as I have been painting animals almost exclusively these days, dogs were yet to make an appearance.
Eyes are the focal point of my portraits almost invariably.In this portrait,the focus was especially on the soulful,brown eyes of this sweet faced guy. No wonder ,he stole the heart of an art lover and was lapped up the very next day on ArtFinder :) He leaves for his Leeds home today.

White Rooster in Watercolor

6"x 9"

A small,loose piece I did yesterday.Roosters are perfect subjects to play around with, you can do anything you want!

Scarlet Macaw

8"x8"

I rarely use pure red or scarlet in my paintings.In fact I am yet to find my favorite red! This Scarlet Macaw was an exercise to bring out the very best of this color as well as for me to understand the color better.Hope you all have a great weekend, its 10 pm Friday and I am planning to paint another one now :) 

Mr Koala

16"x12''

Today's work.Well, apart from the commission Elephant painting that is on my easel for last two days. Today I wanted to paint something for myself, with no pressure.This was a new subject, though a challenge--with fur sticking out of  everywhere from this guy'd round face.It was difficult to define the face without using too much detail and keeping everything soft.A tough one :)