Blues..Once In a While

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 watercolor on paper , 12"x9"

Mates

Some more of my work from yesterday's session...
A watercolor study, about 12"x 9"

At the Farm

 A study of a cockerel ...I  have been watching Jean Haines paint so many of them and I used to think, what's so special about these cockerels? But painting one myself was a revelation! I did  this one and then went on to paint another set immediately afterwards....there's something about them-I loved splashing color all around ( In case you are squinting to find some here,wait for my next post!)
BTW, I took this one after a photo of Sandy, another blogger friend. But for the second, I didn't need  a reference.I guess that's what I loved about this subject!

Waves

A fun painting of  my nephew. I took this photo on the Lido beach at HongKong,as the little one watched the waves rush to his feet.
I have been away from my colors for  long time, so I did this painting just to get my brushes wet again-- but I guess it turned out well enough to share with all of you!
Watercolor on paper, 12"x16"

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

The Sketch

A practice sketch - I have used a light weight paper for this one and completed it in about half an hour.
I was trying to see if the quality / thickness of the paper made any difference...My conclusion? Once you master your trade, paper will cease to matter - till then, its practice, practice, practice!
 14"X10" 110 lb watercolor paper

Little Girl and the Butterfly

This is my niece, a chirpy ten year old. She has a shy smile that I love to bring out on paper.I have tried working in layers on her face this time, hoping to achieve the right skin tone-but  the choice of colors for the butterfly went wrong, as it now seems merged with the wall...should have used lighter colors on it :(

watercolor on paper, 16"x12"

The Smiling face

Experimenting with darks here- I have been avoiding darker values in past, due to the unwanted muddy effect I get when I use more than two washes. This paper is different from what I have been using so far, and it held the washes well; more than I expected.So I used the washes quite liberally here, and was generally happy with the results.
Still, it could have been better if I was patient enough to let the painting dry completely in between! I finished it in one sitting, as I always do with my watercolors..in about an hour.
It was sketched freehand and the child looks a bit older than I intended her to be!
In future, I am going to try to give these paintings more time, and see if it makes any difference :)

Faith 2- Old Man Offering Prayers

Its the same old man whose sketch appeared on my blog sometime ago.This is another image, here he is offering sacred water to the SunGod, standing on the steps of the Ganga river. This ritual is observed by many devotees in Hindu religion.It comprises worshipping the rising sun with water from the Ganga, flowers and other holy items like kumkum, chandan and dhoop.One can See hundreds of people going through this ritual in the spiritual towns like Haridwar, Rishikesh and Varanasi.

This drawing was done on full sheet, my first in this size.Thus it took a bit of time- I couldn't calculate the hours ; I would say it took me about 7-8 days to finish. ..And lots of work:)
The photo is not very good as the paper I used had a yellowish tinge, it was to big, and there is very little sunlight today.Sorry about that!

Graphic pencil on paper, 30"x22"

The Brown Horse in watercolors

I painted big this time...30"x20" to be precise.My elbow is hurting again and I am not spending much time on my computer these days.I have seen some very beautiful posts by you all in last few days but am yet to comment on them.My apologies.

Thank you all for responding so positively on this horse painting;I have decided to add some more to this post...Recently I visited a renowned artist of Delhi and asked his advise and opinion on my work.I have started thinking about putting up an exhibition in near future- and I need all the help I can get!...He liked my work but he also advised me to paint on a bigger canvas.As I have been mostly painting on 16"x12" or lesser sizes, I decided to paint this one on a full sheet. And judging by your response, it was a good move!
His other advise was to pay more attention to my pencil art, he liked the pencil artwork very much. I am thinking about it- an exhibition of my pencil artwork...sounds great!Lets see how things evolve.

I like horses, they make such fine subjects.White, black, brown..they are all so beautiful.I am thinking of drawing one in pencil, too.

watercolor on paper, 30"X 20"

Koi

Always wanted to paint Koi fish someday!I enjoyed this painting immensely.It was created using 'wet on wet' technique and I was happy with the results.Took me about an hour to concieve, draw and paint it.No reference photo here.
Hope you like it too.
20"x14", on 140 lb cold pressed watercolor paper

The Couple

This watercolor is based on a photo by my friend Fred Walsh who is a brilliant wildlife photographer and an avid bird enthusiast. Those are Great Egrets and you can see the original picture here. I loved this photo very much and tried to give it another dimension. Thanks Fred, for letting me use this image.

Watercolor 16"x12"

From my Balcony

'The world looks beautiful from here'--This painting is based on my son's photo while he looked down happily at something from the balcony -though I cropped it too close, and lost a portion of the railing in the process! Still, the mood is happy and I love painting happy faces :)

Watercolors on paper 14"x10"

Grace

Head study of a woman with a beautifully weathered face...I saw the image somewhere on the net and it stayed with me.
watercolor, 8"x6"

sunflower

June has been a lousy month as far as my painting is concerned! Only one post in entire month- that's pathetic, I know! Reasons have been many..most prominent being my health. I had developed a nagging pain in my right arm and when I went to see a doc ( after ignoring it for more than two weeks) he told me I had ' Tennis Elbow'! -Never played a game of tennis in my life, ha ha! May be I bumped my elbow somewhere...(I have a poor balance- keep bumping into things :D ) Well , it was quite painful and the doc advised me to rest the hand as much as I could; not to put strain on wrist or elbow.But it was my right hand, remember? I had to do the housework-cooking and cleaning! So the painting and typing took a backseat in the days to come.
Feeling a bit better today, I spent a good hour posting comments on my friends' blogs and so far I've covered only half on my list! Meanwhile, this sunflower was my attempt at negative painting..posting it as it is, would have to see when I finish it!

Heron

I am back after a considerably long absence. Missed you all!
This is a watercolor on a postcard , the heron captured in soft sunlight of mid-morning.
I have been reading a lot about the oil spill in Gulf of Mexico. I have always hated man's interference with nature and this is a glaring example of what this could result into!

I am adding this painting to Suzanne McDermot's spirit-of-gulf-challenge. as suggested by some blogger friends.

I am So Happy!

This is Honey, the bubbly daughter of a friend...two sittings, four hours. It was an outdoor photo with direct sunlight falling over her head.The shades on her face were quite tough to capture-but I have tried my best!
Watercolor on 16"x12" paper

Flying Colors

A butterfly for James! This is my submission for James' Windows to the Words' art blog's May theme. For me, these tiny insects can be more tough to paint than a human face ! What you see is my second attempt...threw the first one away:D
Watercolor on postcard

Happy Mother's Day

Me and my mom...my gift to her on mother's day.
Watercolor on paper, 12"x16"

Cherry Blossoms

Another Alla-prima in oils. It took about 40 minutes to complete. I think the only way that I can stop myself from overdoing a piece in oils is to finish it in one go!...
I always wanted to paint white flowers...these cherry blossoms were an obvious choice!I have used a bit of knife on petals, for creating light.
Oil on canvas board, 8"x10"