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Glad to be back.I hope everyone has been doing fine.As for myself, I have been working all this time...just fell into the trap of putting off a thing too many times and then feeling embarrassed to come back to it! I have had too many things on my plate...just hope to keep on blogging.
Time to check upon my blogger friends x
Greetings to all with this cute guy recently done.

Elephant in Purple

9"x12"

Loving my new Saunders Waterford CP block-- first page done.I wish I had taken work in progress pictures ! I started with a loose, mingling wash, followed by some detail in the trunk and around tusk.Then I let it sit for a couple of hours.Finally some dry brush detail was added ,so were the shadows.I am quite happy with this one.

Ostrich Day

11x14

Used Bockingford 200 lb.for the first time.Heavy paper, so it did not need any stretching.Another plus- I could lift color without much difficulty. I might test it a bit more before declaring it a new favorite; but I liked the texture and strength - it works well with my loose style.Hope you enjoy this sweet little guy!

Sunflowers

A watercolor sketch I did yesterday,of some gorgeous sunflowers on my window sill. I started out real cool..thought that I could do it in detail and what not...but as soon as I put the first mark on paper, my mind subconsciously counted all those petals( !) and decided that the best approach was to paint fast, to capture the essence of the scene.

Pencil Sketches..

This sketch was done to get a good understanding of a horse's head structure. I had planned to do at least six, but here I am ; with a single head to show for! Anyway, the days are finally getting sunnier and I did venture out to a nice park recently to take a shot at sketching people on the go.There was a paddle pool for toddlers and I sketched some of the mothers as they sat sunning or watching their kids.Toddlers were not easy to draw-constantly moving about!I will take a good picture of the work tomorrow to post. Also in the middle of an old guy's sketch, will post it if it ends up decent enough..hope you all are enjoying summer and keeping safe.

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.

A few little ones...

 I have been painting,drawing,studying and experimenting a lot lately.Sometimes the results are not good enough to share, so I am absent from my blog for long periods..but believe me, I am still out there,and I do intend to visit all of you to see whats everyone up to! .Meanwhile I have painted a few little pieces that keep me sane during this process.Two of them are on auction at Daily PaintWorks among a lot of beautiful,beautiful paintings. Bidding ends soon :)

Golden Rooster

5'x7"

Click to bid on DPW  here 

"Birdie" 5"x7"

Click to bid on DPW Here

Camouflage Hare 7"x10"

( This one is not on auction , he is a new one I painted recently.)

Just thought I would mention, I am thinking of going back to pastels.Try some low-key, intense colored works.It would be a contrast to what I do right now, but should be fun! Lets hope I can produce something that leaps out to the viewer.

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..

Sienna Hare

Sienna hare 10x14

Another hare in sienna tones.Somehow they are real fun to paint!

A Happy Day

9x12

I painted this cute donkey after a few days of inactivity. I have spent these days doubting my skills and way of working; as well as my choice of subjects. (is painting animals a lesser form of art?..was my basic question. Do people take you seriously if you paint animals?) Of course nothing good came out of it.At least painting this donkey made me happy!

Sketch in Charcoal

12x16

Picked up charcoal after a long time and did this sketch in the morning session.I have missed doing portraits and would love to do some more..This sketch reminded me how much I loved drawing- without the pressure of thinking of converting it into a painting!May be I should keep them separate.

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! 

watercolor sketch _ man

Study from sketchbook 10x8

Going back to faces, a study in my new sketchbook.Thinking about adding some more character to it but here it is, as of now.I really enjoyed it and may be I will do a few more.

Also working on a large elephant portrait.I have taken a few work-in-progress shots,so that  if I mess it up, at least I would know where things started to go wrong! I am using this old paper, don't even remember which one is it.But it is acting rather dry.Not very encouraging...

Well I think I will post more shots tomorrow.Even if the outcome is not all that exciting.Its a learning curve..earlier I used to work on the whole painting at the same time.With this one I did an initial wash over the whole thing but then divided the work to specific areas; for better control. 

Here is the first shot, the scary stage!( I swear, I did stretch the paper!)

Zebra Watercolor

A4 Watercolor  on Arches Hot Pressed paper

I have been absent for quite some time from my blog. It might be due to that fact that I have been feeling rather uninspired lately.May be because of a few disastrous paintings..I really don't know why. I have been experimenting a lot but not quite getting there.Still hopeful, though that there might be light at the end of this tunnel. Trying hard to get to a place where I feel satisfied with what I have done. In the meantime I painted this zebra at the request of a lovely lady who bought it as well.

I know this is something that I do well, but what I want is to be able to tie all this up with a nice background so that it looks like a painting, not just an 'animal portrait' - if you know what I mean.

Well I hope all of you are doing well.See you soon!

Mousebird Watercolor

9"x7"

A small work from this morning.First wash was loose and then I finished it up with some fine feathers!

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 ;)

 I spent the whole of this Saturday in London, starting at 5.30 in the morning as I had another exam at about 8 am.That went quite well (and I am happy to say that now I feel quite relived; free of any worries and ready to indulge big time in to painting!) after finishing with it we( me and hubby) still had a whole day ahead so we decided to go to central London and were lucky to catch the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 203rd Watercolor exhibition on its closing day at the Mall Galleries! 

There were numerous wonderful works from artists all over, many of them so meticulously painted- actually most of the works on the display were quite large scale and very detailed - I am now left questioning my own ways. Am I too relaxed? Do I rush my paintings? Is my work good enough to hang in a gallery like that?..well, this visit has done what it should have done; got me thinking again.Time to take my art to another level,may be? 

I am not talking about changing my style, but definitely thinking about being a bit more thorough.

I might start one or two ambitious paintings very soon and see where it takes me!

Purple Panda III

9x12

Dabbled with some more blue and pink to create another "purple Panda"! One of my works this weekend.Hope you all had a Happy Easter.

Baby Ele

Baby Pink Elephant

9x12

 I am back to my easel..well; at least for the time being.Painted a lot this weekend as the weather did not permit to make any plans to venture out-- all dark and cloudy with rains off and on. Painted this little guy on my new Saunders Waterford block and LOVED the paper.This one is 'high white' 140 lb and just perfect for my style of painting; I used lots and lots of water as it was a great block, no loosening/buckling of paper at all.You can see me going overboard here; dropping all kinds of colors into this cute baby elephant..I enjoyed this painting so much!

Next one is a giraffe and it will make an appearance soon .Happy Easter, everyone.