Love

Pencil Portrait of my favorite subjects- my son with his little cousin.I would call this one a "hasty job" as I finished it in two days' span, instead of my usual 7-8 days..I hadn't worked in pencil for  long time and I worked on it -like there s no tomorrow! Could have done better with a little patience, I know :)
16"x12" mechanical pencil 0.3 and 0.7

Pristine_Portrait of a Little Girl

A leisurely Sunday, I had some time to spend with my paper and colors,finally!This cute little girl is painted from a photo of Vikram, my photographer friend.I have tried to paint in two sittings, this one- instead of my usual 'at one go' style..
watercolor on paper, 12" x9"

Entwined

Painted after what feels like a long gap! Entwined tree trunks- with a touch a abstract...Hope you enjoy it.
I certainly enjoyed painting this one:)
watercolor on cold pressed paper 140 lb
12"x9"

Buoyant

 A portrait of a happy looking village woman from India, in her traditional attire- saree; covering her head.This beautiful image was captured by a friend Vikram, who is a very talented photographer.
Watercolor 9"x 12"

Pretty Picture

I have been a little busy with life in past two weeks or so..not been able to paint at all. Posting here today is  a sketch I did sometime ago, and was not so happy about --(it didn't come out as I had wanted)
But it might inspire me to paint again, I hope!
Have  a Great Day!

For You, Sherry!

Its a portrait of Sherry, a fellow blogger and a dear friend :)
The reference pictures that she sent didn't reveal much of her character, each one of them being different- so I relied on my instinct and painted her as I perceived her!
I do hope you like it, and you recognise yourself in this portrait, Sherry! Enjoy :)

Midnight Rose

Here I have been trying to create an artwork combining both- the abstract and the realistic approach...(without much success, it seems!) I have also used some negative painting here.
The experiment with darks still continues...I am posting it here even if I am not happy about it - keeps life from getting boring :)
watercolor on paper
12" x 9"

Radiant

A watercolor study of a friend -- beautiful, young, and vivacious.The reference photo was taken recently at Bournemouth beach, UK.
Watercolor on cold pressed paper, 9"x12"

The Intense Gaze

I have been working on this sketch during past few days. I guess total time involved was around 10-12 hours.

This lady  happens to be a devotee who was busy reading her holy book at the 'Ganga Ghaat'( At the shores of the Ganges) in Rishikesh.She looked up when my husband clicked her picture but didn't mind much! Her gaze was intense and deep, so I was fascinated by her face.
Hope you enjoy this.
Pencil on paper, 16"x12"

Coconut Water

I have been missing doing portraits..so first thing I did when I sat to paint, was this boy :) - its an old reference photo taken from the net..(just a practice painting) He is enjoying coconut water straight from a green Coconut, as it is popularly done in southern parts of India.
The paper is 90 lb and it didn't take the washes very well ; just soaked up all paint I applied on it...
watercolor 9"x12"

Arrived...

I have arrived and in process of settling down in United Kingdom..The weather has been beautiful here in Basingstoke since my arrival on Thursday.The town is pretty, the view is very nice from my seventh floor apartment and I am loving it here!
The picture above was painted a few months back; just thought it would be nice to share it again; more so,as it shows my current state of mind--looking out for new avenues  and adventures!
I have been missing you all and I hope I will have something new to post here soon :)

Waiting - Portrait of a Young Woman

A watercolor study ..this one is more refined, added some details..wonder if its a good thing or bad!
12"x 9"

Blues..Once In a While

.
 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 :)