Donkey's Ears

11" x14"

I had n't touched my watercolors for  many, many days.What could be better for getting back into the mode -- my favorite subject- animals!With them I don't have to worry much about accuracy of color and facial features and can play around as much as I want....this makes the exercise more fun :) Also need to populate the Etsy shop for coming season.So here goes...

P.S:  This cutie has already been sold!

Charcoal drawings

9"x12"

                   Another drawing on toned paper using just black and white charcoal on Grey paper.

Drawing - Pen and Ink Portrait

Pen and ink Drawing A3 size smooth Bristol Paper

For last few days I have been doing is quite varied stuff - working more on drawings, particularly life drawings.Joined  a new group on Saturday mornings. Pen and ink is one of the new venture,too.Using Indian ink with brush and pen to create portraits and figures.

Got myself some acrylics too (but so far have not been able to put that first brush stroke on the blank canvas!) Hope you all have been well!

Hiatus

I have been away from blogging for a little while and it is going to be like this for a few more days.Just dropped in to say 'hi' and let everyone know that I am alive! Its just that I have been restless and unhappy with the way my work was going ( nowhere!) So I decided to take a break from posting what I am doing everyday; taking that pressure off- and creating for myself for some time.
I am going to explore a new medium, Acrylics.And work some more on my drawings; adding pen and ink.
I hope that by the end of this month, I would be able to find some kind of direction.

Meanwhile I am posting some pics of my latest Group show in which I submitted only one pastel painting
"Street Musicians". Here I am posing with fellow artist and a very good friend Sherry!

See you all soon, keep painting!

Pencil and Charcoal Portrait

Pencil and Charcoal on Smooth Bristol Paper

14"x11"

This whole week has been rather unproductive.I have been painting but not the way I would like to.Threw away a lot of paintings! I feel there has to be a change..not really sure what I am going to do about it.

To my old friends...'Is it strange that my styles change with the medium? I am drawing realistically; and painting loose.Makes me feel weird.Is it wrong? Should I loosen up with pencil or tighten up with color?!

I may be offline for a few days and paint more...find out what is right for me.

Meanwhile, this is a sketch I did of my beloved niece Diya. She is my sister's daughter- a beautiful vivacious girl of 16,  I love her very much!

Another news--NITRAM charcoal featured me in their latest newsletter.I wish I could share the link but I will have to wait till they archive it on their site/blog.

Chit Chat

Chit Chat

12"x9"

A new figurative work.I cropped the reference picture of a lot of people sitting around in a park, to focus on these three women.I like to paint figures but I am not sure about my results.This time I have tried to paint them realistically; spending a bit of time on this small painting.

Portrait of a Pretty Girl in Funky Sunglasses

17"x 14" 

A portrait after a long time.This is a friend of my husband and the reference picture was taken at a charity event on a gloriously sunny day as she stood texting away! I had tried a new paper- ''Fabriano Artistico'' for this and though I liked the paper in general; it was difficult to control the paint on large areas...or may be its just me-- I am just not patient enough!:)

Anyway, I am thinking of submitting this one to an upcoming exhibition where the theme is 'recreation'.Texting can be counted as 'recreational activity' ..right?

Tall Tale

9"x12"

Here is another cutie..I am getting to know them.Next one might have different colors,though.I might experiment some more...

This weekend was beautiful, and I happened to visit a farm to see various kinds of deer, sheep, goats,roosters, --a whole lot of them...there were some very cute donkeys and ponies,too!

Can't wait to paint some.(Its looks like I love all the grass eating animals)

Standing Tall -Portrait of a Giraffe

9"x12"

After a week of being busy elsewhere,I enjoyed painting this one today.Feels good! Looks like I will be painting some more giraffes-they are cute :)

Caricature Art

This is Alex, a colleague of my husband and an avid Beatles fan.It was his 40th birthday and I was given the task to paint a caricature of him in John Lennon style.It took some work but turned out well...Alex seems quite happy with it!It was done on Pastel Mat with soft pastels and pastel pencils.

Crimson Crown Rooster

9"x12" Waterolor

Last 6-7 days have not been good to me... had a sore throat with a lot of coughing and hardly any sleep at night.With this the old cough has returned,it seems.The specialist's appointment is still a good month away.So all I can do is drink a lot of honey-lemon-water/tea. But painting always takes a hit when I am not feeling 100% well.Did not paint at all for last whole week- this morning I decided to break the dry spell by painting some loose pieces.This rooster is the only one who made it to my blog post! 

The focus was his crown so I kept the background and even the feathers at minimum with some salt texture thrown in.What do you think?

The Gentle Giant_ Elephant Portrait

21"x14" Arches NOT Paper

Going big again, painted on a half sheet of Arches.The composition was powerful so I thought that the impact would be greater in a larger size.I am more or less happy with this one, though the palette was not planned and I floundered a bit ...but all is well that ends well! 

I am loving painting elephants:)

Blue

8" x 8"

Now,a blue cow :) Art is like therapy to me, helps alleviate my mood when I am feeling blue...the day was stressful, my mind full of doubt, fears of having made some wrong decisions- but since I could not change that in any way, I painted.And painted... already feeling better!

Black Sheep in Watercolor

"Not Sheepish..."

10"x 8"

Last afternoon's work...I am still looking for a perfect plan to handle animals with fur- but that hasn't happened yet.Till then it's 'trial and error 'method. Even this piece was brought back from the brink of disaster- just in time!
This black faced sheep looks quite confident, not 'sheepish' at all!
By the way, this painting was done on a new paper that I ordered recently, Hahnemuhle Anniversary Watercolour Block 425 gsm.I have used this brand for the first time- and I must admit it was a great paper to work with.Textured, but did not 'drink' the paint like some others do.I think I am in love with this paper.Just hope they keep producing it.

I am kinda stuck with this purple- need to experiment more.Can anyone suggest a Blue to try?I have cerulean, Ultramarine(green shade),Turquoise,Cobalt deep for now- anything else that I should try? All suggestions welcome.

Pastel Portrait of a Little girl in White Dress

Soft Pastels 12"x 16"

This is what I have been busy doing lately- a portrait of my lovely little niece.She is a hyper active three year old and you almost never catch her sitting still! Her mom clicked a picture of her in one such rare moment -and finally I got one to paint!Well she looks like a very quiet little girl here, but looks are deceptive :)

Majestic III Elephant Art

14"x 10" watercolor painting

I can't stop painting them! Another one in the series... just trying out different approaches towards the same subject.Next one will have new colors, I promise-I wouldn't want to bore you.

Majestic-2

watercolor 10"x14"

Another one in 'Majestic' series.Elephants are fast becoming my favorite subjects- they have so much to offer...I can dabble here and there, experiment with color, create texture- they are indeed very forgiving.

I loved painting this big guy today..it was like meditation. I was lost for two hours, totally immersed in the painting.And I love the results, exactly what I wanted , for once:)

Spellbound-Watercolor Portrait

watercolor 6"x6"

This morning's work.I am trying to work on darker skin tones...

I am Back AND some good news...

Hi I am back from my trip to Birmingham and it was a lovely weekend ; though a bit rushed.
It was a shame that I could n't visit the grand Art Museum there even as I was in the vicinity- mainly due to shortage of time, and also because my 14 year old son was ''bored to death" as he trudged along! I am hoping that in another 1-2 years I would be able to leave him behind and be free to explore the world ...
While still in Birmingham, I checked my email and found to my delight that I had sold two paintings on Etsy!It was my first sale here and quite unexpected!Giving you link to keep the post short:
http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/artiart/sold?ref=shopinfo_sales_leftnav

Old Canal Walk

The Museum

Happy Together

( He doesn't look "bored to death" here, does he?!But that's what he told me a few minutes later.)

Peachy _ Watercolor Portrait

"Peachy"

10"x14"

A portrait after a gap, based on a beautiful picture by Sanja Gjenero I wanted to experiment more with color- intended to make her hair strikingly different in terms of color- but it did not turn out the way I wanted...I even thought  of chucking it into the bin after the hair disaster - but then went ahead and completed it.

Its beautiful summer here in UK, so the subject seems perfect! I am off to Birmingham to meet some friends over the weekend, see you all when I am back.