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.

Guilty Pleasure..

Life has taken me on a busy road again; have two exams to  clear in coming two weeks.Till then, art is a 'guilty pleasure' like the chocolate that I am not supposed to touch when I am on a diet!
I did sneak in a couple of small painting one evening- after I got really fed up with all the studying. A bright looking bird; its an African native,called oriole. Lovely color combination of black and yellow.

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.

Blue Hare

SOLD

This little one is just an explosion of colors- I didn't even draw him in pencil properly - I know them so well now :) Thought of using blue and yellow instead of browns.He turned out alright, vivacious and cheerful looking - what do you say?

Now I think I will be working on a couple of large pieces- people painting time!

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours just to get this drawing right on paper- a part I hate most.I like to dive in straight with colors, usually. Sometimes these large paintings fail- and it annoys me to have spent that much time on drawing for nothing! 

I saw these ladies sitting in a bus shed with their shopping all around them, catching their breath.The picture was quite small as  I had taken it from far away and I see not much detail.Still trying to capture this scene in color.Wish me luck!I do hope I do not abandon this one.

Owl Alert

7x10

Another owl..I did spend some time on this one, using first a basic wash and then adding the detail in various colors and etching out the feathers with a rigger. The paper was langton cold pressed which allows time to add detail.I have used mostly cobalt blue, opera pink, a bit of sepia for darker areas and yellow ochre for base.For his eyes I'v  used Indian yellow- though opaque, it still is quite a vivacious color..I like the way it uplifts the artwork when used sparingly.

Dairy Milk

16" x 12" Saunders Waterford Paper

Falling behind in posting, again! Well this one is the latest from the herd. I admit that I love painting the snouts so cows will start to appear more frequently now.I really enjoyed painting this one.Mostly its just cobalt blue and some pink rose mixed on the paper to create the effect of purple.And a bit of  yellow ochre on the rest of the body . A friend of mine mentioned that she looked like a ''Cadbury's cow" as she looks perfectly purple like the brand color of Cadbury.

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!

A couple of Elephants

12x16

SOLD

A loose rendering this time...subject is my all time favorite!Somehow they look even better when they are not alone.I have tried to keep myself from going into too much detail here, thus; retaining the freshness of this piece.

The Ostrich that Stayed

12x16

A sharp looking Ostrich; I am liking them quite a bit. Interestingly, my husband liked this one as well and agreed to keep it at home!So now it has found a place in the hallway; first addition to my new home.I have painted another one after this,will post is here soon.