Bowl of Lemons

 6"x 6", Acrylic on Canvas

I enjoyed painting this Still life which will be part of my 6x6 Kitchen Painting Series. Thanks to Ms. Lela Stankovic for providing this lovely setup photograph on her PADT website (Paint and Draw Together Challenge) for artists to paint!

Drama on the High Seas

I painted this piece today for my teenaged son, who loves old ships. This is from the Assassins Creed game scene.

14"x14", Acrylic on Canvas

Pluto

This adorable doggy "Pluto", was a commissioned painting. Enjoyed painting this piece. With this, am beginning to feel comfortable painting animals. :)

14"x14", Acrylic on Canvas

Miniature Painting- "Caught in the storm"

  

2.25"x 3", Acrylic on Canvas

This is my first miniature painting. Had fun painting it. It was requested by my son who loves ships and plans to place this on his study desk. When it comes to creative satisfaction, I realised, size of the painting doesn't matter at all. Its experiencing the joy of bringing a blank canvas to life that matters! :)

Still Life with Oranges

6"x6", Acrylic on Canvas

Enjoyed painting this still life with oranges and jug. The purpose of this exercise was to try using complimentary colors, such as blue and orange. It has worked well, since these colors are pleasing to the eye. Plan to do paintings of other complimentary color sets as well. 

"Sit by the Palms" - Plein-air painting

12"x16", Acrylic on Canvas

This painting started as a plein-air exercise at a recent workshop that I attended. I finished it in my home studio.


Here are a few glimpses of the process...

 

Scene selection

Sketching 

Sketch 

Blocking in stage

Painting process

Nearing completion

   

Elks grazing in the morning light

41"x27",  Acrylic on Canvas

Enjoyed painting this scene of Elks grazing in the Jewel Meadow park. These are Roosevelt Elks or Olympic Elks found primarily in the pacific northwest of the US. And this painting is purely my interpretation of the actual scene.

The fairly big size painting posed some challenges. It required me to constantly step back and adjust the value relationships between different elements.The meadow required many rounds of glazing. Achieving the subtle light/color shifts in the grass and flowers took a while compared to other parts of the painting. At one stage, I got frustrated and stopped painting for two days. But the break helped me understand how to go about it and I resumed until I could pull it off!

In this painting, I was also experimenting to achieve color harmony which has always been a struggle for me. Composing this scene was challenging and fun. Various photographic references with some imagination helped. Took some artistic liberty in introducing a small pond, highlighting flowers and playing with the background light in the trees, to achieve an overall satisfying scene. And, this is one of the reasons I enjoy painting. :)

Graceful Graze

16"x20", Acrylic on Canvas

Got done with this painting today. It was fun to paint this scene which had been in my mind for quite sometime. Painting the grass seemed challenging, Thankful to my son for making me add few flowers in there :)

"Paravur lake" - study painting

11.5" x 8", Acrylic on Canvas

This is a small plein-air study of Iake Paravur. I loved painting this scene on location. Being my first plein-air painting, it was a wonderful experience. I was on a trip to Kerala state last month, and visited Paravur lake at Nedumgolam. The lake is part of the famous Kerala backwaters.  Here are some pictures of my set up..

Beneath the Pond

Acrylic on wrapped canvas, 12"x16"

This is a whimsical art and I enjoyed painting this under-the-pond scene. Its fun once in a while to break all rules of reality :-). This was a commissioned work.

Yumthang Valley

Acrylic on Canvas, 12"x16"

Got this painting done today and creating this scene on canvas was such a joy. Yumthang valley in the state of Sikkim is a picturesque place situated in the north eastern part of India. We visited this place couple of years ago in May, and I was in awe of the beauty of the Himalayan mountains all around. Come spring, the valley is laden with the vibrant rhododendron flowers which come in an array of colours such as pink, red, purple and white.

I took many pictures here, and this scene was chosen for my painting. Here is the reference picture.I added in the rocks,more flowers, clouds and did some colour shifts. What is satisfying is, since I intended this as a small study before doing a larger one, I did not get worked up, was not afraid to experiment and got done very quickly in about three sittings.

Morning in the Woods

Acrylic on Canvas, 24"x 36"

Since a month, painting has been keeping me busy, for a change :-). Got done three of them. One of them was my first commissioned painting, which I shall post later.
I enjoyed painting this scene from a reference photo. Added in the deer and experimented with the foliage.  In my opinion, painting bigger just feels visually better, especially landscapes. This was also a learning experience in terms of adjusting the values. Achieving the right values when there are many colors in the painting is tricky in the beginning. Its easier when you have just two or three colors to play with. 

Ships Ahoy!

Acrylic on Canvas, 24" x 36"

I enjoyed painting this fantasy scene for my 11yr old son. He loves drama on high seas involving ships and pirates of the bygone days.

Its the first time I'm painting a fairly big size (24"x 36"), which required me to stand and paint for the most part. The process of conceptualizing this painting was interesting.  Each of the elements was referred from various photographs and putting them all together was the challenge. Deciding the color scheme, painting the choppy sea and bringing out the lights and darks in the painting were the other challenges. Overall, it was a fun project and my son is eagerly waiting to hang it in his room.

To give you an idea briefly, here is how I achieved my composition-

Kayaking on Lake George

Acrylic on canvas, 12" X 14"

This is from a reference photograph of Lake George, NY, that I had in my collection. What drew me to paint this scene, are the colours in the foliage and the Kayakers seeming to have a carefree time on the lake.

Art Exhibition and Musings

Finally, for the first time, my paintings stepped out of my house and got showcased. :) :)  This happened on the occasion of Women's Day which was celebrated in our apartment complex yesterday. Here I am at my stall with acrylic paintings on display. I enjoyed the whole time, and to my happiness, four of my paintings got sold with a few more in waiting list. A small step in the art world, but a boost to my confidence. The plusses were great- got many appreciations, got to know many other artists in our community, some approached me for commissioning big pieces for their homes, many mothers approached me to start classes for kids etc.. etc...I felt a bit overwhelmed. Got me thinking after I came home. There were so many opportunities beckoning me in this field! Should I paint to sell or to please myself? What I like to paint as an artist need not necessarily be liked by buyers. Should I paint big or small? Many people preferred large size art for their drawing rooms!  I'm not sure yet.  One day, I know I'll have to strike a balance... But as of now, I will paint for the joy of it and will be happy if something good comes out of it in the process.

Here are a few other pictures and peek into my stall...

Organising everything before the programme

Alpine Glory

Oil on Canvas, 19" X 14"

I just finished painting this scene today. Yay! this is my first oil painting and am quite satisfied with the results.This scene was referenced from a photograph taken by me from the train ride to Jungfraujoch (top of Europe) in Switzerland during my trip to Europe. I have to admit, personally, that oil painting is a messy affair, what with the smells of  linseed oil and turpentine right under your nose! Nevertheless, I enjoyed painting with the satisfaction of the beauty of the Alps slowly unfolding on the canvas.The beauty of Alps is truly mesmerising and I felt I had taken the trip again during the whole time I was painting. I have many more photos of my trip and plan to do some more in the course of time.

Here is me, enjoying the train ride :)

Fenced in

Acrylic on canvas, 18"x13"

After seeing so many beautiful snow paintings lately, I felt like painting a winter scene too. And here is one, from one of my handy references. Alas, it never snows in my part of the world, but, painting this scenery did help get into the mood. One of the joys of painting! :)

The Lacemaker

Acrylic on Canvas, 13"x13"

Johannes Vermeer's "Lacemaker" (1669-1670) is a charming little painting displayed in Louvre museum, Paris. I was fortunate to visit Louvre three years ago and admire many beautiful paintings, but this one missed my eye.This is my version of the same done for PADT challenge. While it seemed a little intimidating to attempt, the subject was so pretty, I went for it. This is the first time I'm painting a human face and I'm happy with the results, more so because I completed it in less time. Importantly, it has given me confidence to attempt old masters' paintings in future. Also, doing this painting was a good exercise in studying values and tones. Here, of course I couldn't muster enough courage to keep half her face in shadow as in the original. I preferred to lighten her.



Joy Ride

Acrylic on Canvas, 12"x10"

This fantasy painting is done for the "Traveling Chicken" Blog that features a small ceramic chicken which globetrots to meet different artists who host Ms. Chicken to paint it in their style and setup. This is a fun project to do and I enjoyed having her over here, in India, to pose for my painting.
I kept the piece colourful and cheerful with the intention of highlighting India's current festive mood during Dussehra and Navratri (celebrated this month). I challenged myself to project the city I live in and at the same time, showcase to some extent the culture and traditional artforms of  diverse India. To know more about this painting, you can visit the blog where it is published- http://travel-chicken.blogspot.com.

Doing this painting was a shift from my usual style wherein I got a chance to incorporate both-realism in the background and kiddy art in the foreground. My kid gave me a thumbs up and this probably will go to his room. :)

Flower Maiden

Acrylic on Canvas, 11"x15"

I haven't painted any sculpture before, until now. Painting this Flower maiden was a good experience. I decided, if I get the sculpture right, then I'll paint the rest of it. So I first painted the maiden before anything. I later realised the result would have been better if it had been painted in oils, especially with regards to the folds of the fabric. But since I don't have much patience for the slow drying oils, I stuck to acrylics. Anyway, I think on the whole, it has come out okay.The toughest part was getting the face right. I'm happy with that one coming out well. This goes as a submission to Artistic Sentiments Challenge. Here is the ref photo posted by Dana Marie.