Wednesday 28 January 2015

Plein air painting - a new beginning

"En Plein Air" is a French expression which means "in the open air". 

Charcoal painting of a tree as seen at Kharghar Central Park during a morning walk. Part sketching done in the open air and details completed at home using the reference photograph. 

I have used Fabriano Academia paper to create this sketch. 

Charcoal sketching of tree at Kharghar Central park by Manju Panchal

A morning at the Park
Charcoal sketching on Fabriano paper
Size 5" X 7"

Plein air sketching using charcoal medium was fairly a good and comfortable experience as I had to carry just my Charcoal tool box and a Fabriano sketch book. But if I have to do the same with my Pastel set to create a landscape, I will need to organise myself a bit. A limited palette in pastels to begin with do just fine.


Niagara Falls, in charcoal medium

“Drawing is like making an expressive gesture, with the advantage of permanence.” Henri Matisse

I finally completed my charcoal painting of Niagara Falls which has taken a long number of hours. It is sized 16" X 16" and is done on FAVINI paper. I framed it with black mountboard around it and a 1.5" thickness black frame made of fibreboard. When I started this particular work I was using Camel and KOH-I-NOOR charcoal pencil. Later in the final layers I have used Conte A Paris and General charcoal pencil too. I did not use any fixative as I did not feel the requirement. The painting is framed under the glass for protection and long durability.


Charcoal drawing of Niagara Falls by Manju Panchal

Niagara Fall
Charcoal painting on FAVINI paper
Size 20" X 20" ( Including the frame )

Framed Charcoal painting of Niagara Falls by Manju Panchal

Framed painting of Niagara Falls

For any inquiry related to my paintings you can write to me at manjupanchal@hotmail.com

If you wish to see some of my latest artworks you can visit my Instagram site wherein I post my works more regularly. Thank you for browsing through my blog. 🙏

Monday 26 January 2015

Charcoal sketching on Canson paper

Created this tree trunk on coloured Canson Mi Tentes paper using charcoal pencil and white pastel pencil. The upper part of the tree trunk was in shadow created by the foliage, and the lower part was exposed to the bright sunlight. Came across this tree during one of my morning nature trails. 



Tree trunk in the wild
Size 5" X 7"
Charcoal sketching on Canson paper

My art works can also be viewed on my facebook page

Wednesday 21 January 2015

Small study work in water colours

Created a very small study work using water colour medium, wet on wet technique.
Used wax ( water resistant ) to create reflections on the water. The paints used are Camel Artist quality water colour tubes.

Water colour painting of sunrise ( study work ) by Manju Panchal

Sunrise ( Study work )
Water colour painting on Indian hand made paper
Size 3" X 4.5"

Soft pastel painting of snow covered mountains

Having created a lot of forest landscapes in soft pastels, I decided to do a small piece of work with mountains as my subject. Therefore I selected a photograph from my HOLIDAY COLLECTION ie The snow covered mountains of Kunzum Pass in Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh. ( 4551 m above sea level ). We visited Spiti valley in June 2013 and the scenic beauty all along the way was mesmerising. 

The Soft pastel painting has been created on Canson Mi Tentes paper using Mungyo and Koh-I-Noor soft pastels.


Soft pastel painting of Kunzum Pass in Spiti valley ( Himachal Pradesh ). By Manju Panchal

Kunzum Pass
Soft pastel painting on Canson paper
Size 5" X 7"

My paintings can also be seen on my facebook page

Monday 19 January 2015

Getting back to paintings after a long break.

After a long break of holidays and other commitments, getting back to paintings and sketchings takes a little effort. However once you get started it feels good. 
I recently installed the latest version of Adobe photoshop and am editing some of my old works done using water colour medium. 

I am slowly uploading my works one at a time on my Facebook page which I created recently

The water colour paintings of seascapes as below are works done by me in the past using Camel water colour tubes and Winsor and Newton cakes. 

Water colour painting of a seascape by Manju Panchal


Water colour painting of a seascape by Manju Panchal

water colour painting on Indian handmade paper. By Manju Panchal

Water colour paintings



Thursday 1 January 2015

Early morning at Matheran - Soft pastel painting


A morning walk through the muddy pathways of Matheran ( Hill station close to Mumbai ), the sunlight diffusing through the dense foliage, lighting up some parts of the forest floor.

The more I paint NATURE, the more it inspires me. Everything out there seems so perfect. Since vehicles are not allowed in this hill station, there are no permanent roads and everytime one sets out, one has to walk through some muddy pathway which has trees lined up all around. In addition there are rocks, slopes, twigs broken branches which all add up to make for a good composition.

Matheran landscape painting in soft pastels by Manju Panchal

Somewhere beyond
Size 8" X 12"
©Manju Panchal