Sunday 8 May 2016

Phi Phi Leh island - A paradise on Earth


My second painting in "Phi Phi Leh" series just got completed. This painting is a cropped up
scene from a bigger photograph wherein the entire island could be seen as a big boulder
emerging from the ocean. My mobile photograph is not too clear, hence I am posting an image Courtesy :  travelblog.org ( This site refers to the island as Paradise lost and found and I totally
agree with it )

Approaching Phi Phi Leh . Photo courtesy Travelblog

Approaching Phi Phi Leh
Photo courtesy: Travelblog

We started out tour at around 11 am in the morning from Phi Phi Don in the Long Tail boat.
The next six hours were spent in admiration of the island, the cliffs, the crystal clear waters.
It was a visual treat. What I saw as an artist was a perfect harmony of colours in Nature.

The vertical limestone cliffs at Phi Phi Leh have a wide range of colours. As per my observation
and interpretation I have used the shades of blue, violet, green and brown. The crevices and
fissures have been painted with very dark colours. I have painted the distant cliffs in  much
lighter values to add atmospheric depth. There are sparkles of light on the water surface
which I have painted with a very pale shade of pink.

Soft pastel painting of Phi Phi Leh, near Phuket. By Manju Panchal

The Approach to Phi Phi Leh
Soft Pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper
Size 6"X 8"

These days I try and use more of my KOH-I-NOOR soft pastels as they are soft, and work
well on Canson Mi Teintes paper. I have used fixative only for the first layer. The second layer is
normally the final layer for me and Canson paper cannot take more than two layers of paint.

To know more about these island and to view photographs taken by tourists 
one can visit TRIPADVISOR.

My next soft pastel painting in progress is of my favourite scene from Himachal,
ie Dhankar Monastery in Spiti Valley. This painting has been long due
but for some reason I never got to start it. Now that I am already into
painting mountain scenes, I decided to start off with this too.


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