Mountain view at Matheran

"I would rather die of passion than of boredom." Vincent Van Gogh

Matheran is a very small hill station about 90 kms from Mumbai, in Raigad district of Maharashtra. It is located on the range of Western Ghats at a height of 800 m above sea level. It has been declared an Eco Sensitive Zone by the Government of India and being a vehicle free zone one gets to walk a lot in the laps of mother nature. Apart from dense forest, we get to see beautiful views of mountains and plateaus.

There are 38 designated points in Matheran from where one gets to see breathtaking views of the distant Ghats. To reach each point, it takes roughly forty to forty five minutes of walking through the red muddy pathways. 

I decided to paint this particular scene because it looked very beautiful, had great composition with distant hills and the warm mountains in the foreground. I got to use some of my earthen shades of pastels. There is so much to observe, so much to learn about the colours, the atmospheric perspective, the way landscape transforms with the change of the temperature. 

Mountain view
Soft pastel painting on Canson MT
Size 5"X 7"

I have visited Matheran a lot many times and have a great collection of photographs and sketches. Some of them are pretty complicated with dense forest, shrubs, grasses and sunlight perforating through the foliage and it needs a little analyzing and understanding before I set off to start them, but eventually I plan to do each and every one of them. One step at a time. 

I love painting and try doing some work on a daily basis. I can never get bored of my art, however when I do a particular medium for a very long time it does lead to a little saturation. At such times I get into my charcoal and other mediums which refreshes my mind instantly.

Through my blog I get to share my thought process in creating each work, my techniques, my experimenting and exploring and it is fun connecting with so many artists around the world. 

Thanks for all your support and do leave a comment so that I may know what you feel about my works.