Portrait drawing on Strathmore Toned paper

"You never outgrow drawing. It's so fundamental to everything." Debra Groessner

I haven’t done a portrait since long.  If you have been following my INSTAGRAM feed, you will know that am into landscape painting these days, both in watercolor as well as pastel medium.

Today's post is a portrait drawing of a beautiful Rajasthani woman on "Strathmore Gray Toned  paper". This paper has a very soft textured surface which works perfectly for my portrait drawing skills. I have used a mix of graphite, charcoal and white pastel pencils to create the tonal variations in the portrait.

Strathmore gray toned paper pad can be purchased online from Amazon.in . I have both gray as well as the toned tan paper pad which I purchased from Blick Art Materials, USA.

"A Glance"

Portrait drawing on Strathmore toned paper

Size 6" X 8"

To know more about the pencils used for the above portrait you can CLICK HERE , ie  my earlier post where I have discussed in detail regarding the same.

 To browse through my latest artworks and techniques you can visit my INSTAGRAM feed and share my works if they inspire you. Thanks.

Portrait drawing on Canson Mi Teintes paper

"Photography is an immediate reaction, drawing is a meditation." Henri Cartier

While having a holiday in Sikkim, we happened to stay in a homestay in Hee Bermiok, which being high up in the mountains was an adventure in itself. Today’s portrait is of beautiful woman, Deomaya Chettri, the mother of the homestay owner.

 I watched her morning till night, as she got busy in different day today activities. One morning she was busy drying the freshly dug out onions in the sun. With her permission I photographed her so that I could do her portrait. It was such a memorable experience, meeting people in these pristine valleys and being a part of their life for a few moments.

I have used a mix of graphite and charcoal pencils along with white pastel pencil to complete this portrait. The charcoal pencil by "General" is of great help to achieve the darkest tonal values in the drawing.

"The Smile"

A Charcoal Portrait drawing on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size 5” X 7”

Canson Mi Teintes paper works great for portrait drawing. This paper has a rough textured surface on one side and a smooth one on the other. I personally prefer to use the smooth surface for both my “Portrait” and “Landscape” works. 

I have been posting my regular day today works on INSTAGRAM and you can browse through my feed to know what I am doing these days. My blogging has taken a backseat but I wish to revive it soon by posting regularly and sharing my thoughts and techniques on art.

Thank you for browsing through my artworks and supporting me in my art journey.

About Fabriano Aquarello water color paper

“Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art.” Leonardo Da Vinci

I have not posted anything in my blog for a long time now. However I have been painting and uploading my works regularly on my INSTAGRAM page, which takes a little less time and is fairly simple. Moreover it also helps me keep a record of my paintings, papers and paints I use etc.

Today’s post is a Still life painting of “A slice of Apple” on Fabriano Aquarello 200 gsm paper. I placed this cut apple near my kitchen window in the direction of sunlight, to get the desired composition.

I have been using Fabriano Aquarello 200 gsm paper for a quite some time now. I find this paper very good for the following reasons:

• It is acid free
• The colors stay bright on the surface
• It is made of 25% cotton, is a student grade paper but a high quality paper to begin with.
• Very economical compared to many other similar papers.

 This is my personal evaluation and from artist to artist the opinion always differs. I purchased my Fabriano Aquarello pad from Amazon.in , however there are many different online art stationery stores which sell this paper today and it can be 

A Slice of Apple

A water colour painting on Fabriano Aquarello 200gsm paper

Size 5” X 7”

The paints used for the above still life painting are Winsor And Newton Cotman tubes and find them really good for the price that I have paid for it. I purchased individual tubes of those colors which I use predominantly in most of my paintings. 

Thank you for browsing through my artworks and do go through my INSTAGRAM feed to view some of my latest works and techniques.