Working with Strathmore 400 series water color paper

"Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art." Leonardo da Vinci

( Follow my latest works and techniques on INSTAGRAM and if you love my works and they inspire you, share them with your friends. )

I have a lot many different kinds of water color papers in my collection and for the past many months I have been exploring all of them in an attempt to zero in on the one that works best for my technique. Today I am posting a small water colour study on Strathmore water color paper. 

This painting has been inspired by a beautiful view that we came across while we were at Langkawi island in Malaysia. The distant mountains, an anchored sail boat and foliage drooping from the upper left was an appealing composition. I have worked exclusively with Winsor and Newton Cotman colors for this work. 

Paradise

Water colour painting on Strathmore water color painting

Size 5"X 7"

Strathmore 400 series water color paper is acid free, 300 gsm and hence a great paper to work with but when compared with Chitrapat handmade paper and Arches, I found it a little difficult to work with wet on wet technique as the paper has the tendency to dry up fast. So I had difficulty in doing the sky and the ocean. However what I loved about this paper is that lifting and scraping color was quite easy. So in future probably for my still life kind of work I may use but for landscapes I have decided to go with Chitrapat and Arches CP paper.

Follow my latest works and techniques on INSTAGRAM and if you love my works and they inspire you, share them with your friends.

Thank you for browsing through my artworks.

Water colour painting of a seashore from Langkawi island, Malaysia

"Because watercolour actually moves on the paper, it is the most active of all mediums, almost a performance art." Nita Engle

The above quote truly states the beauty of water colour medium. It is a very challenging medium. I start with a very definite plan, create a small study sketch and then I paint the whole scene in my mind before I actually begin my work. But somehow you can never control the process completely. In water colour painting, I feel, art just happens. One has to be quick with the brush and the flow. It all gets over even before you know it. Water colour is fun and I am loving every moment of it.

My today's painting is inspired by a beautiful beach that we came across while we were at Langkawi island, Malaysia. It was very quiet. There were not many tourists around. The shadows of the trees, branches and the foliage mingled with the ocean waves gently crashing at the shore. I spent some great moments at this stunning beach. Through this painting, I have tried to capture those moments.

"In every outthrust of headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth." Rachel Carson. Beautiful quote.

The shadows at the beach

Water colour painting on Fabriano CP paper

Size 8.5" X 11.5" 

The tree foliage in this painting was a challenge. Creating it as study work in a small sketchbook comes easy as I am more free with the brush movements. However, when I am doing a bigger size work such as above, the brush strokes kind of get a little restricted. May be it is the fear of making a mistake. With time and experience I shall be doing more loose and free brush movements which in turn will bring out some happy outcomes. Until then, I shall continue my water colour journey painting different subjects.

.CLICK HERE to view a soft pastel painting of a beach from Langkawi.

Thank you for visiting my blog and browsing through my works.

Painting a beach scene in water colour medium

"You only fail when you stop trying." Albert Einstein. A very meaningful quote by Einstein.

When I paint, I just paint. I do not think about failure or success. To me the journey of painting is more important rather than the final outcome. It's a day today routine. To paint, to try out something new. If it does not work, then I plan out an alternate technique to get the desired result. End of the day it makes me happy that I tried out rather than just sitting over it.

Given below is a Simple beach composition which I tried out on Arto Campap watercolour paper using the water colour medium. I created this work using one of my photographs from Langkawi, Malaysia.

I am quite happy with this paper but unless I create a few more works I will really not be convinced about using it for long term in the future. So the plan is to keep on painting different subjects to understand more about the different features of the paper and get accustomed to it. I am also in the process of checking out the Fabriano Artistico Cold pressed paper which

Morning at the beach

Water colour painting on Arto Campap paper

Size 5" X 7"

"Seashore" as a subject appeals to me a lot and I don't think I will ever get tired or bored of painting beaches. CLICK HERE to view one of my favourite beaches that I have painted in the soft pastel medium. I will get back to soft pastels but after a little while. As of now I want to continue my water colour painting adventure.

I post my paintings on INSTAGRAM and if you like my paintings please follow and share.

Thank you for all your support.

Painting the greens

We were at Kilim Geoforest in Langkawi, Malaysia, two years back. ( Ecotourism 

destination )The soft pastel painting below is from a scene at one of the beaches that we 

visited while we were touring the island. 

When I see something beautiful in nature I photograph the place so that I can create an 

original painting in future referring to the same. However some scenes are complicated 

and intimidating so I keep postponing my decision to paint them. This scene has been one 

of them but the place was so beautiful that I knew some day I would be painting it.

I finally took the decision of getting it started last week using my soft pastel medium.

It went through various stages of correction but nevertheless I completed it. 

Some art works become a source of great learning experience and this happened to be one

of them. I had to paint the foliage in background as well as in the foreground, taking care of

the cool and warm colours. The greens cannot be created by mixing of different pastels as this

is a dry medium and too many layers can cause the "MUDDY EFFECT". Hence I have to

depend on all the greens available from different brands. 

This particular painting has lots of greens and blues in it and to tone it down I have added

the warm browns at places. Overall it was a tedious affair but lots of fun too. Every painting

poses a different challenge and this challenge keeps the interest going.

Amidst the greens
Soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper.
Size 6" X 9"

Kilim Geoforest park is a beautiful place with an ancient heritage, countless natural wonders, 

home to myriad of flora and fauna, and a vibrant local community of Kilim village. It is a must

visit place for all nature lovers, artists and photographers.

One of my favorite paintings from Langkawi that I painted in 2014 is as below. 

Soft pastel painting on Fabriano Tiziano paper

SOLD

My plan as of now is to continue working on both Landscapes as well as Portraits

and to blog more regularly. Will be posting another soft pastel painting soon

created referring to my recent visit to Phi Phi Islands.

Thanks for browsing.

Adding colours to a Seascape ( Langkawi island )

The pastel painting below is created with reference to my photograph taken at  Langkawi 
( Malaysia ). All my recent works of beaches have been created on Twilight paper by Canson. 

I decided on this reference photograph as it gave me the opportunity to work on the background trees and forest, wherein I have not created any sharp edges and the details too are subdued. I have added darker and more saturated colours in the foreground tree which is casting its shadow on the sand.

Morning at the beach

Soft pastel painting on Canson paper

Size 6" x 8

Centai Kok - White sandy beach of Langkawi

Given below is a small study work done in soft pastels on red coloured Canson paper. The beach is Centai Kok from Langkawi, Malaysia. Langkawi island is in the north west of Peninsular Malaysia and has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We visited almost all the beaches on the island as we had hired a car and that made it very easy for us.

Instead of the normal black or dark brown coloured paper, this time I chose a red coloured paper to see its effect on the overall painting. Little red of the paper shows through in the painting and I feel its ok as it adds a little warmth at places. Overall I feel using a complementary colour at times is not a bad idea.

White sandy beach

Soft pastel painting on Red Canson paper

Size 6" x 9"

Painting a beach scene has been a different experience altogether as now I have the sky element which in turn will have clouds. Must try out more such compositions where a major part is sky.

KILIM GEOFOREST - A painting in soft pastels ( Malaysia )

While we were in Langkawi  ( Malaysia ) in July last year, we took a boat ride from Tanjung Rhu fishing village which took us through the mangroves and later to KILIM geoforest area, rich in flora and fauna. Beautiful carved ancient rocks, next to the blue green waters made for an amazing sight.

The scene below is on one of the islands which we visited and we spent an hour here all by ourselves.

I have used soft pastels to create this 11" x 15" painting and this time I just remembered to take a picture after my first block in of colours. After the blocking in is done I spray the painting with fixative and then I go ahead to create the further details.

The first stage of block in of the colours.

Reflections

Soft Pastel Painting on Fabriano Tiziano paper

Size 11" x 15"

Available for sale

QUOTE

"Art is not what you see but what you make others see" by Edgar Degas