Step by step soft pastel painting - Road to Spiti

 “The important thing is to create. Nothing else matters; Creation is all.” Pablo Picasso

The Spiti holidays ( Himachal Pradesh ) happened in 2013. But the memories are so fresh. By painting a landscape scene from my travel journey, I make it all the more memorable. The winding roads, high up in the mountains, carved out by cutting through the mountains, so people like us can enjoy the beauty of the unseen wonders of this part of the world. So grateful to all those who worked so hard and made it happen.

We were so overwhelmed by the landscape around the roads, that we took frequent breaks to soak in the lovely atmosphere and of course to capture few photographs for reference ( For my future artworks). I still haven’t painted them all. Each one being very close to my heart. 

Road to Spiti

A soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size 5” X 7”

Step 1. I lightly draw the outline using a white pastel pencil on a medium toned Canson Mi Teintes paper

             ( Used Twilight shade here ). Using  Mungyo and Kohinoor Toison Dor soft pastels, I then use 

            Very light touch to fill in the respective colours keeping in mind the tonal values and perspective.      

Step 2. Once I have covered the entire surface of the paper with the respective colours as per my 

             interpretation ( The photo captures all the colours. Whereas in reality the distant objects are

             dull in colour and do not have any details or sharp outlines ). I lightly blend at places using

             my finger.

Step 3. In the final layer I add more colours to create depth. I also use pencils at this stage to put in 

            details at several places as required. That about completes the painting. I normally do not use any 

            fixative as I personally feel that it dulls the colours. I use a butter paper on top and staple it at

            one end and then keep it in the folder until framed.

My art studio

With my collection of soft pastels

And pastel pencils

Kohinoor Toison Dor 

120 soft pastels ( Foldable box )

Purchased from Art Lounge

Sennelier extra soft

120 half stick 

Paris Collection 

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Key Monastery - Spiti valley

"Connecting shapes is most important, after that comes the tonal values. Colour comes last."
Joseph Zbukvic ( Australian water colour artist )

The above quote by Joseph Zbukvic is so very true. Watching his works is like magic unfolding before your eyes. Zbukvic creates absolutely amazing water colour paintings and its a pleasure always to go through his works.

When I visited Spiti Valley about three years ago, I got an opportunity to visit two beautiful Buddhist monastries, namely Dhankar Monastery and Key Monastery. I created a soft pastel painting of Dhankar Monastery in May last year. Key Monastery was on mind too, however it never really happened but the visual image of the scene was indelibly printed in my memory. I finally took the decision to paint this beautiful scene using my water colour palette.

Key Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located on top of a hill at an altitude of 13668 ft above sea level, close to the Spiti river, in Spiti valley, Himachal Pradesh. It is the biggest monastery of Spiti Valley and a religious training centre for llamas. It is believed to be at least a thousand years old. Courtesy : Wikipedia

It is a heavenly experience to be at a place like this away from the hustle bustle of the city life. Some days when I am free and not painting I simply go through all the photographs taken while on my trip to Spiti Valley. It refreshes the mind with beautiful memories and momentarily you seem to escape to a different world altogether.

Key Monastery

Water colour painting on hand made paper

Size 7" X 10"

I truly enjoyed creating this painting in water colour medium and have plans to do a few more soon.

Keep browsing and do look through my INSTAGRAM account too where in I have recently started uploading the images of my works.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Dhankar Monastery in Spiti Valley

The soft pastel painting as below has been inspired by my visit to Dhankar Monastery which is

in Spiti valley ( Himachal Pradesh ).

From Shimla to Kunzum pass, we had a memorable journey three years back. On the way

we got the opportunity to see some spectacular mountain views especially in Spiti valley.

I have a great number of photographs shortlisted for painting and the one below is one of

them. The white houses against the backdrop of the mountains in shadow made for a

very interesting composition.

Dhankar Monastery is situated at an elevation of 3890 metres, between the towns of Kaza 

and Tabo, in Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh. It stands precariously on the fragile

mountains which are slowly weathering. There is a tar road connecting to Kaza, so one 

can visit this place by a four wheel drive. The place is quiet and the view is captivating

all around. 

Dhankar Monastery
Soft Pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper.
Size 6" X 8"

As of now I am taking a break from my forest paintings and am trying to do more of

Mountainscapes. Recently came across a beautiful blog GEOTRIPPER by Garry Hayes,

a teacher of Geology. The blog is very informative and I enjoyed going through it.
Wetcanvas.com is another great site for artists looking for information.

The next painting on my list is another scene from Phi Phi Leh with limestone cliffs
and turquoise blue waters. I also wish to paint a waterfall scene from Iceland ie
Gulfoss. Iceland was visited by my husband some time back and I have some amazing
photographs from there.

Another view from KOMIC village in Himachal Pradesh ( Spiti valley )

"To draw, you must close your eyes and sing." Pablo Picasso

The soft pastel painting below is from another view as seen from KOMIC village in Himachal Pradesh. ( 4513 mts elevation, one of the highest villages in Asia ). From this particular view the snow clad mountains could be seen at a distance. The otherwise barren land surprisingly had little vegetaion on its slopes and we also found patches of snow at some places. It was the month of June so the snow was in its melting stage.

Komic village is close to Kaza and from here we went to Kumzum Pass. I have painted a few scenes from Kumzum and wish to do some more.

Way and Beyond 

Soft Pastel painting

Size 6" x 9"

My signature can be seen on bottom left of the painting and it is done using a black pastel pencil.

Thanks for browsing through my works. More of my works can be seen on Instagram.