Charcoal Drawing Sketch book

"I sometimes think there is nothing so delightful as drawing." Vincent Van Gogh

Posting two of my recent charcoal drawings in my "Charcoal sketch book" using charcoal pencil, willow charcoal and kneaded eraser. This particular sketch book has a history. I created it in Sept 2015, when I was travelling. At that moment I was looking for a book with butter paper in between for protecting my study works from smudging. When I did not find one, I went on to create one myself. CLICK HERE to read more about this book.

 By creating these small value studies, I get to simplify the landscape that I am working on. Now that my preliminary drawing is done and I am happy with the design, composition and placement of values, I can go ahead and recreate these paintings in a larger format in any medium that I desire.

A seashore at Langkawi

Size 4"X 5"

A scene from West Sikkim

Size 4" X 5"

Painting is fun but as mentioned in the quote as above by Vincent Van Gogh, the pleasure of getting back to simple drawings is something cannot be described in words. Another beautiful quote which speaks of significance of drawing is "Drawing is the bones of art. You have to be able to walk before you can run."Dion Archibald

Check out my "ART WORKSHOP" page to know about some of my upcoming workshops in this month and October.

Thanks you all for browsing through my artworks.

"Eye and Nose" Study of a Woman

"If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way." Martin Luther King Jr.

I am planning to do a Charcoal portrait drawing of a local Sikkimese woman whom I met I at Thangu, a small cozy village at an altitude of 13,500 ft, and 30 kms away from Lachen, in North Sikkim. We had stopped at Thangu early morning for breakfast before proceeding to Gurudongmar Lake.

There was something about her "Eyes" and the calm expression on her face, which appealed to me a lot. I got talking to her and later requested her permission to photograph her. She obliged and I am so grateful to her for that.

Before proceeding with the "Portrait" which I am planning to do on Canson Mi Teintes paper, I decided to spend some time doing a small "Eye and Nose study". 

Eye and Nose Study

On hand made paper

Size 4" X 6"

I created my first  "Portrait on toned paper" in 2015 . From then on, I have continued working on different toned papers. I purchased a few sheets of hand made paper as above from Paper Mart at Fort but I do not have any information regarding its being acid free. Therefore I use this paper for my "Study works" and for the final work I use CansonMT and Strathmore Toned paper.

If you are into "Portrait drawing", I would love to know about the paper that you use. You can leave the information in the "Comment" section below.

If you wish to browse through my other works, you can visit my INSTAGRAM page. Please share.
Thanks a lot for all your support.

On the way to Malshej Ghats - A water colour painting

"Challenges are what makes life interesting, and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." Joshua J Marine

My today's post is a water colour painting of a scene that I came across while I was on the way to Malshej Ghats. The paddy fields filled with water, cloudy sky and fog at the distance, I tried to capture the monsoon atmosphere.

Malshej Ghats is a mountain pass in the Western Ghats range in the Thane-Pune district of Maharashtra. It is nestled in the lofty rugged hills of Western Ghats. The journey to Malshej Ghats during the monsoons is absolutely amazing. There are innumerable waterfalls on the way and the green valleys all around is a refreshing sight. I have used Camlin Artist's water colour tubes for this particular painting.

On the way to Malshej Ghats

Water colour painting on Strathmore paper

Size 4.5" X 6"

"Painting a cloudy sky" has been on my mind since long and a place like Malshej Ghat gave me the opportunity to capture many beautiful foggy landscape scenes with dramatic skies in the background. I am planning to try out all of them. There is no particular technique in mind. Technique evolves with time and experience. 

Painting scenes such as above is going to be a great learning experience. To me art is not just about painting, its about exploring new horizons and educating myself further in a subject that I am very passionate about. 

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

A water colour painting of a view at Pangong Lake, Ladakh

"The only way to deep happiness is to do something you love to the best of your ability." 
Richard Feynman

Yestersday I watched a documentary on Richard Feynman, an American Theoretical Physicist and was very inspired by his life, works and philosophy. I went through some of his quotes and have posted one of my favorites to share it with all of you.

Today I am posting my third water colour study on Fabriano Artistico CP paper. I am beginning to like this paper. The subject that I have chosen is yet another beautiful view at Pangong Lake in Ladakh. At 14,270 ft above sea level, it is a stunning lake in the Himalayas and offers some great views for artists, photographs and nature lovers.

I worked a little slow on this painting and was more patient with the colour mixing, especially of the distant dry barren mountains. For the ocean I have used ultramarine blue from Camlin and Cerulean blue colour from Winsor and Newton Cotman series. I purchased the Cotman series quite some time back and now am putting it to use as some colours have started drying up.

At Pangong Lake, Ladakh

A water colour painting on Fabriano Artistico CP paper

Size 5" X 7"

I am also posting the initial stage of this painting where in I have just completed the first layer of colours for the background and the lake. For this particular painting, I tried to keep the painting procedure very simple. I finished the lake in one layer itself.

Initial stage of the painting

At Pangong Lake

Thank you for browsing through my works.

Water colour painting of a mountain slope at Yumesamdong ( North Sikkim )

"Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew." Cicely Tyson

In a quest to discover the mystery behind the water and its role in the painting process, I continue pursue my passion experimenting and exploring this beautiful medium.

The water colour painting as below is a beautiful mountain slope covered with dense vegetation. I came across this view while I was on the way to Yumesamdong in North Sikkim at an altitude of 15300 ft. The two to three hours journey from Lachung to Zero Point or Yumesamdong offers stunning views of nature. The journey is as beautiful as the destination.

I have used flat vertical brush strokes to get the desired effect. This was a new and interesting experience for me and I enjoyed working with Campap paper. ( 200 gsm )

On the way to Yumesamdong ( Zero point )

Water colour painting on Campap paper

Size 5.5" X 8"

I purchased Campap paper a few years ago during some sale at a stationery shop and after using it for a couple of paintings I am beginning to like it. What I like most about this paper is the fact that I can easily lift off colour from the surface using a tissue paper or plain brush. I have placed an order for a 300 gsm Campap paper from Amazon as I want to try out this paper further.

If you are passionate about water colours then you must browse through the works of Alvaro Castagnet, an international water colour artist. His works are very inspiring. When free, I take out time to go through the works of other artists and it helps in lot many ways. Some day I shall write a post on that.

Thank you for browsing through my works and I appreciate your support which drives me to continue my art journey.

Step by step - Soft pastel painting of a landscape.

"It doesn't matter how paint is put on, as long as something is said." Jackson pollock

I paint some part of nature, something that appeals to me. Being there made me happy so I feel that connection and through my paintings I want to convey that happiness and appreciation of the beauty of nature. The soft pastel painting as below is a simple scene that I came across while on a morning visit to Karnala Bird Sanctuary. 

In the shadows, flowing through the rocks, a little stream of water, the dappled sunlight, falling across at places, bringing in the sudden glow. It is such a delight when I come across some simple beautiful scenes in nature. It is a little world in itself. The quiet serene atmosphere relaxes you and you learn to appreciate and admire nature a little more. 

Capturing the morning light

Soft pastel painting on canson MT

Size 7" X 10"

Given below are the images of the steps involved in creating the painting. I follow a simple step by step technique to complete my artwork. 

Step 1. Creating the basic outline of the elements keeping in

mind the perspective

Step 2. Simplifying the shapes and adding colours

Step 3. Adding colours keeping in mind the values.

The details happen at the final stage just 

before completion.

Every painting that I create has its own challenges. In this particular work I had to create the tall grasses in different shades, also keeping in mind the highlight on some of them due to the sunlight filtering through the foliage on the left side. However these little challenges make me learn a little more than what I already know and I enjoy these little learning experiences. 

I have also got into charcoal study works lately and will post one of my recent works soon.

Thank you very much for browsing through my works. 

I am also posting my works on INSTAGRAM on a regular basis.

More Pencil drawings in my sketch book

"A true artist is not the one who is inspired, but one who inspires others." Salvador Dali

If you have been following my posts you will know that some time back I started off small pencil drawings in my sketch book, which has forty cartridge sheets in it. In the last few days I managed to add a few more in the same book. Some of these are demo works that I created for two participants who attended my ART WORKSHOP. ( Pencil/Graphite drawing )

Since these are more of study works, I normally decide on spending not more than twenty minutes on each of them but it never really happens this way. Most of the times I get carried away and I want to do just a little more of detailing here and there and then I realise that I am actually spending more than thirty minutes on some of them. But it is fun. I create these when I am done with all my serious artwork and have a few minutes to myself to experiment and explore some new subject. This is also a great way of doing value studies. 

Pencil drawings in my sketch book

Each sketch is sized 4" X 5.5"

Presently I am working on my Coorg Pastel Landscape which is almost complete. The next step is to photograph it, edit it and then post it. I am also posting my old as well as new works now on

INSTAGRAM. 

If you like my artworks and techniques please do share it with friends. Thanks for stopping by.

Pencil drawings in my sketch book

"Learning never exhausts the mind." Leonardo da Vinci

My sketch book is my prized possession. It is diary of my preliminary study works. Browsing through it occasionally, inspires me a lot. It speaks to me of my experimental endeavors, my art journey, my mistakes, my learning lessons. I have several of them now, each one dedicated to a particular art or a medium.

When I have time in hand and am not into doing any serious work, I take one of my sketch books and get down to create small study works sized 4" X 5.5". Last month I started one exclusively for my pencil drawings. Posted below are some of my latest additions in this sketch book.  

The pencils that I have used for these works are 

• 2B Camlin pencil 
• 10B Camlin pencil
• 8B Cretacolour pencil

Pencil/Graphite drawings and sketchings

of different landscapes sized 4" X 5.5"

In a Sketch book as shown below

Thanks for browsing through my artworks and for any inquiry related to works available for sale

please mail me at manjupanchal@hotmail.com