Step by Step, soft pastel forest landscape ( Coorg, Karnataka )

 “Perfection is no small thing but is made up of small things.” Michelangelo 

Of late, I have been pretty busy with my water color paintings but I do miss working with soft pastels. So took out some time recently and created this forest landscape referring to my photo taken at Coorg, Karnataka. 

I have used the following brand of soft pastels as:

1. Camlin

2. Mungyo

3. Gallery

4. Kohinoor Toison Dor.

5. Sennelier

Each of these brands have their own qualities and together they work great for me. If I have to recommend one brand to buy as a set for the beginners, I would suggest set of 48 soft pastels by Kohinoor Toison Dor. These cylindrical sticks are absolutely soft on the paper and work wonders. Moreover they are economical too. As far as paper is concerned, I mostly go with Canson Mi Teintes as I find it economical and it has sufficient tooth for taking in two layers of pastels. I normally finish my work in two layers and additionally do a little touch up in the end using the extra soft Sennelier pastels.

“ On the way to Coorg”

A soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size: 7” X 9”

I have visited Coorg several times in the past and every time I am there it feels absolutely amazing. There is something magical about the nature vibes. It rejuvenates you to the core.

The Steps involved in creating the above artwork

Step 1.  Created a faint basic outline of the major shapes using a light coloured 

soft pastel pencil and later used the Mungyo and Kohinoor 

soft pastels to paint the respective tonal values keeping

in mind the source of light, and the shadows.

Step 2. After the first layer of color application ( using soft touch, as Canson Mi Teintes

cannot take in too many layers of colors ), I blended the colors 

on the paper using my finger tips to cover up the underlying

black shade of the paper. 

Step 3. After the first layer was painted and blending is complete, I carefully began with 

the background sky and slowly worked my way towards the forest 

trees and other elements as I progressed downwards towards 

the foreground. I used Kohinoor soft pastel pencils to create

the fine branches, and other details ( mostly in the

middle ground ) 

The reference photo taken at Madikeri ( Coorg, Karnataka )

Follow my latest works and techniques on INSTAGRAM and if you love my works and they inspire you, share them with your friends. Thanks for taking out time and browsing through my blog 🙏

Afloat - A soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they are still beautiful.” Alice Walker

A log of wood, floating in the still waters at the banks of Kaveri river near Dubare Forest in Coorg. The moment my eyes captured this sight, I knew I had to paint it some day. I decided to go with the soft pastel medium for this work as I wanted a dark background which can be achieved so well using my newly purchased Sennelier pastels from Creative hands online store. The log of wood was half immersed in the water and the light and shadow play gave a new definition to the entire set up.

I scraped an old white pastel to create the sparkles on the water. Apart from using my usual Mungyo and Kohinoor Toison Dor soft pastels, I also use pastel pencils from Derwent as it helps to create some sharp details like grasses and twigs.

Afloat

A soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size 4.5” X 6.5”

Sennelier extra dark soft pastels

If you wish to know about the papers I use for my soft pastel paintings CLICK HERE. I have created a post regarding the same in 2016. 

If you wish to see all my artworks in Gallery format, visit my INSTAGRAM site where I post my works on a regular basis. Thanks for visiting my blog and browsing through my artworks. 

A soft pastel painting of a morning scene from Coorg ( Madikeri )

Soft pastel painting

If you happen to be at Coorg ( Madikeri ), a beautiful morning scene such as below is a common sight. Coorg is amazing all throughout the year. It is a small hill station close to Mangalore. 

I started this forest landscape in soft pastels during one of my soft pastel workshops and later spent a few more hours working on it adding the finishing touches.

A simple morning walk in nature helps me come across a lot many potential subjects for painting. This scene appealed to me a lot for its "Light and shadow" play on the trees, the foliage and the road. I have used a black coloured Canson Mi Teintes paper for this painting but in future plan to try out other coloured papers too.

A morning at Coorg

Soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper.

Size 6" X 8"

An inspiring quote

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." Vincent Van Gogh

Demo works of forest scenes created during my ART WORKSHOP

I recently conducted my usual Two days soft pastel workshop. The first day is like a warm up 

for the participants where in they understand all about the soft pastel medium, the papers, the techniques etc. and then go on to create simple works like seascape and landscape with mountains. 

On the second day I normally go about doing demo works of forest scenes, wherein I explain 

my step by step technique that I follow to create a landscape starting with the sky,

followed by the trees, bushes, the pathway etc. The painting technique that I follow normally

completes in two layers of soft pastels.

These demo works are normally completed in a duration of thirty to forty minutes each and

I add a few details here and there once the workshop is complete. Both the demo works as seen

below are done on Canson Mi Teintes paper are done with reference to my photographs from

Coorg. ( Madikeri )

Two soft pastel demo works done during

a Two days soft pastel workshop.

Since I am working a lot with soft pastels these days, I decided to experiment and explore.

I used a Prussian blue coloured hand made paper ( with textured surface ) and created a 

seascape on it using soft pastels with an underpainting created using wet brush

 on pastels. Just an experiment to check out if pastels work good on

 handmade textured paper. Will post the image of my experimental work soon.

On the way to Ladakh - a water colour painting

"Choose only one master - Nature" - Rembrandt

Leh Ladakh is beautiful. The landscape is stunning and the snow capped mountains
offer a breathtaking view. Nature has been one of the most inspiring factors in my paintings.

Ladakh is at the top of my list in "MUST VISIT" places. I have a few photographs which
have been given to me by a close friend Preeti Jhaveri. After having done a few study works
as seen in my last post, I decided to create a 4" X 5" water colour painting on Canson Vidalon paper. 

In fact one of the reasons for selecting this subject is to submit my work in the weekly
challenge of Daily Paint Works. This has been one of my most important "RESOLUTIONS"
of this year and I am glad that I finally am getting into something that I always wanted to.

For most of my study works I only depend on my Camel water colour tubes but for this
particular painting I decided to use my Winsor and Newton Cotman water colour tubes
which have been with me since may be last fifteen years or so. I am trying to use them up as
some of the colours are drying up.

On the way to Ladakh

Water colour painting on Canson Vidalon paper ( 425 gsm )

Size 4"X 5"

Next I am planning to use Arches cold pressed water colour paper which is one of

the most popular choices by many artists of the world.

Trying out a different coloured Canson Mi Teintes paper

Of late I have been creating soft pastel paintings on either black or other dark coloured paper.This time I decided to try out beige coloured Canson Mi Tentes paper. This is a scene from Mahableshwar, a hill station close to Mumbai and Pune. The lush greenery, the winding roads, and the beautiful view around is mesmerising.

Light at the distance

Soft pastel painting on Canson paper

Size 8" x 12"

I have used a white pastel pencil for signature on bottom left of the painting. Last week I picked up few soft pastel KOH-I-NOOR pencils from ART LOUNGE as it was running its annual sale. Sometimes I need to create thin branches in my landscape and I will see if pencils can be of use.

KOHINOOR soft pastel pencils

To know more about KOHINOOR art products you can visit their site

www.koh-i-noor.cz 

Soft pastel painting of landscape at CHITKUL ( Himachal Pradesh )

Once again referring to my photograph taken during Himachal trip, I created a soft pastel painting of

Landscape as seen at CHITKUL. Chitkul is a beautiful small village in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh and I have already mentioned about it in one of my earlier posts. 

The rocks, trees and the surrounding mountains, all add up to the beauty of the place and it seems like a perfect destination for nature lovers. I have used my entire collection of soft pastels as I needed all possible colours I could lay my hands on. Apart from using my soft pastels I have also used my PRIMO charcoal pencil at certain places to create the branches of trees.

As for the paper, I continue to use my recently purchased black colour FABRIANO TIZIANO paper. 

In the shadows

Soft pastel painting on Fabriano Tiziano paper

Size 6" X 9" ( Excluding the mountboard )

The Fabriano Tiziano paper is available in FLIPKART. I also use Canson Mi Tentes paper which is available at The Art Lounge at Churchgate.

Charcoal painting of Matheran landscape

Recently posted the image of my soft pastel painting of FOGGY DAY IN MATHERAN. 

Tried out the same in charcoals. Every medium has its own charm. The colours speak a different language but at the same time BLACK and WHITE has its own appeal. 

Fog in the woods

Charcoal painting on white textured paper

Available for sale

 www.ethnikhomedecor.blogspot.in  is my second blog which I created along with my present blog. However over a period of time I got very busy with my Paintings and workshops. As a result ETHNIKHOMEDECOR blog got totally neglected and has remained inactive for a long time now. BUT I have plans to create a few mixed media paintings and innovative nameplates soon. Therefore keep browsing and thanks to each and everyone who has at some time or another visited my blog and appreciated my works. It is very motivating.

Painting a foggy landscape for the first time - Matheran in monsoon

Painted a foggy landscape using soft pastels. Red muddy forest trails in Matheran during monsoons.

We have been to Matheran and Mahableshwar so many times in the last twenty years that I have lost count of it. Both the hill stations are beautiful with lush green forests and the best part is that they are very close to mumbai city. An easy getaway during weekends for citydwellers. I am slowly digging into my old photographs and looking for some great subjects to convert into paintings. 

Leading into fog.

Soft pastel painting on ordinary black rough textured paper.

Since I was trying out a foggy landscape for the first time, I did not want to use my expensive paper.

I enjoyed doing the above painting, which I altered almost three times BUT finally when it completed I was happy with the outcome.

In pursuit of the perfect green - Another landscape painting in soft pastels

Created another soft pastel painting of a Landscape from a reference photograph taken in Matheran, a beautiful hill station two hrs from Mumbai. The place is abound with trees and red muddy pathways to walk on. Its a pleasure to be one with nature.

With respect to my techniques involved in creating the trees and shadows, I am still experimenting. What is most intimidating in soft pastel paintings is getting the right green. However since my works at present are small and I do not spend much time over it, I just about manage with one brand of pastels and the greens that come with it. Under normal circumstances when I am doing a larger work, my workplace is full of my entire collection of pastels and that can be about five different sets. By the time I finish the painting, the workplace is in a state of mess. Therefore to avoid all that, as of now I still plan to do a few more landscapes using a limited palette of colours.

The muddy pathway ( Matheran )

Soft pastel painting on black paper

I have recently purchased FABRIANO TIZIANO paper and will be trying a pastel painitng on it soon. The only issue is that it is not easily available in stores. As of now I have managed to get a small pad of 12 small sheets. Once I work on it and I like the surface then probably I will buy bigger size and in bulk. Buying, even before using and evaluating, I feel is a waste of money. As such the art stationery stuff in any artist's house keeps increasing at a fast pace and there is always a shortage of storage space.

The pastel paper by Fabriano.

This paper is available on FLIPKART as well. One needs to keep checking for discounts available on different sized paper pads also paying attention to reading the details about the papers with respect to colour, gsm etc.

Landscape in soft pastels by Manju Panchal

Created a simple landscape as a study work. Used both Mungyo and KOH-I-NOOR soft pastels. Meanwhile my tree sketches are on. The original photograph had a very few trees on the right and the tree foliage too was scattered but I manipulated the photo and added elements that I thought would enhance the beauty of the landscape. I have not spent a whole lot of time doing the details as I was more interested in getting the perspective right and wanted to put the right values at the right place. 

Light at the end

Landscape painting in soft pastels

Since this is a study work I have used a black coloured rough textured paper. The soft pastel technique that I generally use in creating a landscape is both blending and strokes. Since it is a small work and the paper quality seemed to be quite good, I did not feel the need to use fixatives. 

Acrylic painting of a landscape

6" X 6" Acrylic paintings on canvas

The two acrylic paintings as posted below are put up on a vertical narrow wall in my home. Did them about two years back. Just wanted to do something very colourful and bright. Used Camel Artists quality acrylic tubes for the same. The 6" X 6" canvas is not readily available in the market, hence I got into the practice of creating them on my own to suit my needs. 

Two landscape paintings

Acrylic on canvas

The debate between ACRYLIC and OIL paintings is always on but both have their advantages and 

disadvantages. Finally it is upon the artist as to which medium he/she prefers and what gives more 

happiness. I personally love acrylic medium for the simple reason that it dries up quickly and the gratification

is instant. Moreover with my past experience in dealing with them has made me realise that there is no question of its ever catching fungus and it is so very durable.

Have not touched my acrylics for long BUT I do plan to try out the acrylics in water colour way on canvas.

It is always fun to experiment something new in art and creativity.

Landscape painting in charcoal by Manju Panchal

Charcoal Painting on FAVINI PAPER ( smooth side )

I am presently in the process of trying out charcoal painting on different papers using new pencils available in the market. Also I am enjoying the landscape works especially using my own reference photographs.

This particular work is done from my MATHERAN trip. Matheran is a beautiful hill station near NERAL. It is a must for nature lovers as the greenary and forest is just amazing. I have tried a little different technique in this work and have not spent more than three hours on it as my basic intention was to see how things work out. I have used CONTE A PARIS charcoal pencil, CHUNKY CHARCOAL from CRETACOLOUR, my blending tools and eraser for the same. 

I have not framed the work but after completing it I love to keep the mount board around it to judge the overall visual effect. I have not added details of each and every leaf but just created a few suggestions with the pencil.

The shadowed path

Charcoal painting on FAVINI paper

Size 9" X 9" ( including mountboard )