Online Charcoal drawing Class/Workshop using Zoom App

“Drawing is the ‘bones’ of art. You have to be able to walk before you can run.” Dion Archibald

 Charcoal is probably one of the oldest art materials and is very versatile in nature as a medium. It helps an artist do quick drawings in expressive strokes and the final black and white artwork is so impressive that one easily gets addicted to it. I am one of them. I took to this medium about twenty years back and I continue to be fascinated by it. Some of the advantages of this medium which I feel I need to share with the viewers are as following-

• Great help in creating tonal value drawings
• Helps simplify a complicated scene
• The bold, sweeping strokes helps an artist develop his/ her unique style
• Being a dry medium, it is easy to make corrections 
• Very Economical
• Can be carried easily for outdoor/ plein air works
• It is a fast medium to work with ( Especially if one is doing preliminary study works )

Before the COVID lockdown, I was busy taking private workshops at my studio at home. However now I have started “Online Charcoal drawing and sketching workshop” using ZOOM app. 

Apart from teaching the basics involved in creating a charcoal artwork, I shall also demonstrate step by step, one of the charcoal drawings as shown below. It will be a very interactive session wherein I shall be answering all the queries pertaining to this medium and will also share my personal tips and techniques which I have developed over a period of time. If you wish to attend my charcoal workshop in a group or one on one basis, mail me at manjupanchal5@gmail.com or call me at 91- 9082690127

Some of the basic tools that I shall be using during my demonstration 

for creating the charcoal sketch 

A . Soft piece of cloth used for blending purpose

B. Kneaded Eraser

C.Tortillon ( blending tool )

D. Charcoal powder

E. General very soft charcoal pencil

F. Camlin soft charcoal pencil

G. Willow charcoal 

Most of the above mentioned materials are easily available on online stationery stores like AMAZON, 

KDS art store, Hindustan Trading Company, Creative Hands etc.

CLICK HERE to read in detail about the charcoal tools as I have already created a post in the past.

Follow my latest works and techniques on INSTAGRAM , where in I post my latest artworks regularly. 

Limestone Rocks and cliffs ( Vietnam )

“Watercolor condenses time and consolidates experience.” Frank Marcello

 While at Cam Pha sea port during his last voyage, my husband got to witness the beautiful prehistoric “Limestone Rocks”, it’s reflections and the sudden ripple in the waves caused by a passing vessel. His cargo ship had arrived there at inner anchorage for loading cargo for the next destination. He sent me a few photographs of these stunning rocks and cliffs, which dotted the sea all around and I used them as a reference to create the two water colour paintings as below. 

As mentioned in my earlier posts, I have got pretty much used to working on Chitrapat handmade paper and have taken a strong liking to it. My technique involves working wet on wet and this paper holds a lot of water and stays wet for a longer time. It’s acid free and is made of 100% cotton fibre. It works good for me. I purchase Chitrapat paper from maxa-enterprises ( online store at Pune ), however there a lot many online stores today who sell the same paper so it’s great that one can easily order it online.

Limestone Rocks at Cam Pha Sea Port

A water colour painting on Chitrapat handmade paper 

Size 5” X 7”

Wave Ripples

A water colour painting on Chitrapat handmade paper 

Size 5” X 7”

For most of my watercolor paintings, I use a mix of Winsor and Newton and Camlin Artist watercolor tubes. They are both good in their own ways. If you are a beginner, I would personally recommend Camlin tubes as it is very economical and has great quality too. Given below are my two palettes which I use for both these brands. I like the Majello palette for its large working space instead of having small wells.

Mijello Palette ( Winsor and Newton watercolors )

Mijello Palette ( Closed )

Palette with Camlin Artist’s water color tubes

Follow my latest works and techniques on INSTAGRAM and if you are interested in attending my online demo workshop send me a mail at manjupanchal5@gmail.com and I shall get back to you with details about the same.

Ship at berth - A water color painting

 “Watercolor can leave me totally deflated and wondering why I chose it as a medium and then I am seduced again by a beautiful wash or the lacework of an intricate detail which is impossible to create in any other medium.” Joseph Zbukvik 

Last year I had the opportunity to visit my husband’s ship which had arrived at New Mangalore port for loading cargo in bulk. One morning when I got up and looked out of the porthole, I saw this “Bulk Carrier” parked at the jetty on the opposite side. It had probably arrived at night for loading. The atmosphere was a bit hazy I loved the scene, the mood and the composition. I had decided then that someday I shall paint the story of this ship. Painting is quite like story telling. I paint what is on my mind and leave the rest to the viewer to interpret it in his/her own way.

I am shuffling between Chitrapat handmade paper and Arches Cold pressed paper as both of them are my personal favourites now. Chitrapat paper is more reasonable as compared to Arches, however for this artwork I wanted to use Arches paper and undoubtedly, using a quality paper makes a big difference. The ship was the focal point of this painting and for the rest of the port infrastructure on the right, avoided too many details. It gave an abstract feel to the painting and I loved the way it turned out.

For most of my water color paintings, I like to use very limited Colors in the palette. For this work I have mainly used ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, raw sienna, permanent orange, and light red. Lesser Colors in the palette, I feel, helps simplify the painting process.

Ship at Berth

A water colour painting on Arches CP paper

Size 5” X 7”

Reference photo taken at 

New Mangalore port

I have already created a few water color paintings in my “Ship series” and plan to create some more very soon. I have also started doing charcoal tonal value sketches of ships and some are already posted on my INSTAGRAM feed. Do check them out.

Thank you for browsing through my artworks and I appreciate your support in my art journey.

Charcoal drawing of a forest scene on Strathmore 300 series drawing paper

“There’s nothing like drawing a thing to make you really see it.” Margaret Atwood 

Years back, I got into charcoal medium and got fascinated by it versatility. Initially I started off with just a pencil and charcoal powder but as years progressed, I went on to explore different tools and developed my own technique to create my Charcoal drawings. 

Presently I am more into water color paintings which is one of the most challenging mediums, however I do take out time in between to get back to my charcoal art. It’s a very satisfying experience as it helps in simplifying a complicated composition. Once I know my basic tonal values of the subject, it makes it easier to paint the scene using any other medium. 

Posted below are two of my charcoal drawings of  “Forest scenes”, with reference to my travel photographs.

A walk along the road 

A charcoal drawing on Strathmore drawing paper 

Size 4” X 5”

Along the road

A charcoal drawing on Strathmore drawing paper 

Size 4.5” X 5.5”

There are some charcoal tools which I use on a regular basis as shown below and these are easily available on Online stores.

Camlin and General charcoal pencil

Blending tool

Kneaded eraser

Charcoal powder 

Willow charcoal 

( Local Chinese brand )

On December 2016, I created a detailed post regarding the common tools used by me for my charcoal drawings. CLICK HERE to browse through the same.

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. 

One Step at a time - A soft pastel painting

“ You can get anywhere if you simply go one step at a time.” Dave Ramsey

Sometime back I tried this soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes light grey toned paper. Every landscape scene has its own challenges. What I loved in this scene was the steps leading into the forest and the misty background. I used muted grey toned colors in the distance to create depth and used light strokes of pastels to create the branches and foliage.

I normally work with a mix of different brands of soft pastels, namely Kohinoor Toison Dor, Mungyo and Sennelier. Out of these if I have to recommend one brand which is great quality apart from being economical is Kohinoor Toison Dor.

Sennelier is extra soft and it easily blends into the paper and I love its quality, however it is far more expensive than other brands. I normally use it as a last layer to apply finishing touches to my painting.

One Step at a time 

A soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size 5” X 7”

I created a post regarding the use of different papers I use for my soft pastel paintings. CLICK HERE to view the same.

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. 

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 Slice of Watermelon - A watercolor painting

 “Color is a power which directly influences the soul.” Wassily Kandinsky

The magic of still life painting is that it can show us a new way of looking at subjects around us. Still life painting helps me to experiment and explore, with color mixing, composition and new techniques which I feel is very essential for any artist to evolve in the long run.

Yesterday I used a “Slice of watermelon” to create the water colour painting as posted below. For the background I have used a mix of all three primary colors and just when the paint was damp ( Before drying up ) I sprinkled little on it which added a little texture in the background.

For today’s artwork I have used a graphite pencil to sign at bottom right. Normally I use my rigger brush for the same. However the foreground being very light I decided to go with graphite as it would not interfere with the main subject. I recently came across a few artists who sign regularly in graphite pencil and I quite liked the idea. On a small sized painting it’s a struggle to to do a miniature signature and it can be frustrating.

A Slice of watermelon

A water colour painting on Chitrapat handmade paper 

Size 5” X

My paintings in the gallery format can be viewed on my INSTAGRAM feed where I have been posting regularly since last few years.

Thank you for browsing through my artworks. It motivates me to continue my painting journey.

Golden Gate Bridge, California - A water color painting

   “Color is my day - long obsession, joy and torment.” Claude Monet

Today’s water color painting has been inspired by the “Golden Gate Bridge”, a suspension bridge, one of the most internationally recognised symbols of San Francisco, California and the United States of America. This is my second painting of the Bridge and I have used a reference image from “PIXABAY” . I am grateful to all the photographers who have been sharing the photographs with PIXABAY which then makes it available to us for free reference.

I created this artwork on 8th of September and posted it on INSTAGRAM. I am more regular at posting in Instagram and I keep promising myself that I shall blog regularly but somehow find it difficult to manage everything together. 

The overall composition of the landscape appealed to me. The Golden Gate Bridge is the focal point in the painting and it’s reflections on the wet shoreline was fun to work with. During my initial watercolor days, I remember spending lot of time in detailing lot of unnecessary things. These days I am careful to concentrate only on the focal point and I avoid overworking on the other elements.

                                   

                                              Golden Gate Bridge, California     5” X 7”

For quite some time now I have been using Winsor and Newton Cotman and Camlin Artists water color tubes for my water color paintings. Each brand has its own merits and I particularly use the Sky and ocean colors from Winsor and Newton. However for working with the greens and other darks I depend on the Camlin. Over a period of time, as I get more deep into my watercoloring my choices may evolve. I will explore the other colors too.

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 and I appreciate your support in my art journey.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Gondola’s at the moorings in Venice - A watercolor painting

 “Venice never quite seems real, but rather an ornate film set suspended on the water.” Frida Giannini

For quite some time I had been thinking about painting “A close up of Gondola’s in Venice” and then I came across a reference photo in PIXABAY  which seemed a perfect composition. So I went ahead and created my today’s watercolor painting on one of my favourite papers,  Chitrapat handmade paper  .

Chitrapat paper comes in two different textures namely the “ Rough” and the “Matt”. I always work with the rough textured paper and unfortunately I purchased a whole pad of twenty sheets of Matt textured version which did not work for my kind of techniques. If you are new to watercolor painting I would highly recommend to stick to rough textured paper as it is fantastic to work with especially the “wet on wet” technique. 

Gondola’s at the Moorings

A watercolor painting on Chitrapat handmade paper 

Size 5” X 7”

For the above artwork I have used Winsor and Newton Cotman and Camlin Artists water color tubes. I enjoy working with both these brands and would recommend it to all water color enthusiasts. 

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 and I appreciate your support in my art journey.

Why I love working with Chitrapat handmade paper

“Painting is silent poetry.” Plutarch

“Sky” is a major part of any landscape and painting a cloudy sky can be a challenge. The subject for my today’s painting is an “Evening Sky” and I have used Chitrapat handmade paper for this water colour painting. 

I love this paper and enjoy working on it mainly for the following reasons:

• It is great for wet on wet technique 
• It is available in 270 gsm as well as 440 gsm and hence does not buckle much. 
• It is very economical as compared to imported papers like Arches and Fabriano 
• It is easily available on online stores 
• It is acid free paper

If you have been following me on my INSTAGRAM account, you can browse through a lot of my recent paintings created on Chitrapat handmade paper. I am more regular at posting in my Instagram feed. However for blogging I write a lot more in detail and it takes time so no matter how hard I try to be a little more disciplined, it eventually gets a bit delayed.

Dusk
A water colour painting on Chitrapat handmade paper
Size 5” X 7”

Chitrapat rough textured pad

Info printed on the pad

Close up of the rough textured Chitrapat handmade paper paper

For most of my watercolor paintings, I use a mix of Winsor and Newton and Camlin Artist watercolor tubes. They are both good in their own ways.

Painting in watercolor medium is a beautiful experience. All I need is a palette, a few brushes and a paper. It’s very convenient to carry it along when travelling. I plan to pursue my water colour passion for a long time ahead. 

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

On a Voyage - A watercolor painting on Canson Vidalon paper

“Watercolor and it’s application have become a moving force, directing and enriching my life.” T R Einhorn.

Water colour is a medium which you can’t help getting addicted to. When I started with this medium, I went about experimenting with different papers, be it local or imported, economical or expensive. In the bargain I went ahead and purchased lots of sheets and pads. Some worked for me and others didn’t. Recently I came across a few cutout sheets of Canson Vidalon paper 300 gsm and decided to use it for my next painting in the list which I have posted today.

Painting on Canson Vidalon paper has been such a pleasant change as the paper has helped me get the desired results. I have used a part of this paper in the past and I remember picking up just one full size sheet from Art Lounge, an art stationery shop in town. This paper is great for wet on wet technique and the colors stay bright and fresh. I would definitely recommend this paper to water color enthusiasts.

On a voyage

A water colour painting on Canson Vidalon paper

Size 5” X 7”

For the above artwork I have used Winsor and Newton Cotman and Camlin Artists water color tubes. I enjoy working with both these brands and would recommend it to all water color enthusiasts. 

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

Sunlit Branches- A watercolor painting on Chitrapat handmade paper

“Art is as natural as sunshine and as vital as nourishment.” M F Kohl

A morning scene from Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary ( Also known as Keoladeo National park )  The sunlit branches glistening in the morning rays of the sun inspired me to create this artwork. In order to create the texture of the foliage I decided to use the fan brush and the rigger brush and was happy to get the desired effect. I have used a limited palette and mainly the warm colors in this landscape painting. In most of my water color paintings I limit myself to using as few colors as possible. It helps in simplifying the painting process.

The two papers that I love to work with are Arches cold pressed paper. and  Chitrapat handmade paper . Arches however is very expensive and hence I use more of Chitrapat paper these days but very soon plan to shift to Arches paper. For its price, I would definitely Chitrapat paper to all beginners. It can be easily purchased from online stores in India.

Sunlit Branches

A water colour painting on Chitrapat paper

Size 5” X 7”

For the above artwork I have used Winsor and Newton Cotman and Camlin Artists water color tubes. I enjoy working with both these brands and would recommend it to all water color enthusiasts. 

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 and I appreciate your support in my art journey.

The Pine Trees ( Roghi Village, Himachal Pradesh )

“Art is a space in which freedom tests its wings.” Marty Rubin

The ride from Kalpa to Roghi village in Kinnaur valley, Himachal Pradesh is an amazing experience. Today’s soft pastel painting is a small study of what I saw on my way. 

We have been to Himachal Pradesh many a times and road travel helps us to witness some stunning views on the way. While on our way to Roghi Village, I remember having stopped at this place and the “Pine Trees” against the sky looked magnificent. It almost felt as if they were reaching for the sky. 

I have used the twilight shade of Canson Mi Teintes paper. This is a medium toned paper and it goes well for most of my paintings where I have to work on subtle shades of color. However when I intend doing a forest where a major part of the landscape requires dark tones, I go in for either black or dark brown paper. Selection of the right color of paper makes a big difference in the painting.

Reaching for the sky

A soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size 4” X 5.5”

For most of my pastel works I use the Mungyo pastels in the beginning to block in the major shapes and later I use the Koh-I-Noor and Gallery pastels. During my final touch up I make use of my recently purchased Sennelier pastels.  

To know about the papers I have been using for my pastel artworks CLICK HERE. ( I have created a detailed post in the past )Thank you for browsing through my artworks and do visit my INSTAGRAM feed to see my latest artworks.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

“In the mind of every artist there is a masterpiece.” Kai Greene

Today’s water color painting has been inspired by the “Golden Gate Bridge”, a suspension bridge, one of the most internationally recognised symbols of San Francisco, California and the United States of America. I have not been to San Francisco but I always wanted to paint this Bridge, so I have used a reference image from “PIXABAY” and I am grateful to them for sharing the photographs with everyone for free usage. 

This is my first painting in the “Bridge series” and a change of subject is always a little challenging. However I believe that working on something new helps you learn a lot more new things and it is a an essential step towards evolving as an artist. I have used very few colors to execute this painting and prefer this minimalist approach to avoid complications. The Bridge and it’s reflections has been the focal point in this painting.

Golden Gate Bridge 

A water colour painting on Chitrapat handmade paper 

Size 5.5” X 7.5”

I enjoy water color medium as much as pastel medium, and these days I am managing to do both. Often people ask me which medium I like the best. It’s a difficult question to answer because I am passionate about each medium, including charcoal. Every medium has its own highlights and no two mediums can ever be compared. End of the day, the art that gets created, no matter which medium, speaks a universal language and sparks the happiness in you.

For the above artwork I have used Winsor and Newton Cotman and Camlin Artists water color tubes. I enjoy working with both these brands and would recommend it to all water color enthusiasts. 

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 and I appreciate your support in my art journey.