Two still life paintings - two different mediums

I recently created two still life paintings using two different mediums namely soft pastels and water colour.

1. The steel bowl with garlic placed at the side, done using Mungyo and KOH-I-NOOR soft pastels on black coloured rough textured chart paper.
2. Ripe pear with tiny brown patches on it, done on handmade paper using Camel artists quality water colour tubes.

Two still life paintings

Steel bowl with garlic at the side done in soft pastels

and 

A pear done in water colours.

Creating small works are more like doing "Study works". They help you get a better understanding about the form, shape, shadow etc.

Thanks for visiting my Blog and do visit my INSTAGRAM page to see my other artworks.

More mini water colour paintings by Manju Panchal

The 6th and 7th mini water colour painting in my Water Colour Sketchbook

1. A water colour landscape painting done from my reference photo of Lonavala visit.
2. A still life water colour painting of a single Tomato.

Both the paintings are in the spirally bound book, BUT I created a collage of both of them to get the feel of how it would look framed with mountboard.

Two mini water colour paintings

Lonavala landscape

Single Tomato

There are in all forty pages in the water colour sketch book created by me and I am enjoying the experience of doing different subjects. Moreover I do not have to worry about storage either. Each painting remains in the book itself and everytime I start something new I flip over the old ones and that itself is

very inspiring.

Soft pastel paintings done during the Two days workshop by Manju Panchal

Posting images of some of the paintings done by the participants during the SOFT PASTEL WORKSHOP in the collage form.

The pastel works are done on different papers like Fabriano, Canson Mi Tentes, black textured chart paper etc so the students know the difference between the texture of each of them and later they can decide to do on whichever is their best preference.

The participants had prior knowledge of painting hence tried to cover different subjects like flower, seascape, landscape, still life etc. Each participant made four different paintings of different sizes.

Collection of soft paintings done by participants during Soft Pastel Workshop

1. Sailboat in the ocean

2, Two cherries on the table

3. Road leading to the mountains

4. A Flower

A sparrow sitting on the branch of a tree

Mountaineous Landscape

Snow capped mountains

Next Soft pastel painting workshop is going to be held on 5th and 6th of August.

Timings on both days 11am to 1.30 pm

Two more thumbnail sketches done in soft pastels

The two days soft pastel painting workshop ended today. Had loads of fun. Lots of art talk and sharing of ideas. In all the excitement forgot to click photos of some of the paintings. But whatever taken, will be posting it tomorrow. It was a small group and all were art enthusiasts which charged up the atmosphere and the painting was a lot of pleasure.

In the meanwhile, managed to take out my old thumbnail sketches and retouched them with soft pastels. Was very keen on doing a night scene , hence remember having selected the Eiffel Tower. Doing a small work has its own charm. 

Two thumbnail sketches.

A mountain landscape and

Eiffel Tower

Soft pastel paintings - Thumbnail sketches of two Landscapes by Manju Panchal

Presently busy with my two days SOFT PASTEL WORKSHOP.

Took out time to have a look at a whole lot of thumbnail sketches done about a year back. Removed a few and added colours. The soft pastels used are a mix of MUNGYO and KOH-I-NOOR.

Never get tired of doing thumbnail sketches. It is a good study of values, perspective and composition. Basically they are quick study works and a reference for a bigger work.
Both the soft pastel thumbail sketches are of size 3.5" X 5". Small enough to go in my old album for storage.

Two thumbnail sketches

A forest

A river with reflections.

Mini Water colour paintings by Manju panchal

My 4th and 5th water colour painting in the water colour sketch book created by me. 

Continuing with my mini water colour paintings for my sketch book which has forty pages in it. I have already posted the image of the book in my earlier post. Basically designed the book for travel purpose as it is handy and convenient to carry around.

The subjects chosen this time are Ladakh landscape and Still life potato. Both are done using Camel artists water colour tubes. While painting the potato live, tried to capture the details. Both the paintings are in the spiral bound sketch book but for the purpose of posting , used the App PicCollage to create a mountboard effect around the images.

Ladakh landscape and

Single Potato

Two small water colour paintings

in my sketch book.

Planning a CHARCOAL WORKSHOP in the first week of August. 

Will be posting the details on the blog soon. 

Mixed media painting of a Seascape by Manju Panchal

Mixed Media Painting

Some art creations are accidental as it happened in the painting below.

Was trying seascape using wet on wet water colour technique on CAMPAP paper. Did not go as per plan. Added MUNGYO soft pastels as subsequent layers. In water colour paintings, once done , it is done. Things cannot be rectified. BUT it is fun experimenting. New learning experiences.

Reflections

Mixed media painting on CAMPAP paper.
Size 6" X 8" ( without mountboard )

Seascape in soft pastels by Manju Panchal

Demo work done during a workshop using MUNGYO and KOH-I-NOOR soft pastels. Fixative spray was used after the first layering was done.  

Lankawi beach

Soft Pastel on black Fabriano paper.

Size 5" X 7" ( Without mountboard )

Mungyo pastels are good for beginners but in my personal opinion it is a good idea to invest in KOH-I-NOOR soft pastel set of 48 pastels. I am not promoting any brand in my blog but simply putting down my thoughts about the products I use. Each artist has a different opinion about different products. Finally the end user will decide as to what suits him/her best.

Two mini water colour paintings in water colour sketch book - by Manju Panchal

Created small water colour sketch book for convenience using Indian hand made paper and inaugrated it with my green chillies painting which I posted yesterday.

Open sketch book

Spirally bound

Presently using the above sketch book to create small works in water colours. This way all my works remain intact in one small book and I do not have to worry about storage. If framing required then individual painting can be removed, mounted and framed.

Both the paintings below are done using Camel artists water colour tubes are from photographs from Konkan area. One is a seascape and the other is a foggy road during monsoon season. When it is small work it is fun to experiment with new techniques. In the seascape painting I have used a different technique for the sky.

A seascape and a landscape

Size 3.5" X 4.5" each without mountboard.

The two days Soft Pastel Workshop will be held on 26th and 27th July ie Sat and Sun.

For more details go on my ART WORKSHOP PAGE or CLICK HERE

Water colour painting of two green chillies by Manju Panchal

Still Life Water Colour Painting

A very small water colour painting done on Indian hand made paper using Camel Artists water colour tubes. The painting is done using wet on wet technique, in one go. No layers of glazing added.

Two green chillies

Water colour painting on Indian handmade paper

Size 3.5" X 4.5" ( Without the mountboard )

I have also done a similar work in oil paints which can be seen in my earlier posts.

Two Acrylic 6" X 6" paintings of flowers - works done in past by Manju Panchal

Two acrylic paintings of flowers, gifted to a close friend. Created about eight years back on 6" X 6" canvas using camel acrylic paints. 

Collage created with pastel background using PicCollage App and editing done using Aviary App.

Two Acrylic floral paintings.

Size 9" X 9" ( Including frame size )

Two days Pastel workshop in next week. Will be posting details soon.

To register contact Manju Panchal 91-22-9820683983

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.

Photographs from Kinnaur and Spiti valley by Manju Panchal

Photographs which can be used as reference for creating a painting

All the photographs below are from Kinnaur and Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh. The mountains, the hills and the rivers, you have to be there to feel it around you. The beauty of these places cannot be put down in 

simple words. The serenity, the people and their life, it is a different world in itself. 

Nako

On the way to Tabo and Kaza 

The dry and barren mountains of Spiti Valley

The entrance of a house in Nako

The Dhankar Monastery at the top of the mountain.

Waiting for an oppurtunity to create beautiful paintings referring to my personal collection of

these photographs. Would love to visit once again despite the hostile terrain and the rough 

drive on the narrow serpentine roads. It is a beautiful journey and the sightseeing while the

travelling is amazing.

Small works done in white pastel and coloured pastels by Manju Panchal

Two different works done on two different occasions. One black and white done using white soft pastels and the other in MUNGYO soft pastels. Put them together in collage form using Pic Collage App.

Two empty glasses done on black ordinary paper using white pastels.

Apple on the table done using Mungyo soft pastels on black FABRIANO elle erre paper.

The size of both of them is approx 4" X 5.5" and I have not spent more than twenty five minutes on 

each of them. Sometimes it is just fun to do a small study work.

When I am doing my quick soft pastel work then I use the Mungyo pastels as shown in the image above.

Certain main colours are kept in a transparent choclate box which serves as my palette. This makes colouring simple and I then manage to finish it quickly. The more the colours

the more the complications.

Tree sketching in charcoal by Manju Panchal

Created another tree trunk using different charcoal pencils and changed the technique a bit. Partly blending and some scribbling to get the depth and different values. Used willow charcoal in the background.

Added KOH-I-NOOR soft charcoal pencil to my tool list this time. It is a bit rough and grainy in use and gives an effect more like the compressed Camel charcoal.

The paper used is CANSON LA GRAIN which has a beautiful texture of its own.

Grounded

Charcoal sketching on canson paper

An old work done using charcoals by Manju Panchal

Charcaol portrait done in the past

Years back when I was new to charcoal I did lot of portrait studies. Back then I was not knowing about any other paper except SCHOLAR drawing paper. The pencil used was AMBASSADOR brand which is just not available in any store now. Posting below one of my old works where I have done lot of details and have used a reference photograph for the same.

Portrait done in charcoal

on SCHOLAR drawing paper

Back then I was using just one technique and was not ready for experimenting something new and challenging. That was my learning stage. Today with years of experience I feel I am ready for trying out new things with respect to art materials and my techniques too. Change is so important and it adds new zest to an otherwise mundane life.

Soft Pastel painting of a seascape by Manju Panchal

Initially a water colour painting but did not get the desired results, hence converted it into a soft pastel painting. The work got easier as the initial colours had already been laid. Had to just add the final layer of pastels. The paper used is Indian hand made paper and soft pastels worked really good on it.

I have realised that soft pastels added on to initial layer of water colours gives a very bright effect. The pastels used for this creation is purely MUNGYO brand. On other occasions I have this tendency to mix all the brands that I have in my collection.

Deep blue sea

Mixed media painting on Indian hand made paper

"PERSEVERANCE" to me means DRAWING, SKETCHING AND PAINTING every day of my life.

No matter what the subject is, OR which medium I am using, OR the size of the painting.

The fact that something gets done in a day is a positive step in the growth and evolution

of any artist.

Tree sketching using charcoal and white pastel by Manju Panchal

Another Charcoal and Pastel work on coloured Canson paper

Using beige coloured CANSON MI TENTES paper created another tree trunk using CONTE charcoal pencil and white soft pastel pencil and white chalk. Every tree trunk is so different and has its own identity, the bark, the textures. 

Upright

Charcoal and white pastel work on Canson paper

Planning to do a two days ART WORKSHOP in charcoals and soft pastels after the 21st of this month.

If interested you can register the names for the same by writing at manjupanchal@hotmail.com

Still life - charcoal painting of an apple by Manju Panchal

Demo work done during a workshop

Viewing the apple from the top, created this charcoal painting of an apple as a demo work during a Charcoal Painting workshop. Apart from using Fabriano and Canson paper I also use cartridge sheet as in the book whose image I am posting below. It is a simple Navneet drawing book and I like the cartridge sheets in it.

This book costs just Rs 18 and I use it frequently to do my rough sketches. The apple sketching has been done on a cartridge sheet from this book. Not recommended for serious work as it is not acid free and will turn yellow over a period of years.

 

Apple - upper view

Charcoal sketching on cartridge paper

Used CONTE charcoal pencil and kneaded eraser for the creation. The technique involved blending

and scribbling with the pencil to create the values.

Charcoal painting workshop - My demonstration works

During the two day course of a basic charcoal painting workshop I normally demonstrate the work myself
explaining my techniques as I go step by step further blending and shading.

Posting below two of my demo works done recently.

Both works are done on ordinary white cartridge sheet. The students who attend the workshop do the work on cartridge sheet, Canson paper and Fabriano paper so as to see the effect of the charcoal painting on different surfaces. Also they get to do different subjects for a wider experience.

Two demo charcoal paintings

A tree trunk and

Majestic mountains

Charcoal Painting workshop for two days - Manju Panchal

Few charcoal paintings done by student during Charcoal Painting workshop

Have been taking charcoal painting workshops since long. Decided to put together few works of a student

who came for a two days CHARCOAL PAINTING WORKSHOP recently. 

She created a landscape, a seascape, a tree, mountains, and a dog after observing the demonstration works done by me. I shall be posting my demo works soon.

All are small works and since this was a basic charcoal painting workshop, details were not rendered.
Attention was paid on basic shapes, getting the values right and shading and blending.

For more information on ART WORKSHOP on different mediums contact at 91-22-9820683983

My next workshop on Charcoal painting and Soft pastel painting will be after the 21st of this month.

Those interested can leave a message on my hotmail id. 

ie manjupanchal@hotmail.com and I shall get back to you. 

Framing tree sketchings together

Framing options - Putting three small paintings together

I recently did a series on tree sketchings. Decided to put them together using PicCollage App so as to get an idea regarding what it would like if framed together. Small paintings can be framed in many different ways, and this is one of the options. 

Framing of three tree sketchings done using white soft pastel

and black charcoal pencil