Drawing a portrait on Strathmore Toned gray paper

"To live a creative life we must lose our fear of being wrong." Joseph Chilton Pearce

After having done a couple of "Eye Studies", I finally decided to try out a portrait on Strathmore Toned Gray paper. The gray colour of the paper acts as the mid tone value and I have used the white pastel pencil and the charcoal pencil to create the lighter and darker values.

Strathmore toned paper is acid free, has a smooth texture which works well for my portrait works. Moreover the greatest advantage of using a toned paper is that I need a very few tools around which makes my workplace less messy.

The Gaze

Charcoal and pastel drawing on toned paper

Size 4" X 5"

I enjoyed working on Gray Toned paper by Strathmore and would definitely want to use it even in future for my portrait and figurative works. 

Thanks for browsing through my artworks.

Two Women - Charcoal figurative work

"The vision must be sharper than the pencil". Bob Brendle

Inspired by the Indian tradition and culture, I had started a series on "Portraits and figurative works" in 2004. Back then I was a lot into charcoal medium. I have restarted my portrait works and am also working on some of my past incomplete works.

The Charcoal drawing "Two women" has been inspired by the beautiful women of Rajasthan. The painting is an attempt to portray their unparalleled grace and beauty.

The two women, draped in long veils, who stand together, in silence, dressed in their traditional attire, looking on at the distance. 

Two Women

Charcoal drawing on acid free paper

Size 11" X 15"

There are more charcoal drawings such as these and I am enjoying once again, bringing them back to life. Portrait and figurative works are more challenging than doing landscapes. However I love both these subjects and will continue painting both of them.

My works can be viewed on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK page too.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Two more "Eye Studies" on two different papers.

" Drawing is the 'bones' of art. You have to be able to walk before you can run." 
Dion Archibald

Posted below are two more "Eye studies" as created on Canson Bristol and Strathmore Toned Gray paper. I purchased both these papers very recently from Art Lounge. They can also be purchased from ebay India or other online sites.

An Eye study on

Canson Bristol XL paper

An Eye study on 

Strathmore Toned Gray paper

Canson XL Bristol paper is acid free, ultra white and extra smooth. ( 180 gsm ). I used a combination of charcoal and graphite on this paper to create the eye study as above.

I am enjoying working with both these new papers. They are both good in their own ways. Strathmore is textured and being a toned paper I have to use only the white and black pencil to get the different values.

Canson Bristol XL paper

Presently I am also working on some of my old charcoal figurative works which need a little touch up. Will be posting one of them soon.

My works can be browsed through on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK page too.

Thanks for visiting my BLOG.

Drawing "An Eye" on Strathmore Toned Gray paper

"Where words are restrained, the eyes often talk a great deal." Samuel Richardson

When drawing a portrait it is imperative to focus on "Eyes". The eyes bring life into the portrait and they express the feelings and emotions the person is going through. Drawing eyes requires a lot of understanding of the underlying bone structure or rather human skull. Hence to get a better understanding of the eye and to try out my newly purchased "Strathmore Toned Gray paper", I decided to do few eye studies on this paper.

The pencils I have used are very soft Camlin Charcoal pencil, and Cretacolour white pastel pencil. Since it is a study work I decided to spend not more than forty minutes on each of them. The gray colour of the paper acts as the mid tone value. To view the other tools that I use for my charcoal drawings you can CLICK HERE.

Two Charcoal drawings of 

An Eye Study

on Strathmore Gray Toned paper

The Strathmore toned paper has a very smooth surface and yet has a little texture which helps the charcoal and pastel to fix on it well. I enjoyed working on this paper. Whenever I buy a new paper I start off with a few study works because it helps me know the feel of it. I try out all my pencils and other related tools to understand what works best on it. 

After having worked with different papers I have come to one very significant conclusion, ie every paper has a different texture and feel and a pencil which may have worked very good on a different paper may now always work on the new one as well. Therefore it is best to read and research through the net and listen to the advise of other artists BUT when it comes to actually using a pencil on a paper, the safest way is to try it out.

A new paper or a new set of colours is always an exciting experience for any artist. These days I do a bit of study myself on the net before going ahead to buy new art stationery. I have already tried Canson MT for similar works and it is very good. However I read a lot of positive reviews about Strathmore paper and fortunately it is available in Art Lounge or it can also be ordered online through Amazon India.

If you wish to purchase any of my original art or Commision a painting, contact me on my e mail id and I shall get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks to all the viewers who have been consistently browsing through my artworks. 

A Figurative Charcoal drawing from the past

"As a child I drew like Raphael but it has taken a lifetime for me to draw like a child." 
Pablo Picasso

I have been organising my paintings lately and while doing so came across some of my old artworks created in charcoal medium. When I first began using this medium, I had limited tools, namely charcoal powder and a charcoal pencil named AMBASSADOR. Using these two mark making tools and a set of beautiful tortillons I went on to create many charcoal artworks.

Today I am posting one of the old works, which needed little touch up. It is a charcoal drawing inspired by the loving relationship between father and son. It is the time spent with the children that creates beautiful memories.

Moment of Joy

Charcoal drawing on paper

Size 8" X 10"

I have titled the above painting as "Moment of Joy" because this image conveys a feeling which probably we have all gone through while we were growing up. It evokes our childhood memories and we try to recollect what it was like to be out with parents and the precious moments that we spent with them. Time moves ahead and we are left with these beautiful memories.

I have been juggling between the charcoal and the soft pastel medium. Both are dry mediums and being self taught, I have experimented and explored both and come up with my own way of handling it. As we continuously work with a medium, we develop a mark making technique that keeps evolving with time. The way I create each stroke be it in charcoal or pastel, now defines my works. 

Portrait and figurative works have always appealed to me and I am glad that I am finally making a serious attempt at restarting it. So my paintings now will be inspired by "People and Places". I will continue my landscape painting as well.

Thanks for browsing through my works.

Annual sale at Art Lounge, Art Stationery shop at Churchgate, Mumbai

"Painting is by nature a luminous language." Robert Delaunay

Art lounge is an art stationery store at Churchgate, Mumbai and they are currently having their Annual sale which ends on 16th of April, 2017. I went there couple of days back to buy my soft pastel and charcoal products. Since they have their sale catalog online it helped me to shortlist the products.

I am listing a few things that I purchased this year. Until last year I was working more on black coloured Canson MT paper. But my recent landscapes on twilight shade turned out equally good. Therefore I added a few sheets of mid tone Canson MT sheets.

My final list of products that I purchased are as follows

• A few Canson Mi Teintes sheets. ( Mostly mid tone colours )
• General Charcoal and General white pastel pencil.
• Few Kohinoor Toison Dor pastel pencils
• Kneaded erasers
• Kohinoor graphite pencils
• Canson Bristol XL sheets ( Purchased this to try out my graphite works )

• Strathmore Toned Gray ( Pad of 50 sheets ) I have used the Strathmore black paper and loved it a lot for my portrait works. Therefore decided to buy this one to try out my charcoal and pastel portraits on it.

As with any other artist, I already have a big collection of papers, pencils, brushes and other products at home. Therefore I did not have to purchase as much as I did in the previous years. 

I am excited about the two new papers that I have purchased namely Strathmore and Canson Bristol. I have read a lot of good reviews about them so am confident that it will all work out good.

Apart from Art Lounge, the other Stationery stores that I frequently visit are Himalaya Stationery Mart  and Art Station.