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. 

Stepping into 2017 - A new year, a new beginning.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning." Albert Einstein

This is my first post in the year 2017 and a lot has happened in the last year. It is time to recollect some happy memories. 

I started my graphite/pencil drawings in my small sketch book. Drawing plays a very significant role in art and with pencil drawings I am getting to do tonal value study of my subjects. I am loving it and it is going to be a regular affair from now on.

Pencil/graphite drawing travel sketch book

Cartridge sheet size 4" X 5.5"

I experimented and explored the possibilities of using water soluble graphite pencils. So now I have in my collection the Derwent, Creatacolour and Camlin brand. Will make use of these in this year.

Water soluble graphite works

Sized 4" X 5.5"

Used willow charcoal in combination with pencils and powder to develop some new techniques to create landscape art.

Landscape in charcoal medium

Using soft pastel medium worked on landscapes with mountains and cliffs. Posting below my favorite one.

A soft pastel painting

Limestone cliffs at Phi Phi Leh

Attempted my first "Waterfall" in May 2016. The iconic Gulfoss or the Golden waterfall from Iceland. From thereon I went on to do many more.

Soft pastel painting of Gulfoss waterfall ( Iceland )

To have a better understanding of the anatomy of seawaves, I went on to create many paintings on this subject. Posting below one of them.

A rocky seashore at Bamboo island

Removed time for my water colour works in the sketch book. Planning to work with this medium on a regular basis.

Small water colour paintings in

my travel sketch book.

At the end of the year I finally purchased my "Table top easel" and now I love working on the easel rather than bending down

My new Table Top Easel

Portrait is a subject which is one of the most challenging. I have got into creating portraits on toned paper and in the year I went on to create a few of them. I am posting one of them below. In the year 2017 I plan to work a lot more on my portrait skills.

Portrait of a woman on toned paper

In the year 2016, I got a lot more involved in my "Study works" or "Thumbnail sketches" as they are the preliminary artworks which help me create a better painting. I plan to continue my disciplined working approach to create many more different works in the coming years using the mediums I love.

In conclusion, I am grateful for all that happened in the year 2016 ( and the years before that ). Art workshops, new paintings, experimenting and exploring new mediums, learning, meeting new people and all the support from family and friends around me who encourage and motivate me all the time.

Art keeps me busy and happy and I look forward to a new day, so that I can get to create once again something that I love and admire. 

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into pictures." Henry Ward Beecher

Thanks for browsing through my artworks. Looking forward to reading your comments.