The Shaded Pathway- A Soft pastel painting of a landscape from Coorg

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." Henry David Thoreau

I finally completed the soft pastel painting of a scene from Coorg, ( Madikeri ) which I started in November 2016. After doing the initial layer of blocking in the colours, I had taken a break. I normally intend doing a painting at one go as it is so much more convenient. After an interval when I get back to an older work, it is a lot more struggle to restart it all over again. It is like the momentum is gone and I have to recollect everything about the scene and visualize the steps all over again.

However this is one of my favorite scenes that I came across during one of my morning walks in Madikeri and I did not want to give up on this one. It took me longer than expected to complete, but I was happy that I finally completed it.

The shaded pathway

Soft pastel painting on Fabriano Tiziano paper

Size 7.5" X 10"

For my soft pastels I am mainly working with Canson Mi Teintes and Fabriano Tiziano paper. To read more about the papers that I use CLICK HERE.

Of late I have been spending a lot of my time with my small sketch book. I just created a new one exclusively for my AQUARELLE GRAPHITE works. To create a small work sized 4" X 5.5" all I need is a sketch book, a Cretacolour 8B aquarelle graphite pencil, a brush and water. I am enjoying this new found activity because many a times I just have about an hour to myself which is not sufficient to start with some serious work. At such times I get down to doing my study works of different subjects. It is more of experimenting and exploring and is lot of fun.

If you are passionate about art and want to get started with a particular medium then you can attend one of my TWO DAYS ART WORKSHOP which I conduct on a regular basis. My upcoming workshops are listed in advance, so you can register for the same.

Thanks for all your support and keep browsing.

Rocky cliffs and reflections at Phi Phi Leh - A soft pastel painting

A soft pastel painting

Phi Phi Leh is nothing short of a paradise. It is a small island close to Phuket in Thailand. The island consists of a ring of steep limestone cliffs surrounding two shallow bays, Maya bay and Loh Samah.

The view out there is stunning and I have already created a few pastel paintings earlier in an attempt to capture the beauty of this heavenly place on paper. The vertical limestone cliffs, the blue waters of the ocean, the reflections and the glittering light at the tip of the waves, all added to the drama in the painting. The colours in the cliff were a mix of warm and blue shades creating a perfect harmony.

I created a thumbnail sketch for this particular scene in the month of June and was waiting to recreate a larger version of this work. It was an interesting composition and the vibrant colours in the scene helped to cheer up the mood. The pastels that I used for this particular artwork are mainly from Koh-I-Noor brand. They are soft and go well on textured surface.

The cliffs and reflections

Soft pastel painting on Fabriano Tiziano paper

Size 5.5" X 7.5"

For my soft pastel paintings I have more or less settled for Canson Mi Teintes and Fabriano Tiziano paper. Both work good for my technique and style. In future I wish to try out some sanded papers which are presently not available at the art stores near my place. 

Sanded papers can take in multiple layers of pastels without the need to add any fixatives on it. For my kind of work I normally finish my work in two layers and do not feel the need to add fixative if the art work is small in size. If the size is anything bigger than 7" X 9" then I normally spray the Winsor and Newton fixative after the first layer.

Ending the post with another of my favourite quotes

" I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else."  Pablo Picasso

Pangong lake - A soft pastel painting

A painting inspired by nature

"Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads." Henry David Thoreau Walden

Nature inspires me to draw, sketch and paint. Any place beautiful triggers the artistic cells in me and I get charged up to commence my artwork. It is a continuous cycle, a never ending quest to keep performing. The painting as below has been inspired by Pangong Lake ( 14270 ft ) Ladakh. I have not been to Leh Ladakh but many of my friends who have been to this heavenly place, keep providing me with the beautiful reference photogaphs and I cannot resist the temptation to paint the amazing scenes.

For this particular soft pastel painting I have used Fabriano Tiziano paper. Many of my earlier landscape paintings have been created on this paper and it has a texture which is pretty similar to Canson Mi Teintes. I love both these papers.

The mountains in the backdrop, the tranquil lake with ever changing shades of blue can carve beautiful memories in a person's mind. Most people who visit Leh Ladakh say that words are inadequate to describe the beauty of this place.

Pangong Lake

Soft pastel painting on Fabriano Tiziano paper

Size 5.5" X 7.5"

Some time back I posted an article about the papers I use for my soft pastel paintings and to know more about you can CLICK HERE.

Fabriano Tiziano paper can be purchased from Amazon or Snapdeal. I purchased quite some time back from Flipkart. It is available in different shades but I purchased a pad with black coloured paper.

I am addicted to painting and ideally would love to paint and blog everyday but owing to so many different factors I am unable to do so. However as and when I get time I paint and blog and it gives me immense satisfaction to be able to do so. Thanks to everyone who has been browsing my site at some time or another. Would appreciate if you leave a comment.

The papers I use for my soft pastel paintings

I have posted earlier about the PAPERS I USE FOR MY CHARCOAL SKETCHINGS.

Since I am a lot into soft pastel paintings too I decided to create a post about the papers
I frequently use for my soft pastel art.

Soft pastels were new to me and I initially had no idea how to use them. The first paper
I tried them on was Fabriano Elle Erre which was available at the Art store near my place
ie ART STATION. I was at that time also into a lot of still life paintings. Creating still life
works from live objects helped me a lot in creating my original art works and I learnt a lot
about colours, values, shadows and perspective. The images below are some of my initial
attempts on Fabriano Elle Erre paper. This paper is available many different shades.

Two still life works using soft pastels

On Fabriano Elle Erre paper

Fabriano Elle Erre paper is made in Italy. It is an acid free paper, has one smooth side and 

the other side has rough surface ie parallel lines running across. It is available in many 

different vibrant colours. 

Fabriano Elle Erre paper 200 gsm

Available in different shades

( Photo courtesy: Google.com )

I used this paper for some time and then I came across Canson Mi Teintes which was

available at Art Lounge, the stationery shop at Churchgate. After using the Canson paper, 

I realised that it has a very sandy textured surface which worked very well for my soft 

pastel art. Furthermore it has the advantage of having a different texture on either side : A honeycombed textured side and a fine grain smooth side.  

The rough honeycombed textured side

of Canson Mi Teintes paper

The fine grain smooth textured side

of Canson Mi Teintes paper.

The different colours of 

Canson Mi Teintes paper. ( Around 50 colours )

Canson paper is manufactured in France. It is acid free paper and highly receptive with great

tooth which has a good grip on the pastels. As a result the pastels stick on the surface instead of falling off like powder. I normally create two layers of the painting and try not to scrub the 

pastels too hard on the surface. Also I try working more on the fine grain textured side instead 

of using the honey combed textured surface. Given below are two of my initial works in soft 

pastel on Canson Mi Teintes paper.

Two still life works done using soft pastels

on fine grain smooth textured side of

Canson Mi Teintes paper.

A Pathway in Coorg ( SOLD )

A Landscape painting

using soft pastels on Canson Mi Teintes paper.

So far I have been buying my Canson papers from ART LOUNGE but of late I have realised 

that some online stores in India have started selling it too. So one can check it out on

Flipkart, Amazon or snapdeal. I would any day prefer to buy it online as it saves a lot of time

travelling.

Finally, the third paper that I came across for my soft pastel works was Fabriano Tiziano. 

One of my students introduced me to online art shopping and I had read about this paper while

doing my "Online study" about soft pastels. So I ordered my first pad of Fabriano sheets

( Black colour ) sized 12"X 16" through FLIPKART. 

I used this paper for a lot of my landscape works and fell in love with this paper too. Its very

much similar to Canson Mi Teintes and since my technique of working with pastels does not

require too much of layering, I enjoyed working on this paper. It has enough tooth on its

surface to fix the soft pastels applied in two to three layers.

Fabriano papers are manufactured in Italy. It is an acid free paper and is available in many 

different shades. However I have only used the black sheets so far. 

A soft pastel painting from Coorg

created on Fabriano Tiziano paper.

The different colours as available in Fabriano Tiziano.

 Image courtesy : ARTEL

In conclusion, I am presently using both Canson Mi Teintes and Fabriano Tiziano paper for 

my soft pastel art. I use Fabriano Elle Erre for my thumbnail sketches or demo works

during Art Workshops as this paper in comparison to Canson cannot hold much of pastels
to its surface. The pastel dust keeps falling off the paper rather than getting fixed on it.

When I am not painting, I take out time to browse through the net to go through the soft

pastel art by artists around the world. Therefore I know that there are so many different

papers availabe like U Art, Wallis sanded paper, Ampersand etc. These papers are not

marketed in India so far but I would love to try them some day. But as of now I shall

continue using the papers as above to better my art and evolve my technique.

NOTE: I use papers and other stationery products that suit my kind of art work. So my
opinion and review is based on my technique. Every artist has her/his favorite brand
of products. As an artist it is important to experiment and explore. After some months or
years I may get into some new paper.

Therefore it may always happen that what works for me may not work for someone else.
What is more important to use the products that suits one's way of working and techniques.

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.

Papers I use for soft pastel paintings - Canson Mi Teintes and Fabriano Tiziano

When I initially started my soft pastel art I had just one choice of Fabriano Elle Erre paper which has parallel lines running across on its textured side. I was pretty happy then as I had not known any other papers by then and I went on to create lot of works on it.

Much later I came across Canson Mi Teintes paper and I was glad that it is available in India. Presently I buy my Canson papers from ART LOUNGE which is situated close to Churchgate station ( MUMBAI ). This paper comes in many different colours, from pastel shades to very dark ones. Canson paper was so much better than Elle erre paper that I decided to continue with just this paper.

Canson Mi Teintes has two sides and both of them can be used depending on what suits one's work. One side has smooth textured surface and the other side has a rough or honeycombed texture on it. Depending on what is the subject and the requirement one can use either of the sides. Though for most of my works I prefer the smooth surface.

Canson Mi Teintes paper

Rough textured side of the paper

Canson Mi Teintes

Smooth side of the paper

Sometime last year I read the reviews about Fabriano Tiziano paper and FLIPKART happened to be selling it. So I ordered 2 pads of 14" x 16" paper. ( black colour ). After having used it I did not regret spending on it as it turned out pretty good. Just as Canson has two different textures on its two sides, Fabriano too has a rough and a smooth side. I prefer to use the smooth side for my landscapes.