Portrait study work on Canson Mi Teintes paper

"If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all." 
Michelangelo

Today I am posting a small quick "Portrait study" of a pretty woman I met at Thangu, where we halted to have breakfast before moving towards Gurudongmar Lake. She was friendly with a pleasant personality. I interacted with her and took her photographs from different angles. Before starting her front face profile I decided to do a quick study of the side face using minimum brush strokes.

For my charcoal and white pencil portraits I have more or less shortlisted two papers. The Strathmore gray toned paper and Canson MT series. For my present work I have used Canson paper. Both these papers are available on Amazon.in.

Portrait study of a woman from Thangu, North Sikkim

on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size 5" X 7"

This portrait study was more about getting to know her features and I have not spent much time getting into the details. I am almost done with another of her portraits and shall be posting it soon.

Presently I am also busy doing some charcoal landscape works in preparation for my upcoming one day Charcoal drawing and sketching workshop on the 17th of December at Art Station, Andheri west.

Thank you for browsing through my artworks.

Step by Step, Water colour painting of Gurudongmar Lake

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

Every painting is inspired by some thought, some place, some vision that you have in mind. It slowly builds up in layers and then when the final moment of execution arrives, you let the energy flow on to the paper. Gurudongmar Lake in North Sikkim is one such place which is indelibly printed in my memory and it will continue to inspire me to make many paintings in future.

The moments we spent there were magical. It was like a dream come true to see nature in its pristine form. Today's post is a water colour painting of one such scene that we came across while we were at 17,100 ft, facing the majestic snow covered mountains and the stunning Gurudongmar Lake.

Magical

Water colour painting on Campap paper

Size 5.5" X 8"

For this particular work, I decided to photograph the initial stages of the painting. I have used a very limited palette for this painting. The initial drawing that I do is very light and I use a normal HB pencil for the same. I avoid erasing as it disturbs the surface fibres on the paper.

Step 1. Wet on wet technique, sky and mountains, 

using Winsor and Newton Ultramarine blue, Cerulean blue

 and Alizarin Crimson.

Step 2.  Created the mountains in the Middleground using Raw Sienna,

Ultramarine blue, Indian red and Burnt Sienna ( Camlin brand )

In the final stage I created the lake waters, which are reflection of colours of the sky ie Ultramarine blue and Cerulean blue. For the shadows on the snow I have used a mix of Ultramarine Blue and Alizarin Crimson colour.

Hope you have enjoyed going through my blog. It feels great to be painting and blogging and thanks to my blog, I am getting connected with people who are as passionate about art as me. If you love water colour medium, do browse through the works of Joseph Zbukvik, Alvaro Castagnet and Keiko Tanabe to name a few. All these world famous master water colorists have a style of their own and it is a pleasure watching their works.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Road to Gurudongmar Lake, North Sikkim - A water colour painting

"You start painting the moment you look at the subject, not with the first brushstroke." 

Joseph Zbukvik

The last stretch of the road that leads to Gurudongmar Lake in North Sikkim passes through a dry barren landscape and offers breathtaking views. The dark grey road against the pale surroundings, leading to the distant snow covered mountains looks majestic. The beauty of nature cannot be explained in words. We have to be there to see it, feel it and get inspired by it. 

As quoted by Artist Joseph Zbukvik, you start painting a beautiful scene the moment you set eyes on it. This scene appealed to me a lot and that very moment when we were travelling through this beautiful terrain, I had decided to paint it some day. I enjoyed working on this painting and used my newly purchased Paynes grey colour ( Camlin Artists water colour tubes ) for the road.

Road to Gurudongmar Lake

Water colour painting on handmade paper

Size 11" X 15"

Posted below is the initial stage of the painting where in I have blocked in the simple basic shapes using diluted colours. Once it is dry, I redo the second layer adding the right values and details where ever necessary.

Initial stage of the water colour painting

on hand made paper

As mentioned in my last post I am in the process of trying out Fabriano CP 300gsm paper. I plan to create a few small study works to understand the paper. Later if I like the paper a lot, I shall continue using it for my future works too. 

I conduct art workshops from time to time to teach the basics of different mediums and to share the techniques that I use to create a painting. If you wish to attend one of them you can mail me at 

manjupanchal5@gmail.com and I shall get back to you as soon as possible.

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

The snow capped mountains around Gurudongmar Lake.

"People come and go, the mountains remain. Mountains are permanent things. They are stubborn, they refuse to move." Ruskin Bond

Today I am posting a water colour painting of a scene that I came across when I visited Gurudongmar Lake in North Sikkim. At an altitude of 17,100 ft above the sea level the snow capped mountains look magnificent against the backdrop of clear azure sky. In fact every view around was picturesque in its own way.

When I painted the Gurudongmar lake, I enjoyed creating the reflections in the water. In this particular painting I tried to get the sand and rocky texture in the foreground plateau. I have used raw sienna, burnt sienna, yellow ochre and ultramarine blue ( Camlin artists water colour tubes ) in the foreground plateau.

A view from Gurudongmar Lake

Water colour painting on Fabriano Artistico hot pressed paper

Size 5.5" X 7.5"

For this painting I have used Fabriano Artistico hot pressed paper  which is great but I want to use the cold pressed version next time. So yesterday I managed to buy a sheet for Rs 415/- and am excited to try it out soon. The hot pressed paper will go well for my water colour portrait works as it has a smooth surface.

Presently I want to continue working on few more landscapes and seascapes as I am enjoying experimenting and exploring the water colour medium.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Gurudongmar Lake and Zero point - water colour study works

"All my life through, the new sights of nature made me rejoice like a child." Marie Curie

The above quote says exactly what I feel while I am in the arms of nature. My recent visit to North Sikkim made my dream come true as I got the opportunity to visit Gurudongmar lake, Yumthang valley and Zero point. Words cannot express the beauty of these places and as I always write in my posts, one has to be there to feel it and live it.

I captured the beauty of north Sikkim in my Camera ( Cannon and Sony ). Gurudongmar lake is the second highest lake in India, at a height of 17100 feet above sea level. It is one of the most beautiful, spectacular and sacred lakes surrounded on all sides by snow capped mountains.

Legend has it that, Guru Padmasambhava ( also known as Guru Dongmar ), touched and sanctified the lake, and thus even in extreme winter, a portion of the lake does not freeze. The lake is also one of the sources of river Teesta, which flows through Sikkim, West Bengal and Bangladesh to merge with the Bay of Bengal.

Given below are a few water colour study works of Gurudongmar lake and scenes from Zero Point in north Sikkim. Study works help me to understand the composition, brush strokes, colour mixing etc so that when late I am trying to recreate the same scene on a larger scale I will know the exact technique to follow.

Gurudongmar Lake 

Study works on cartridge sheet

Size 4" X 5"

At Zero point ( North Sikkim ) 

Study works on cartridge sheet

Size 4" X 5"

After having done the "Study works" where in I tried out different techniques to get the scene as desired, I shall now decide on creating a larger painting on "Arches 300gsm cold pressed paper". 

I purchased a few sheets of Arches paper some months back but have somehow not gathered the courage to start on it. It is an expensive paper and I wanted to have the free and loose brush movements, and a little bit of experience in handling the water colour medium. It is time now to shift from handmade paper to Arches and I will know the difference once I paint on it. I would love to create a "Gurudongmar lake" painting on it soon.

Thank you all for your support and keep browsing.