Pangong lake, Ladakh

"The Earth does not belong to us: we belong to the Earth." Marlee Matlin

That's a meaningful quote which reminds us to take care of the beautiful natural world around us.  

Pangong lake in Ladakh is a stunning lake surrounded by snow capped mountains. I created a small water colour painting of this lake yesterday on Strathmore water colour paper. 

To get the beautiful shades of blue in the lake I have used Winsor and Newton cotman colours namely cerulean blue and ultramarine blue. For most of my water colour artworks I am presently using a mix of Camlin and Winsor and Newton, Palette.

Pangong Lake, Ladakh

Water colour painting on Strathmore paper

Size 5.5" X  8"

My art is deeply influenced by the beauty of the natural world around us and places such as above continue to inspire me to pursue my art journey. Escaping into the world of art is my idea of meditation. It keeps me busy and happy.

If you wish to attend any of my art workshops you can write a mail to me and I shall get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks for visiting my blog and please take a moment to leave a comment.

CLICK HERE to browse through my available paintings.

River - A water colour painting

"Sit by a river. Find peace and meaning in the rhythm of the lifeblood of Earth." Anonymous

After having done a few charcoal portrait drawings, I am back with a small water colour painting. Working too long with any medium saturates me and then I need to do something different. Now I can work with water colour medium once again with a fresh mind.

Today's water colour painting is a beautiful river flowing down a snowy landscape. I have used the brush strokes to emphasize the direction of the water flow, the rhythm and the energy.

In order to get the water spray effect at left bottom, I have used acrylic white paint spray using a brush. My initial idea was to use a masking fluid but the one that I have is leaving yellow stain on paper so I decided to avoid using it.

I have used a small Strathmore paper cutout for the same. Colour mixing gets simple in a painting such as this as I use a very limited palette, namely Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue, Crimson Lake and Indian Red ( Camlin Artist's water colour tubes. )

Racing downwards

Water colour painting on Strathmore paper

Size 4" X 5.5"

I have used Strathmore paper for my earlier work too and I am beginning to love this paper. Presently I have a Cold Pressed version which has visible texture, but for landscape painting, it is fine. If I want to try out a water colour portrait, then I will have to consider buying the hot pressed paper.

Thanks a lot for visiting my blog.

"Eye and Nose" study on Strathmore gray toned paper

"Do not fail, as you go on, to draw something every day for no matter how little it is, it will be well worthwhile, and it will do you a world of good." Cennino Cennini

A beautiful inspiring quote which reminds me that no matter how busy I am, I must remove a little time every day for my art which is a true source of "Happiness" to me.

I took out my Strathmore gray toned paper last week after a very long time. Just got tempted to do "Eye and Nose study" so that I can get started with my "Portrait works" once again.

Given below is a small study work of a Rajasthani man, on Strathmore paper. I started this artwork with the intention of doing just the eyes and nose but later on got carried away and did the turban and part of the face too. After having done back to back water colour paintings, doing a charcoal portrait has been a welcome change.

Eye and Nose study work

Charcoal and white pastel pencil work on Strathmore toned paper

Size 4.5" X 6"

Speaking of toned papers the two other papers that I have used in the past are "Textured hand made paper" and Canson Mi Teintes.  All these papers including Strathmore is easily available on AMAZON and other online stores. 

Strathmore Toned Gray Pad

with 50 sheets

Thanks a lot for browsing through my works and to browse through some other portraits that I have created in the past CLICK HERE.

On the way to Malshej Ghats - A water colour painting

"Challenges are what makes life interesting, and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." Joshua J Marine

My today's post is a water colour painting of a scene that I came across while I was on the way to Malshej Ghats. The paddy fields filled with water, cloudy sky and fog at the distance, I tried to capture the monsoon atmosphere.

Malshej Ghats is a mountain pass in the Western Ghats range in the Thane-Pune district of Maharashtra. It is nestled in the lofty rugged hills of Western Ghats. The journey to Malshej Ghats during the monsoons is absolutely amazing. There are innumerable waterfalls on the way and the green valleys all around is a refreshing sight. I have used Camlin Artist's water colour tubes for this particular painting.

On the way to Malshej Ghats

Water colour painting on Strathmore paper

Size 4.5" X 6"

"Painting a cloudy sky" has been on my mind since long and a place like Malshej Ghat gave me the opportunity to capture many beautiful foggy landscape scenes with dramatic skies in the background. I am planning to try out all of them. There is no particular technique in mind. Technique evolves with time and experience. 

Painting scenes such as above is going to be a great learning experience. To me art is not just about painting, its about exploring new horizons and educating myself further in a subject that I am very passionate about. 

Thank you for visiting my BLOG and browsing through my works.

Rocks under the water - A charcoal sketching

This is my fourth charcoal sketching of "Rocks under the water". When I did my "First one", it was out of curiosity. Later I did two more as I enjoyed the whole process. The transparent quality of water and to be able to see simple objects like rocks underneath is an amazing experience.

I started this work last week and progressed on it little by little as the rocks underneath in the foreground were placed at different levels and the depth had to be created by adding right amount of values. In all it was a great learning experience.

Nature has always been there around us in its beautiful forms but somewhere down the line we got so busy with our lives and now "Through my art" its like I am rediscovering it.

The rocks below

Charcoal sketching on Strathmore drawing paper.

Size 5" X 7"

Quotation

"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order."

By John Burroughs

The Entrance - Pencil sketching of a wooden door

Pencil sketching of simple door created on Strathmore drawing paper.

As I wrote in my earlier posts, I have recently come across Strathmore drawing paper and I am using it for my charcoal art works. This time around I decided to use only HB pencil to create a simple door and the textures on the wood and wall. Charcoal works have an overall matt finish when completed whereas if graphite pencil is used with lot of pressure it kind of creates a shine which I dislike a lot. So preferably I would love to work with charcoal rather than graphite.

    

The Entrance

Pencil sketching on Strathmore drawing paper

Size 5" X 6.5"

Choosing a subject for painting or sketching can be a daunting task. However there is no fixed pattern or agenda while doing so. There are subjects like "This closed door" which appealed to me and I wanted to sketch it. 

My works can be browsed on my FACEBOOK page as well.

Soft pastel demo work on Strathmore paper

A small soft pastel demonstration done on Strathmore pastel paper during one of my recent soft pastel workshops. There is a slight fold/crumple in the paper as can be seen from the image as below. The crumpling of the paper was caused due to the wet brush which I used on the first layer of pastels in order to get an underpainting of basic colours. 

Later I went on to add more colours of similar values and a few details in the foreground. Richard McKinley, a Master Pastel Artist from America uses the underpainting technique in most of his works and I like his style a lot.

Added two small figures on the beach, taking a casual relaxed walk. Painting a seashore is a very relaxing experience and I am always looking out for more subjects based on sea. 

Small demo work in soft pastel medium

Paper used - Strathmore

Size 5" X 7"

An image of the Strathmore pastel paper pad .

It has 24 sheets of assorted colours

Image: coutesy GOOGLE.

Quotation by Einstein

"Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no one else has thought."

Watercolour study of clouds

Having fun with watercolours. Inspired from the photographs taken at Goa, created two small water colour paintings of clouds in the sky as seen in the monsoon period. For both these paintings I have tried out Strathmore water colour paper ( 300 gsm ).



Water colour paintings

Cloud study on

Strathmore paper
 

Quotation by Einstein

"Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."