On the way to Uttarey, West Sikkim - A soft pastel painting

"Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and spiritual satisfaction." 
E. O. Wilson

Bordered by Bhutan, Tibet, West Bengal and Nepal, Uttarey is a small village located on the Northern slope of Singalila Range in North Sikkim. We paid a visit to this beautiful place while we were on a holiday to Sikkim last year in May. The road to Uttarey from Hee Bermiok had some stunning views on the way. The abundant greenery, the mountains, the waterfalls mesmerize you.

The soft pastel painting as below is inspired by one such scene that we came across while we were on our way to Uttarey. It feels good to be doing a pastel landscape after a long long time.

On the way to Uttarey, North Sikkim

A soft pastel painting on Canson MT paper

Size 7" X 10"

A few images of the steps leading to the creation of the painting as shown above. I started off by picking up a few pastels and placing them on a small white tray so as to avoid a lot of confusion as the painting progresses. I keep the pastel pencils by the side as I use them to create the small branches and other details where ever necessary.

Initial stage of the soft pastel painting.

I wanted to limit myself to a few pastels but as the painting progresses I have practically all my pastels out at my workplace. As seen in the photograph below, I have my Kohinoor and Derwent pastel pencils, Mungyo, Camlin and Sennelier soft pastels all around me as I add more colours to my landscape painting. 

My pastel collection

at my workplace.

Thank you for visiting my blog and browsing through my artworks. If you wish to see my other works visit my INSTAGRAM page, where I upload my paintings on a regular basis.

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.

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.

Charcoal drawing of a landscape from West Sikkim

"To see what others can not.....
You must climb the mountain." Ron Akers

While we were in Sikkim during our holidays we got to stay at a Homestay in Hee Bermiok ( West Sikkim ), which was located quite high up in the mountains. It was a herculean task reaching there but once we got settled we realised the advantage of being there among pristine nature.

Later during the next few days we gathered energy and explored still greater heights in order to get a clear view of Kangchenjunga peak, meet the local people and understand more about their tradition and culture.

On one such route while climbing up the mountain I came across some stunning pathway scenes, the kind I love to paint and I decided to create a charcoal drawing of the same. For creating a study work I love to use "Willow charcoal" which helps in achieving the desired values in a very short period of time.

An upward climb

Charcoal drawing on Cartridge paper

Size 5" X 7"

Camlin charcoal pencil works good in combination with willow charcoal. Willow charcoal is very soft and blends into the paper without leaving too many permanent stains. 

Willow charcoal

Chinese brand,

CLICK HERE to view some of my earlier works created using willow charcoal. I will be conducting a "Charcoal drawing workshop" soon in which I will be discussing in detail regarding the techniques I use to create my charcoal works. To know more about my art workshops you can visit my "ART WORKSHOP" page.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Charcoal drawing - A scene from Phi Phi Don

"Never let what you cannot do interfere with what you CAN do." John Wooden

Painting in any medium for a very long time can sometimes lead to saturation. A little change is all that is required to freshen up the mind.Therefore I have decided to create a few study works of the "Painting subjects" using willow charcoal and charcoal pencil. Creating a charcoal study does not take much time and moreover I require just a few tools at my workplace.

The landscape scene that I selected for my first charcoal study work is a beautiful early morning view as seen from Phi Phi Don. It was low tide, and the ocean water had current but some low lying water near the shore captured the reflections of the distant mountains. While creating this charcoal drawing I simplified the shapes so as to get a good composition.

At Phi Phi Don

Charcoal study work

Size 5" X 7"

I experimented a lot with willow charcoal last year and it works pretty good in combination with charcoal pencils. CLICK HERE to view some landscape works in the past which were mainly done using willow charcoal. 

Willow charcoal

After creating this charcoal study work I am pretty excited. So the plan now is to do water colour paintings as well as charcoal studies of certain landscapes as and when required. This change in the daily painting routine will also give me an opportunity to explore the charcoal medium further.

Thank you all for visiting my blog and browsing through my artworks. 

A water colour painting of a view at Pangong Lake, Ladakh

"The only way to deep happiness is to do something you love to the best of your ability." 
Richard Feynman

Yestersday I watched a documentary on Richard Feynman, an American Theoretical Physicist and was very inspired by his life, works and philosophy. I went through some of his quotes and have posted one of my favorites to share it with all of you.

Today I am posting my third water colour study on Fabriano Artistico CP paper. I am beginning to like this paper. The subject that I have chosen is yet another beautiful view at Pangong Lake in Ladakh. At 14,270 ft above sea level, it is a stunning lake in the Himalayas and offers some great views for artists, photographs and nature lovers.

I worked a little slow on this painting and was more patient with the colour mixing, especially of the distant dry barren mountains. For the ocean I have used ultramarine blue from Camlin and Cerulean blue colour from Winsor and Newton Cotman series. I purchased the Cotman series quite some time back and now am putting it to use as some colours have started drying up.

At Pangong Lake, Ladakh

A water colour painting on Fabriano Artistico CP paper

Size 5" X 7"

I am also posting the initial stage of this painting where in I have just completed the first layer of colours for the background and the lake. For this particular painting, I tried to keep the painting procedure very simple. I finished the lake in one layer itself.

Initial stage of the painting

At Pangong Lake

Thank you for browsing through my works.

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. 

Water colour painting of a mountain slope at Yumesamdong ( North Sikkim )

"Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew." Cicely Tyson

In a quest to discover the mystery behind the water and its role in the painting process, I continue pursue my passion experimenting and exploring this beautiful medium.

The water colour painting as below is a beautiful mountain slope covered with dense vegetation. I came across this view while I was on the way to Yumesamdong in North Sikkim at an altitude of 15300 ft. The two to three hours journey from Lachung to Zero Point or Yumesamdong offers stunning views of nature. The journey is as beautiful as the destination.

I have used flat vertical brush strokes to get the desired effect. This was a new and interesting experience for me and I enjoyed working with Campap paper. ( 200 gsm )

On the way to Yumesamdong ( Zero point )

Water colour painting on Campap paper

Size 5.5" X 8"

I purchased Campap paper a few years ago during some sale at a stationery shop and after using it for a couple of paintings I am beginning to like it. What I like most about this paper is the fact that I can easily lift off colour from the surface using a tissue paper or plain brush. I have placed an order for a 300 gsm Campap paper from Amazon as I want to try out this paper further.

If you are passionate about water colours then you must browse through the works of Alvaro Castagnet, an international water colour artist. His works are very inspiring. When free, I take out time to go through the works of other artists and it helps in lot many ways. Some day I shall write a post on that.

Thank you for browsing through my works and I appreciate your support which drives me to continue my art journey.

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.

Mountain view at Matheran

"I would rather die of passion than of boredom." Vincent Van Gogh

Matheran is a very small hill station about 90 kms from Mumbai, in Raigad district of Maharashtra. It is located on the range of Western Ghats at a height of 800 m above sea level. It has been declared an Eco Sensitive Zone by the Government of India and being a vehicle free zone one gets to walk a lot in the laps of mother nature. Apart from dense forest, we get to see beautiful views of mountains and plateaus.

There are 38 designated points in Matheran from where one gets to see breathtaking views of the distant Ghats. To reach each point, it takes roughly forty to forty five minutes of walking through the red muddy pathways. 

I decided to paint this particular scene because it looked very beautiful, had great composition with distant hills and the warm mountains in the foreground. I got to use some of my earthen shades of pastels. There is so much to observe, so much to learn about the colours, the atmospheric perspective, the way landscape transforms with the change of the temperature. 

Mountain view
Soft pastel painting on Canson MT
Size 5"X 7"

I have visited Matheran a lot many times and have a great collection of photographs and sketches. Some of them are pretty complicated with dense forest, shrubs, grasses and sunlight perforating through the foliage and it needs a little analyzing and understanding before I set off to start them, but eventually I plan to do each and every one of them. One step at a time. 

I love painting and try doing some work on a daily basis. I can never get bored of my art, however when I do a particular medium for a very long time it does lead to a little saturation. At such times I get into my charcoal and other mediums which refreshes my mind instantly.

Through my blog I get to share my thought process in creating each work, my techniques, my experimenting and exploring and it is fun connecting with so many artists around the world. 

Thanks for all your support and do leave a comment so that I may know what you feel about my works.

Dalhousie - A soft pastel painting

A beautiful quotation that I came across recently so decided to share it with others. 
"One eye sees, the other feels." Paul Klee

Dalhousie, is a beautiful hill station in Chamba district in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh. It is situated on five hills and has an elevation of 1970 metres above sea level. The place is blessed with enchanting beauty and is a must visit destination for all nature lovers, artists and photographers.

While in Dalhousie, we stayed in a hotel from where we had a direct view of the majestic snow capped mountains and pine trees. Referring to one of the photographs taken there, I painted this scene in soft pastel medium. 

At Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh

Soft Pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size 5" X 7"

I have created a series of paintings on some memorable scenes from Himachal Pradesh. The state is so beautiful that you cannot help falling in love with it. I have visited Himachal on three different occasions and wish to go there many more times. Our last visit was to Spiti valley and back then we had planned to cover Lahaul district as well, but owing to bad weather could not do so. Sometime soon we will plan out a trip there too. 

Blogging is great but if someone wants to see all the paintings in the "Gallery" format it becomes a little difficult and one has to laboriously follow the "Blog Archive" which can be time consuming. Therefore as suggested by friends and my younger art workshop participants I have decided to go one step further and upload my past works on Instagram. It is taking time but eventually I will try and put up all my favourite works together.

When I get time at hand, the first thing that I want to do is paint. However painting at a stretch for long number of hours can exhaust the mind. During such times I take to photographing my art, editing, blogging etc. During my initial years I struggled, as I love painting more than blogging. But with time I have learnt to create a balance between all my activities.

Do you blog on a regular basis? Would love to hear from you through your comments. Do write about your art endeavors, your likes, dislikes etc. 

Thanks for browsing through my blogposts.

The cliffs, the water and reflection - A soft pastel painting ( Phi Phi Leh )

"If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere." Vincent Van Gogh

Nature inspires me to paint. The soft pastel painting as below has been inspired by the stunning colours of the water around the limestone cliffs of Phi Phi Leh ( Thailand ). Creating a painting like this refreshes my memory and I relive the happy moments spent in the laps of nature.

Before I start any painting, as a routine I always create a thumbnail sketch of the scene. I created one for this painting too. Click here to view the same.

Around Phi Phi Leh

A soft pastel painting on Fabriano Tiziano paper

Size 7" X 10"

I love soft pastel medium for its vibrant hues. The more I paint in this medium the more I fall in love with it. Since it is a dry medium my workplace often gets a little messy and dusty but at the end of it, it is all forgotten. All that I remember is a beautiful journey. From start to finish. The pleasure of having completed the painting is a reward in itself.

Thanks for browsing through my works. I do not have a website as of now. Hence I have started uploading some of my works on DEVIANTART. You can browse through my works there. 

Looking up at the cliffs - A soft pastel painting of a scene from Bamboo island ( Thailand )

The soft pastel painting as below has been inspired by the limestone cliffs at Bamboo island in Thailand. It was almost 11 am and the sun was behind the cliffs. The cliffs facing us were almost in shadow. When I looked up at the cliffs against the bright morning sky, the sight was absolutely amazing. I captured this scene in my camera as well as in my mind. Back then I had taken this decision to paint this scene some day.

I created a thumbnail sketch for this painting in the month of June and referring to it I started this painting last week. This scene was a little challenging because of the perspective involved. However it was a great learning experience. I plan to do some more landscape subjects such as these in near future.

Looking up at the cliffs

Soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size 6" X 8"

A beautiful Quote

"The mission of art is to represent nature, not imitate her." William Morris Hunt

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.

Sketching a Mountainscape using white pastel pencil

The black Strathmore Artagain 400 series paper is fun to work with. I have not tried the pastel chalks on it, however the white pastel pencil works really fine on its smooth surface. After my last work that I created recently, I was inspired to do another one on the same subject.

Therefore I went ahead with my next creation of yet another of my "Mountainscape" in this series using the white pastel pencils. The source of light in the sketching below is from the right and hence accordingly I had to work out my highlights and shadows. 

White pastel art work on a black paper is a great way of doing a "Value study".

The Peak

White pastel pencil sketching on black paper

Size 4.5"X 5.5"

"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary." Pablo Picasso

White pastel pencil sketching on Strathmore paper

A beautiful, inspiring Quote...

"Learning never exhausts the mind." Leonardo Da Vinci

Sometime back I posted my white pastel sketching of a Mountainscape which I created on

Strathmore 400 series black paper. I enjoyed creating the sketch and had it in mind to create

a few more in the same series because I felt that this is a simple sketching process which is not 

very time consuming and in return helps to understand the unique aspects of each mountain range with respect to scale, form, value and detail. 

For the sketching below I have once again used the snow mountains as a reference. The source of light is from the left which helps in deciding on the light and the dark values. The black colour of the paper acts as the darkest value. 

The slopes

White pastel pencil sketching on black paper

Size 4.5"X 5.5"

I have used three different pastel pencils to complete this work namely Conte, General and Cretacolour. In the initial stage I use only Conte as it is lighter and much smoother in

comparison to General and Cretacolour.

Conte, Cretacolour and General white pastel pencil

5" X 6.5" Small value study of a landscape, using white pastel pencil.

After having created a landscape with snow mountains, ( As in my last post ), I got interested
in doing another one. However this time I decided to use a small piece of Strathmore 400 series.

The white pastel pencils I used are from General, Conte and Cretacolour. The black colour of
the paper acts as the darkest value in this landscape sketch.Towards the end I have used a little of
white soft pastel chalk from Kohinoor to create the brightest bright of values.

Small value study work

Size 5" X 6.5"

White pastel pencil on Strathmore 400 series ( Black paper )

" I sometimes think there is nothing so delightful as drawing."  Vincent Van Gogh

I truly enjoy drawing and sketching. Be it charcoal on white paper or pastel pencils on toned

paper, it gives me immense satisfaction. Until some years back I was mostly creating charcoal

and pencil sketches on white paper. It's only recently that I have started exploring the other

options like working on coloured papers ( Mainly Canson Mi Teintes ).

I have also started another art work ie a Forest scene on beige coloured Canson 

paper, using only charcoal pencil and white pastel pencil. The work is in progress and I will be posting it as soon as it completes. 

Tonal value study of a Landscape

Today's post is a tonal value study of a landscape with mountain and slopes.

The fun part is that I did not do it alone. I had an artist friend over at my place. She has done her
fine art from Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore. Whenever we meet we create a small piece of
art. This time we had about three hours of time between us so we decided to try out a tonal value study sketch on Black Canson Mi Teintes paper. This work required the use of only white pastel pencils and a kneaded eraser.

So we went ahead and created this white pastel pencil sketch. Apart from the sketching we
had a lengthy discussion on art related topics. We also decided to meet more often as it gives
us an opportunity to interact, share and create more art.

Tonal value study of a Landscape

with mountains and slopes.

White pastel pencil work on Canson Mi Teintes paper.
Size 5"X 7"

"The first things to study are form and values. For me, these are the things that are the basics  of what is serious in art." Jean Baptiste Corot. ( French Painter )

The quote as above speaks a lot about what every artist feels and experiences in life. To get
better at anything we have to get the basics right. Value study helps in rendering the colours
in a very effective manner.

Thanks for browsing through my artworks. 

The snow capped mountains - Soft pastel painting on Canson paper

A soft pastel painting inspired by the majestic mountains as seen at Himachal Pradesh.

When I am painting forest scenes I normally go for the dark toned papers like black and dark 

brown. However since this is a winter scene with cool colours, I wanted to add a little warmth 

so I decided to go with a light orange coloured paper. Canson Mi Teintes comes in many

different colours and each artist makes his/her choice regarding selection of the base 

colour of the painting.

The breathtaking views of the mountain range and the play of light and shadows creating 

dramatic effect on the slopes is a beautiful sight. The tip of the tall trees glow as the morning 

sunlight falls on them. 

The snow capped mountains
Soft pastel painting on Canson paper
Size 6" X 8"

I will be submitting this painting in DPW challenge  dated an 16,2016. The challenge
remains open for long so even if I have missed submitting in that week I can always do so later on.

The weekly subject keeps changing and it is fun to paint something different from
your regular subject.