Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary - A soft pastel painting

"There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." Pablo Picasso

Blessed with enchanting beauty, Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh is built on and around five hills. Eight kilometres from here, is a beautiful wildlife sanctuary, the Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary which is covered with thick forests of pine and deodhar trees. The undergrowth in the forest is well developed and the view all around is mesmerising. The forest has well laid out trekking trails for those who are the adventurous kind. I was more interested in walking around and soaking in the beauty of the surroundings.

The soft pastel painting of one of the scenes that captured my heart is as below. I have also added images of the step by step technique that I followed before I reached the final stage.  

Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary

Soft pastel painting on Canson MT paper

Size 6" X 8"

Step 1. Basic outline and adding a few colours

Step 2. Simplifying the shapes keeping in mind the perspective

Step 3. Almost all the colours are laid down and only

detailing left for the final stage.

To know more about the papers that I use for my pastel artworks you can CLICK HERE.  I have not created a post on the pastel brands that I use, but plan to do so very soon. I have a miscellaneous collection that I purchased over the past five years. By now I know the individual shades of each brand that I use the most and hence I have created a palette where in I organise all my pastels together ie a mix of different brands. The turquoise blue that I use in ocean is not available in the Koh-I-Noor Toison Dor and similarly the violet shade which is predominant in most of my works is a part of Mungyo collection. In conclusion, every brand has its own value and I enjoy using them together as it works well with my artworks.

Thanks a lot for browsing through my artworks.

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.