Morning at the creek - A soft pastel painting

"I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart." Vincent Van Gogh. 

The scene below is from Lokhandwala creek (The Marshy Wetlands ), which is in close proximity to my residence. It is a very quiet area and is frequented by lots of different bird species in the early morning hours. 

Some time in the month of June I had visited this place along with another artist friend with the aim of doing Plein air sketching"(Sketching on location).The weather was hot and humid and I was not comfortable sketching outdoors, but I managed to complete a few of them. 

Using one of the sketches and referring to the photograph of the scene, I created this pastel painting as below on Canson Mi Teintes paper. I selected this particular scene as my "subject" since it gave me the opportunity to paint water and the reflections. Furthermore I got to work on the trees and bushes at the distance.

Morning at the creek

Soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size 5" X 7"

After painting seascapes and waterfalls, it was a pleasant change to paint a creek scene as above. I have created plenty of thumbnail sketches in the past few days and will be painting a few more landscapes using the soft pastel medium.

The crystal clear waters of Phuket and Phi Phi Leh - Few photographs

"To me photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an

ordinary place. I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with

the way you see them." Elliott Erwett

When I am travelling, it is not always possible to create a sketch or a painting on the spot. So
I have to rely a lot on the photographs that I capture. I try to focus on the scenes which I feel
can help me create some beautiful paintings of the pristine nature around me.  

Later when I am at home and if the photograph is not up to my satisfaction, I edit it a bit
removing a few elements, adjusting the horizon etc. I love photography but it is a big field in
itself and I am still learning. I use a digital camera as well as a new Canon 7D. Manual
photography is new to me and quite challenging, therefore as and when I get time I refer to
Photography manuals to get a better understanding of it.

Posting a few photographs as taken by me while we were on our recent tour to Phuket,

Phi Phi Leh and other islands closeby. The crystal clear water, its ever changing colours,
is all so captivating.

At Bamboo island 

The calm waters and the submerged rocks.

At Rawai beach at Phuket

The sparkling still waters

At Bamboo island

Around Phi Phi Leh

The colour of the water reflecting back at the rocks above.

I have started new works using the soft pastel medium and they are in progress. Will post them as 

soon as I complete them. In the meantime I have also started uploading a few of my works

on Deviant art as it will allow some of my paintings to be seen together in a Gallery format which

is not possible on the blog.