Sand dunes at the seashore

"At the beach life is different, 

Time doesn't move hour to hour

But mood to moment.

We live by the currents, 

Plan by the tides

And follow the sun."

Sandy Gingers

I am posting today after a very long time and I must say that I have missed my blogging sessions. However I have been very active at Instagram where I have been posting my watercolor studies and paintings on a regular basis. Blogging is different in its own unique way. In my blog, can share my ideas, my thoughts, my techniques and can write in more detail about my “Art Experiments on day today basis.” So I am glad that I am back to blogging and will try and share a lot about things that I have done in the past few months.

To begin with, I am posting a watercolor painting of a seashore today that I created on Arches Cold pressed paper ( 300 gsm ), using my old collection of Winsor and Newton cotman watercolortubes. The sand dunes and the sea oats at the beach inspired me to create this painting. Sea. oats are miraculous little plants with a massive root system capable of holding soil and sand in place during extreme weather. They may look like weeds but are vital part of the ecosystem.

Sand dunes and Sea oats

A water colour painting on Arches CP paper 

Size 6” X 8”

Seascapes is one of my favorite subjects and I can never get tired of painting them. For the sea oats on the dunes, I used my flat brush and rigger brush. In the past few months I have tried out many different water color papers and will be writing more in detail about them very soon. In the meantime you can also browse through my works on INSTAGRAM, where in I try and remember to mention the paper and the colors used to create a painting.

Thank you very much for all your support and I shall try to be more regular at my blogging so that I can share my art journey with all of you.

Water colour painting inspired by the white sandy beaches of Florida

"There are no half measures when it comes to watercolours. Watercolour demands constant devotion." Pierre Tougas

Yesterday I completed my second water colour painting on Arches cold pressed paper. I love the beaches and have done a series on them. Be it in Goa, Phi Phi island or Florida, they are all beautiful in their own way.

The 7" X 9" watercolour painting below has been inspired by the beautiful white sandy beaches of Florida. I have painted a lot of them before on hand made paper. Now I am trying out my new works on Arches, Fabriano and other acid free papers. Shifting from one paper to another gets a little tricky as the paper surface, it's water absorbing quality etc is different and hence it takes a little time getting used to it.

In the painting below, I tried to do the sky using wet on wet technique and I had all the steps planned out in the head, but as the paper started drying up it led to a little confusion and then the brush strokes were just spontaneous. Next time probably I will keep the spray bottle by the side to keep the paper wet for a longer time. Like I always say, every painting is a new learning experience and I am always looking forward to painting something new and challenging.

Morning at the shore

Water colour painting on Arches cold pressed paper

Size 7" X 9"

My next painting that I have already worked out in my mind is a beach scene from Goa and also another landscape scene from Sikkim. I also plan to check out the "Fabriano Artistico" hot pressed paper which I recently purchased from the Himalaya Stationery store at Fort.

Thanks for browsing through my works.

The sunlit seashore - a water colour painting.

WISHING EVERYONE A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016.

The new year has finally begun and its time to look back and analyse and evaluate. I have completed two years of BLOGGING and I need to write a post on the series of works that I have created and the mediums that I have explored. Will write a detailed post about it soon.

As of now I am posting yet another of my seashore paintings inspired by FLORIDA. In this particular seascape I have added a lot of warmth and since the colours of the sky always reflect on the land I have used raw sienna in the foreground as the initial layer. The light that falls on the grasses creates beautiful shadows. The footprints on the sand too add a lot of drama in the scene. Without these elements the seascape would not look so interesting and magical.

The Sunlit seashore

Water colour painting on hand made paper

Size 6" X 9"

When I started with the series on water colour seashore paintings my plan was to do a few of them and then change the subject. However I have changed my mind and I may do a few more beaches before shifting to another subject because there is a lot to learn and with every painting my knowledge and experience is adding up. 

Normally when I get into a new medium I start with landscapes, ie seashores and mountainscapes. Its much later that I jump to creating forests as the trees, the bushes, the perspective and all the greens is very very challenging. 

I believe in "TAKING ONE STEP AT A TIME" and I am doing just that.

Enjoying my art as I move on in life.

Morning at the beach

Another of my seashore paintings with reference to the beaches at Florida. I added a little warmth to the sands in the foreground before painting the shadows. The sand dunes help in creating a dramatic composition. 

Presently I am continuing to use the Camel artist's colour tubes but have plans to use my old collection of Winsor and Newton cotman colours too as some of them are drying up. Also the plan is to shift to Arches paper as it has more water holding capacity and is an acid free paper.

Morning at the beach

Water colour painting on hand made paper

Size 6"X 9"

I somehow feel comfortable painting on a common size such as 6" X 9". This kind of an arrangement helps because in future if I have to frame some of my works then I can go and buy Frames of a common size which adds to the convenience. Moreover this size is very easy to store in a Folder.

Walk to the beach - A water colour painting

The water colour painting as below is the second in the series of Florida beach paintings. My experimenting and exploring new colour mixing combination continues. In this particular painting I have used wet on wet technique in the sky using crimson, ultramarine blue and cerulean blue colour. I avoided adding clouds and wanted to keep the sky clear so as to keep the eye focused on the walk towards the ocean.

In the foreground I have made use of fan brush as well as the round brush to create the tall grasses on the sand dunes. The sand dunes have many different plants growing on it with extensive root systems.
Since I am painting lot of sand dunes in my present beach series, I decided to read a little more about it. More information about the subject that I am painting helps me to connect with it better.

Dunes play an important role both to the beaches that front them and the land behind them. Dunes act as a sand reserve for beaches. Dune systems act as a buffer between the high energy of the ocean and the land. Dunes provide a barrier to salt intrusion from high tides and storm surges, and it protects the land behind the dunes from erosion.

Courtesy: http://www.floridaocean.org/uploads/docs/blocks/175/sand-dunes.pdf

Walk to the beach

Water colour painting on hand made paper

Size 6" X  9"

The sand dunes at the seashore - A water colour painting

I finally started the Florida seashore painitngs in water colour medium after having done the water colour study works. The study works help me to follow the same technique as I applied while I was doing the small 4"X 5"painting. Most of the times it works.

The first of my Florida beaches is as below. Creating the grasses was a challenge. I used the round brush sideways dragging the colour upwards. The paint that I lifted from the palette was very dry or else it would have smudged a lot. Later I used the pointed brush to create the long blades of grass. I need to work on the sky and a few more elements and will experiment with some new techniques in my next painting. For the water colour painting below I have used Camel artist quality water colour tubes.

Sand dunes at the beach

Water colour painting on Indian hand made paper.

Size 6"X 9"

By December end I will have completed two years of blogging and a whole lot of paintings and sketchings. Blogging has got me more focused towards my art. At times I just browse through my older works and it makes me realise how one step at a time I have slowly moved forward.

I have some resolutions lined up for the coming year and will be posting about it soon

If you wish to see my creative side wherein I design some unique ethnic home decor 

products then please visit my blog www.ethnikhomedecor.blogspot.in

Florida beaches - water colour study sketches

The white sandy beaches of Florida are just beautiful. For my next study sketches I referred to some beautiful images from Florida and manipulated the photographs a bit by shifting the sand dunes and the grasses so as to create a good composition. In each of them I have tried some different technique or colour combination. I have also experimented with different skies. 

The sky in all the paintings below has been completed in just one wash. I have also used two new colours which are my latest additions in the Camel artists colour tubes collection, namely Rose madder and French ultramarine blue. Over a long period of time we get used to using only a particular set of colours and it reflects in most of our paintings. So I took the decision to try out new colour mixes every time I do a study work. For example  to create a dark shadow I mixed viridian green and rose madder which worked out fine.

In two of paintings as below, I have added raw sienna in the foreground to add a little warmth. For grasses I have tried different brushes like flat brush, round brush and fan brush. An old worn out brush with stiff hair also works fine at times and I realised that with practise the grass creation will get better.

Painting beaches of Florida on cartridge sheet
using water colour medium.

My next project is to use my technique and colours that I applied in the study work and create larger pieces of work. I may not use all four images as above but it all depends on the MOOD and RHYTHM. Many a times I decide to do just one but get so carried away in the flow that I land up doing many more. Then there are times when my study sketches remain in the sketch book and I shift to some different work or medium.

There are no set RULES that I follow. There is no FIXED PLAN or ROUTINE. I take each day as it comes. Painting and sketching what comes to my mind each morning. Fresh ideas keep cropping in my head all the time and it is like a list of work that gets built up like a future PROJECT.

I may not execute all my ideas and projects the very same day and they remain stagnant in some part of the brain but I know for sure that each of the ideas will take shape some day be it a charcoal painting of a tree trunk or a portrait study or whatever else.

Right now my water colour seascapes is a definite yes and I plan to do at least four to five of them.