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.

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.

Using Arches 300 gsm cold pressed paper

"Master water first and then paint." Josh Goldberg

Gurudongmar Lake is a stunning lake situated at a height of 17100 ft above sea level in north Sikkim.
The lake can be reached by road from Lachen via Thangu. The approach road from Thangu to Gurudongmar passes through a rugged and enchanting terrain with high alpine pastures covered with many rhododendron trees. It is a difficult journey and most tourists leave Lachen early morning by 4 or 5 am as it takes three to four hours to reach the lake. However once the destination is reached it is an unbelievable sight and the beautiful view all around is mesmerising. To me it was like a dream come true.

Before creating any painting, as a rule I always create a few study works which helps me simplify the shapes, understand the values and colours. Creating a study work also helps me to decide on my technique that I would apply in order to create that particular work. Sometimes it is wet on wet and other times I go with wet on dry technique. I have used my newly purchased Arches cold pressed paper for this painting and if everything works out well I may use it as my preferred choice for water colour medium.

Gurudongmar lake

Water colour painting on Arches cold pressed paper

Size 7" X 9"

In conclusion, I enjoyed working with Arches cold pressed paper. It has a great textured surface which is ideal for landscape painting and being 300 gsm, it can hold water for long and does not buckle much. I am planning to create a seashore painting next on the same paper. After creating a couple of works on this paper I will be able to understand its quality better.

Thanks for visiting my blog and 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.

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. 

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.

On the way to Ladakh - a water colour painting

"Choose only one master - Nature" - Rembrandt

Leh Ladakh is beautiful. The landscape is stunning and the snow capped mountains
offer a breathtaking view. Nature has been one of the most inspiring factors in my paintings.

Ladakh is at the top of my list in "MUST VISIT" places. I have a few photographs which
have been given to me by a close friend Preeti Jhaveri. After having done a few study works
as seen in my last post, I decided to create a 4" X 5" water colour painting on Canson Vidalon paper. 

In fact one of the reasons for selecting this subject is to submit my work in the weekly
challenge of Daily Paint Works. This has been one of my most important "RESOLUTIONS"
of this year and I am glad that I finally am getting into something that I always wanted to.

For most of my study works I only depend on my Camel water colour tubes but for this
particular painting I decided to use my Winsor and Newton Cotman water colour tubes
which have been with me since may be last fifteen years or so. I am trying to use them up as
some of the colours are drying up.

On the way to Ladakh

Water colour painting on Canson Vidalon paper ( 425 gsm )

Size 4"X 5"

Next I am planning to use Arches cold pressed water colour paper which is one of

the most popular choices by many artists of the world.

The snow capped mountains

" I put my heart and soul into my work, and I have lost my mind in the process." 

 Vincent Van Gogh

Created four more study works in water colour medium using my photographs from Himachal.

I have also used a few photographs from Leh Ladakh trip which were provided to me by a close

friend of mine. 

Most of the paintings as below are done with very limited colours. Since a major part of the 

landscape is covered with snow, the other colours that I use are ultramarine blue, crimson, 

burnt sienna, sap green, raw sienna and sometimes Indian red.

I keep creating these small works and then when I want to create a larger work then along with

the photograph I use these water colour sketches. After completing each one of them, I write a

few notes under each of these paintings, as a reminder to myself regarding some new colour 

that I used OR if I have made a mistake and how to rectify it when doing a bigger painting.

Most of the times it helps.

Water colour study sketches

of snow covered mountains

as seen in Himachal

and Leh-Ladakh

The cold barren mountains of Spiti

”Beauty is truth, truth beauty”
—-that is all Ye know on earth,
and all ye need to know. ~John Keats

After having done couple of study works I decided it was time to create my second large sized painting. I selected a scene from Himachal Pradesh as it would give me the opportunity to paint the sky, distant mountains and the curved pathway with rocks strewn around. 

I started with wet on wet technique in the first layer using the transparent colours in the distance. After the first layer had dried up, I added more colours in the middle and foreground using wet on dry technique. For this particular painting I felt it was the right choice. The paper I have used is a non expensive hand made paper. Arches paper is definitely a very good choice and I plan to make a transition soon.

Mountains and snow

Water colour painting on handmade paper

Size 10.5"X 14"

Water colour medium is challenging. An error done cannot be easily rectified. So I am learning
to be more patient. I am enjoying this medium a lot and plan to continue doing some more.
I have started a seascape and will be posting the image when it gets completed.

Another view from KOMIC village in Himachal Pradesh ( Spiti valley )

"To draw, you must close your eyes and sing." Pablo Picasso

The soft pastel painting below is from another view as seen from KOMIC village in Himachal Pradesh. ( 4513 mts elevation, one of the highest villages in Asia ). From this particular view the snow clad mountains could be seen at a distance. The otherwise barren land surprisingly had little vegetaion on its slopes and we also found patches of snow at some places. It was the month of June so the snow was in its melting stage.

Komic village is close to Kaza and from here we went to Kumzum Pass. I have painted a few scenes from Kumzum and wish to do some more.

Way and Beyond 

Soft Pastel painting

Size 6" x 9"

My signature can be seen on bottom left of the painting and it is done using a black pastel pencil.

Thanks for browsing through my works. More of my works can be seen on Instagram.