Portrait of a woman in water colour medium

"You don't make art, you find it." Pablo Picasso

The portrait that I am posting today is the one I created some years back. It needed a little touch up. Now that I am back into water colour medium, I am trying to complete my older works.

This painting brings back memories of a time when I was doing a "Series" on "Traditional Woman Portraits" mainly from Kutch, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The face, the look, the colourful attire and the traditional jewelry inspired me a lot.

Looking on

Water colour painting on acid free paper

Size 5" X 7"

I have used Winsor and Newton Cotman series of water colours for this painting. Recently I purchased a few tubes of Winsor and Newton Artists series but have not started using it as yet. The tubes are very expensive as compared to Camlin series but the colours are known for its brilliance, transparency and purity of colours, hence I have gone ahead and purchased a few of them.

Thanks a lot for all your support and keep browsing.

Portrait sketching of a woman on toned paper.

"Drawing includes three and a half quarters of the content of the painting. Drawing contains everything except the hue." Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres 

With experience we all realise the significance of the words as mentioned above in the beautiful quote by a Master artist.

In 2006, I created a series of portraits using the acrylic and charcoal medium. Back then I was not using toned paper for my charcoal works. After having worked with charcoal and white pastel pencil on toned paper I have developed a tremendous liking for it. Therefore I have decided to take this passion further by sketching portraits on a regular basis. It is challenging though as it requires an in depth understanding of facial anatomy. However I know from experience that by consistently working on a subject will definitely enhance my knowledge. Moreover I believe that learning is a process which has no boundaries. The learning curve steadily climbs up with time.

The charcoal portrait that I just completed is of  a "Woman from Kutch, Gujarat"with traditional jewelry. The morning rays of the sun are fall on her face, casting beautiful shadow of her nose ring. The light and shadow play on the face makes an interesting composition in portrait sketching. It helps me create a range of values. While creating this portrait I wanted to capture the glow, the happiness on her face. I have used Camlin charcoal pencil and Creatacolour white pastel pencil to create this portrait

The Glow
Charcoal sketching on Grey hand made paper
Size 6"X 8"

For portrait sketching I have always enjoyed selecting  "Traditional Indian women" with their colourful attire and exquisite jewelery as it speaks so much about the rich culture of the place that they come from. To browse through some of my other portrait works you can visit my PORTRAIT page.

Many of my paintings are available for sale and if you wish to purchase any of them you can Contact me for further information about the same. 

Portrait of a woman on toned paper

Of late I have been very busy with my weekend art workshops and I am enjoying them a lot as I am getting to meet people who are as passionate about art as me. Moreover just before the workshop I get to work in that particular medium which is a fresh change for me and it breaks the monotony of working in the same medium for long.

Being too busy with art workshop has however affected my blogging.I am struggling to find time to blog. Last week I took out some time to continue my "Portrait study". The image below is of a beautiful woman from Kutch ( Gujarat ). Absorbed in her own thoughts, with a little smile running across her face. She wears the traditional silver jewelry which gives her a unique identity. The intricate designs of the jewelry fascinate me a lot. 

An Introspection
Charcoal and white pastel pencil study work on hand made paper.
Size 5"X 7"

I got into "Sketching portraits on toned paper" quite recently and am enjoying working on it. Getting all the different values using just two different pencils ie a charcoal pencil and a white pastel pencil is quite a challenge. But the more you work with it the more things get clear and it is fun to explore and experiment. 

To check out some of my earlier portrait works CLICK HERE.

Charcoal portrait work on Canson c a grain paper

I am taking a break from my water soluble graphite works. Not because i am not enjoying
doing it, but I feel the need to use a graphite pencil ( water soluble ) for sharp strokes. I
visited ART LOUNGE recently but did not like the one's which they have. So instead, I have
gone ahead and ordered Cretacolour 8B set of 6 pencils from Amazon.in. There are other
pencils from other brand too but since these are not very expensive and I am on a "TRIAL"stage
I do not mind combining these with my CAMLIN water soluble graphite sticks.

In the meantime, I decided to spend a few hours on an old incomplete work of mine. It is the
portrait of a beautiful young girl from Kutch with her traditional jewellery and a very captivating smile. Years back too I was using Canson c a grain paper, which is acid free and it has a
textured rough surface. I have done a post on the different papers I use for my charcoal
works. CLICK HERE to know more about it.

A smile

Charcoal sketching on Canson c a grain paper

Size 7.5" X 10"

I recently visited ART LOUNGE  which is having its annual sale at

this moment. Will write about ART STATIONERY that I picked up from there in my next post.

Thanks for browsing through my blog.

Sketching a Face in charcoal and white pastel pencil

My last portrait study motivated me to do another one. Somehow I am enjoying the Handmade paper which I purchased from For from Sun Enterprises. For a long time I was busy doing Landscapes which was a revelation in itself. I learnt a lot and enjoyed a lot.

In the portrait sketching as below, my focus was more on getting the anatomy of the face, the expressions. There are facial muscles and bones underneath which all create shadows and depth. An understanding of which will make portrait drawing much better. I have added jewellery but not really worked on details.

The Smile

Charcoal and pastel portrait on Handmade paper

Size 6" x 8"

I am trying to work on a common size ( 6" x 8" ) from here on so that when it comes to framing it some day then I can go ahead and buy a Frames of a common size which makes it very convenient.

There is a very informative article on FRAMING of paintings on Artistsnetwork.com and it is very helpful in taking the right decision regarding proper framing of paintings.

Study sketch - Portrait on Grey hand made paper

I have always enjoyed creating drawings and sketches on toned paper using a simple white pastel pencil and a charcoal pencil. It is a good exercise and very satisfying too.

Given below is the image of a sketching which I have created on Grey hand made paper which has a textured surface. This is my first portrait on toned paper and it is more of a study sketch. To work is just black and white and to get the values right can be a little intimidating.

Avoiding too many details, I have tried to focus on the facial elements and expression.

Looking Across

Size 6" x 8"

Charcoal and white pastel pencil on Grey hand made paper.

Artistsnetwork is a good site where one can get a whole lot of information on charcoal
sketching or any other art related topic. During my spare time, I browse through such
sites a lot. It adds to my knowledge and helps me further in doing better artwork.
Moreover I get to see works of world renowned artists.