Step by step - Soft pastel painting of a landscape.

"It doesn't matter how paint is put on, as long as something is said." Jackson pollock

I paint some part of nature, something that appeals to me. Being there made me happy so I feel that connection and through my paintings I want to convey that happiness and appreciation of the beauty of nature. The soft pastel painting as below is a simple scene that I came across while on a morning visit to Karnala Bird Sanctuary. 

In the shadows, flowing through the rocks, a little stream of water, the dappled sunlight, falling across at places, bringing in the sudden glow. It is such a delight when I come across some simple beautiful scenes in nature. It is a little world in itself. The quiet serene atmosphere relaxes you and you learn to appreciate and admire nature a little more. 

Capturing the morning light

Soft pastel painting on canson MT

Size 7" X 10"

Given below are the images of the steps involved in creating the painting. I follow a simple step by step technique to complete my artwork. 

Step 1. Creating the basic outline of the elements keeping in

mind the perspective

Step 2. Simplifying the shapes and adding colours

Step 3. Adding colours keeping in mind the values.

The details happen at the final stage just 

before completion.

Every painting that I create has its own challenges. In this particular work I had to create the tall grasses in different shades, also keeping in mind the highlight on some of them due to the sunlight filtering through the foliage on the left side. However these little challenges make me learn a little more than what I already know and I enjoy these little learning experiences. 

I have also got into charcoal study works lately and will post one of my recent works soon.

Thank you very much for browsing through my works. 

I am also posting my works on INSTAGRAM on a regular basis.

The sea waves washing ashore - A soft pastel study.

Soft pastel painting

The soft pastel painting as below has been inspired by all the beaches that I have visited in the past. I particularly chose to do this composition in order to have a better understanding of the anatomy of sea waves. When the waves are reach the shore, the transparency is so visible. The foam that forms on the surface of water has a unique wavy pattern and depending on the light source it casts shadows on the sand beneath. It's a great feeling to stand at the beach and watch these waves move back and forth in a constant rhythm.

The waves at the shore

Soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size 5"X 7"

For this particular painting I used a very limited set of colours as posted in the image below. The brand that I normally use are Mungyo and Kohinoor Toison Dor. I selected the pastels at the beginning itself and placed it on my temporary palette( An old ceramic plate). Making a choice of colours at the beginning saves a lot of time and confusion as I have a big collection of blues and greens.

Limited soft pastel palette

 as used for the above painting.

Art quotes inspire and motivate me continue painting.

Posting a beautiful quote- 

"I would rather die of passion than of boredom." Vincent Van Gogh

To visit my latest artworks you can browse through my Instagram feed.

One morning at Vaddi beach in Goa - A soft pastel painting

Painting a seascape

Seascape is my all time favorite subject. I have done a series on them. Painting a beach scene has always been a very relaxing experience.

The soft pastel painting below is a scene from Vaddi beach, Benaulim in South Goa. We were at this beach in monsoon last year. It is a beautiful white sandy beach and the wild creeper as seen on the right appealed to me a lot. I have also created this very scene earlier in water colour medium.

One morning at Vaddi beach

Soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size 6" X 8"

The pastels that I used for this particular painting can be seen as below. I selected these shades right at the beginning and then added more colours as and when required. 

The different soft pastels used for creating

the painting as above.

A Quote

"Colour is my day-long obsession, joy and torment." Claude Monet

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.

Maya Bay ( Phi Phi Leh )

Maya Bay is a stunningly beautiful bay that is sheltered by 100 meter cliffs on all three sides. The
whole bay is one big reef. It is part of Phi Phi Leh ( Thailand ). "The Beach" was filmed here in
1999 which has increased its popularity.

I have used charcoal medium to recreate this scene as I saw it while on our recent Phi Phi Leh tour.
The beach was crowded, but I wanted to sketch it with just one boat entering the Bay ( Under the
cliffs on the left ). I have also added a two people on the left of the beach to understand the relative
size of the cliffs in comparison. This sketching is more of a study work or preliminary work and
I have done it to understand the value scale. I will be creating a soft pastel painting of this Bay
very soon referring to a different view.

Maya Bay ( Phi Phi Leh )

Charcoal sketching on Fabriano Academia paper.

Size 6" X 8"

The map below shows the location of Phi Phi Leh and Phi Phi Don. Most tourists stay at Phi Phi Don

and go to Phi Phi Leh by a long tail boat or a speedboat. Phi Phi Leh is uninhabited, beautiful and 

nothing short of a paradise.

I have used a sheet from the Fabriano pad as below. This pad has 50 sheets sized 6" X 8" and 120 gsm. It has a textured surface and charcoal works well on this paper. I have created a post earlier on

the papers I use for charcoal sketching and you can CLICK here to view it.

Fabriano Sketching pad.

Quotation

"The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless."

Jean Jaques Rousseau

Willow charcoal sketching of a beach at Bamboo island ( Near Phi Phi Leh )

In December 2014, I used willow charcoal to create a few study works on cartridge paper. 

It worked pretty well in combination with charcoal pencils and the plan was to use it on 

professional acid free paper some day to create more permanent artworks. However in the 

course of time it never happened and this project went into the " Waitlist" category ie to be 

done on some other day at some other time. In the meanwhile I kept myself busy with other

mediums and subjects.

Willow charcoal

Two study works using

willow charcoal and other charcoal pencils.

Created on cartridge paper

( Old works )

This week was the perfect opportunity to use my willow charcoal once again as I had just 

completed my charcoal workshop and all my charcoal sketching tools were on my workplace. 

Hence I decided to create a charcoal sketch of a simple beach scene inspired by a view at the Bamboo Island which was part of our Phi Phi Leh Tour. ( Thailand ). Bamboo island is

one of the most beautiful National Park island in Phuket.

This serene beach had the very basic elements like sky, water and trees/foliage. What I loved 

about the composition was the shadows on the beach and the scattered rocks.

In the shadows

Charcoal sketching on Fabriano Academia paper

Size 6.5" X  7.5"

Beautiful Quotation

"One must always draw, draw with the eyes, when one cannot draw with a pencil."

By Balthus  ( 1908 - 2001 ) Polish French modern artist.

Rocks under the water - A charcoal sketching

This is my fourth charcoal sketching of "Rocks under the water". When I did my "First one", it was out of curiosity. Later I did two more as I enjoyed the whole process. The transparent quality of water and to be able to see simple objects like rocks underneath is an amazing experience.

I started this work last week and progressed on it little by little as the rocks underneath in the foreground were placed at different levels and the depth had to be created by adding right amount of values. In all it was a great learning experience.

Nature has always been there around us in its beautiful forms but somewhere down the line we got so busy with our lives and now "Through my art" its like I am rediscovering it.

The rocks below

Charcoal sketching on Strathmore drawing paper.

Size 5" X 7"

Quotation

"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order."

By John Burroughs