Experimenting with water colour techniques in my sketch book.

Sketchbook has become a very significant part of my art journey. I use it for my small preliminary works in different mediums. These days I am creating water colour paintings in them. I posted about these works earlier too and you can CLICK HERE to browse through them.

The works are sized 4" X 5.5" and are done in a very free and loose manner. Working small helps me to learn better. I start with the reference photo, analyse the elements and then work out the procedure in my mind regarding the technique that I shall be using to create the background, middle ground and the foreground. Then I go ahead and mix the colours as required in my palette ( Camlin artists water colour tubes ) and begin the work.

It takes me roughly ten to fifteen minutes to create each work. Since it is a small preliminary study I have to constantly remind myself to avoid getting into too many details and stop after a while. However many a times I get so involved with my art that I lose the sense of time and overdo the strokes which is not really required.

After completing each of the small paintings I make a small note at the side which in future can remind me of my little experiments that I did each time. At times the painting does not match the vision that I had in mind and it challenges me all the more to try out something different to make it work.

A rocky seashore

Maya bay

Breezy day at the sea

Foggy day at seashore

A tree in shadow

Mandalpatti hills ( Karnataka )

Dense foliage 

Aerial perspective - study work

The sketch book with 40 cartridge sheets in it.

I am loving this sketch book. I purchased it from Art Station, a stationery shop close to my residence.

Posting below a beautiful quote that I came across recently and it so well worded. Anyone who is painting in water colour medium will agree with it.

"Watercolor is like golf. Every stroke counts." Katie Wood McCloy

Experimenting with water colour medium in my new sketch book

New sketch book.

On my recent visit to "Art Station" the art stationery shop, a new sketch book caught my eye and I decided to purchase it. It has 4" X 5.5" cartridge sheets and is slightly different from my previous sketch book which I have been using all this while. It is in my nature to try out something new. It is very exciting and it brings about a change in the otherwise mundane routine.

Sketch books are fun as I get to experiment and explore while creating small little works in a short period of time. I was not much of a sketch book person earlier. It is only much later that I got inspired by this "Idea" which was being so much talked about by many other artists around the world. As of now I am addicted to scribbling, sketching and creating lot many odd works in my sketchbook. Some days when I am doing nothing I just sit back and relax, browsing through one of my old sketchbooks which stirs beautiful memories related to all the work that I created in the past.

Given below is the image of my new sketch book and a few paintings that I created. Each painting that I chose to do was with a specific purpose in mind ( As mentioned below each work ). The time spent on each of them was anything between fifteen to twenty minutes. I also write a small note underneath each of my work with respect to technique or some new lesson that I learnt while creating it. 

New Sketch book.

Trying out the painting of a Door

Experimenting with warm sky

Understanding the background ( hazy look )

The mountains and lake

Trying out some simple technique

to create a forest scene

Understanding the difference between the 

background and the foreground.

The last two study works are created using my photographs which I clicked using my mobile camera while I was at Karnala Bird Sanctuary with my family members. These small studies help me a lot in understanding the steps that I will follow in future to recreate this scene on a large paper. 

I am also posting below an image of my water colour palette which looks real messy but I manage to find all my colours in it. I clean up the bigger pockets before mixing a new colour in it. All colours in the palette are from Camlin artists water colour tubes.

Water colour palette.

A beautiful quote that I came across recently and really loved it. 

"It took me a few seconds to draw it, but it took me 34 years to learn how to draw it in a few seconds." - Paula Scher

Art Of Watercolor: Milind Mulick. Interview.

Milind Mulick is a renowned water colour artist from Pune ( Maharashtra ) and his works are just amazing. I recently came across his interview and enjoyed reading it and found it very informative.

The interview was taken by Russian artist Konstantin Sterkhov  

Posted below is the link to the interview.

Art Of Watercolor: Millind Mulick. Interview.

Some water colour paintings  by Milind Mulick

Courtesy: http://milindmulick.blogspot.in

Water colour paintings by Milind Mulick

Preparing for water colour seashore paintings

After having done a few landscape paintings of Himachal where in I got to work on mountains and rocks, I now decided to explore the beaches which is my all time favourite subject.

Therefore I created few water colour study sketches with a difference. Different because I initially created the tonal sketch in my Art Sketch Book using ordinary HB pencil and then later ran my water colour brush over it. So it served twofold purpose. It helped me understand the tonal values as well as the watercolour techniques.

Given below are the images of few of my small works sized 4" X 5". I have also started writing few notes under each completed work regarding the colour scheme or technique used in that particular art work. So later when I browse through my older works, it can be a great reminder of the exploring and experimenting that I did in the past.

Water colour study works of seascapes

in my cartridge sheet sketch book.

I have randomly selected different scenes so as to handle different elements and have also tried to focus on a good composition. I particularly enjoyed the colour scheme that I experimented with in the first painting with the lighthouse.

My water colour palette collection

As artists we all have palettes for our water colour/acrylic paintings. I have a collection which I picked up on different occasions. The one below has a history. I picked up this one while I was in Fort area ( Mumbai ) and was browsing through some art stationery materials. I was not into water colour paintings then but when I saw this box palette I fell in love with it. With the intention of using it sometime in future I picked up this one for a small amount of Rs 200, about more than ten years ago.

Finally I am using it for my Camel artists water colour tubes. Its pretty messy as in the image but I manage to find the colours that I want. I made this arrangement of colours as per my convenience. The smaller wells have individual colours all spread out. In some of the bigger wells I have poured two colours simultaneously as I mix them a lot and it saves me the trouble of picking it up from two different wells. For example ultramarine blue and crimson are placed together and so are ultramarine blue and burnt umber.

This one below is my second palette which I use when I do not have much of clean space left for some unusual colours to be mixed together. So I clean up the bigger wells to create the mix that is required for the water colour painting.

The image below shows how I have mixed four different colours in the bigger empty wells so that while my painting is on I do not have to hurry up and create more colours which tends to be different in consistency and colour and ruins the painting beyond the retrieval point.

My Winsor and Newton twelve colour cake set came in a Metallic box container which opens up with its metallic cover having a little depths in it which makes it convenient to be used as a palette. As of now I am using more of Camel artists water colour tubes, so I use this set sparingly. 

This is another beautiful palette by MIJELLO that I picked up last year from ART LOUNGE.  ( Art stationery shop close to Churchgate station ). I already have a box palette, however I picked up this one to use if for my Winsor and Newton water cotman water colour tubes which I have with me since 2002. I have not used these tubes much as I got into charcoals and pastels later , BUT plan to use it now as I have realised that some of the colours are drying up. So my Mijello palette is now filled with small amounts of Winsor and Newton colours.

Mijello palette ( open )

Mijello palette ( Closed )

This last palette is different as it does not have too many big wells as separation. Yet it is kind of helpful in mixing the colours in the large single area and when I cannot find space for creating a new mix, I just wipe off the content using a clear sponge.

For my acrylic paintings I do not use any of these. I create a disposable palette myself and will post about it someday soon.

Painting tips by John Lovett

John Lovett is a water colour and mixed media artist and I have been following his works for many many years. I was browsing through his site recently and found some interesting tips given by him which I am sharing through my blog.

Water colour paintings by

John Lovett

COURTESY : www.johnlovett.com

DRAWING TIPS

To produce successful paintings it is important to practice drawing

No matter what you are drawing it is important to first consider how your subject will be placed on the page. Small thumbnail sketches before you start your drawing are good way to work out the composition before you start your drawing.

Start your drawing by mentally reducing the subject to a few simple shapes. Sketch these in lightly and accurately, then proceed to break these up into smaller more detailed shapes. Don't start at one corner of the subject and work your way across to the other.

Your drawing will look better if the most interesting part ( called the centre of interest ) is not placed along either of the pages centre lines. The strongest tonal ( light / dark ) contrast should be placed at the centre of interest. Have some areas of the drawing less detailed than others. Try and keep most of the detail in the area of the centre of interest.

To gain confidence, practice drawing on large sheets of cheap paper with a soft (5B or 6B) pencil, charcoal, or pastel pencil. Stand up, work on a vertical surface (or surface at right angles to your line of vision) and move your arm from the shoulder. Work from large and bold to fine and detailed. Only the final finishing off needs to be done with small, tight hand movements.

Practice - It doesn't matter what you draw - you have to train your eye to accurately judge 

proportion and your hand to accurately convert these judgements to marks on paper. There are no shortcuts here, lots and lots of pencil shavings are the only answer.

ABOVE MATTER : courtesy: www.johnlovett.com

All the tips as given above by John Lovett are really informative and when I am not painting, I take out time to browse through the sites of some of my favourite artists. It encourages and motivates to continue painting with further zest. Hope all you too have enjoyed the content as given above.

Painting landscapes in water colour medium

The more I paint in water colour medium the more I fall in love with it. 

Given below are two different water colour paintings. After having tried out seascapes, I decided to select photographs with snow capped mountains. Both the scenes are from Himachal Pradesh. I have once again used Canson Montwal paper for both the paintings.

Towards the snow

water colour painting on Canson paper

Size 5" X 7"

Beyond the hills

water colour painting on Canson paper

Size 5" X 7"

Three water colour study works on cartridge paper

Be it "Thumbnail sketches" OR "Study works", I believe in working this way to have a better understanding of the medium. With more experience in handling the medium, the confidence to create bigger works comes easily.

Given below is three images water colour paintings of randomly selected landscapes. I have tried the wet on wet technique in most of them. The last of the images is of the view in front of the Coorg Homestay, early morning. The far off land was covered with fog and everything was hazy. Tried to capture the atmosphere in the paintings.

Three small water colour works on 

Cartridge paper.

Each one is sized 4" X 5"

Quotation

By

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The landscape belongs to the person who looks at it."

My favourite water colour works in my Travel sketch book.

I created my first Travel sketch book using hand made paper in order to create small water colour paintings while away from home. It has about forty small papers spirally bound together. Last month I finally used up the last three pages that were left blank.

Given below is a collage of four of my personal favorites ( Landscape paintings ) out of the forty small water colour paintings. All of them have been created using Camel Artists water colour tubes.

Water colour study works

Sized 3.5" X 5"

The top two paintings are from Himachal and Kharghar ( Monsoon time )

The lower two landscape paintings were done in order to get a better understanding

of the foggy atmosphere. 

Water colour medium is a very challenging medium and I enjoy it a lot as it gets done quickly, although it can be very frustating as there is not much scope for corrections and a if work gets ruined, then you have to just let go.

I get so inspired by artists like Joseph Zbukvic, a master water colorist from Australia. Recently I also came across works of Nita Engle, an American water colour artist and her works too are amazing.

My paintings can also be seen on my FACEBOOK page and if you like my works please share.

About Joseph Zbukvic - master water colourist

Learning never ends. Every step that I take in my art journey, it adds to my knowledge and it surprises me. There is so much more to learn, understand and enjoy.

While surfing the net some time back I came across the works of Joseph Zbukvic, ( Master water colourist from Melbourne ) and immediately fell in love with them. Each of his water colour painting speaks a volume. Joseph Zbukvic has the ability to transform any subject into visual poetic language.

Posted below are his works. Courtesy http://www.josephzbukvic.com/

Some water colour paintings by

Joseph Zbukvic

Joseph Zbukvic says, " Painting precise locations is irrelevant; simply capture the character"

DIY - Create your own travel sketch book.

Somewhere last year when I was looking around for a small sketch book in order to create small art works or study sketches, I did not find what would suit my purpose. Either it was highly priced or it did not have the papers that I was looking for. So I decided to create my own SKETCH BOOK.

I have posted earlier about the same. I had this hand made paper with me on which I was frequently doing small water colour works. So I cut forty small rectangles sized 3.5" x 5" and then took it to the stationery shop and got it spirally bound. This solved my purpose and moreover I got the paper which was appropriate for my works.

I am also planning to create a similar book for my pencil and charcoal sketches but then I will need to place butter paper in between the sheets to avoid smudging.

( Do it yourself )

Sketch book created using hand made paper

There are about six pages still to go so I decided to use them for my Himachal series,
study sketches. This way I also get to experiment with my mediums as I have done in the
 image below where I have used both water colour and soft pastels to just paint for fun.

Small study work for my future painting

water colour and soft pastel on hand made paper

I have also started posting some of my paintings and sketchings on Arti Chauhan's blog http://arti-artindia.blogspot.in. I am thankful to Arti Chauhan for making me a part of her blog and giving me an opportunity to share my works with other Indian artists and the world.

Getting back to paintings after a long break.

After a long break of holidays and other commitments, getting back to paintings and sketchings takes a little effort. However once you get started it feels good. 

I recently installed the latest version of Adobe photoshop and am editing some of my old works done using water colour medium. 

I am slowly uploading my works one at a time on my Facebook page which I created recently

www.facebook.com/charcoalspastelsandmore

The water colour paintings of seascapes as below are works done by me in the past using Camel water colour tubes and Winsor and Newton cakes. 

Water colour paintings

Storing of water colour and charcoal paintings - My way

Considering the fact that I paint almost every day, I am always thinking of new ways of storing my miscellaneous works. Miscellaneous because some are study works, others are thumbnail sketches. Then there are small pastel paintings, mini water colour paintings and finally my BIGGER serious works which I have been creating with an intention of selling them.

Mini Water colour paintings

My mini water colour works are fortunately all stored in the sketch book created by me. So thats a big relief. This book created by me has forty handmade papers in it. Once I complete my forty paintings, I might probably create another one as this is a very convenient way of pursuing one's water colour painting passion.

Bigger water colour painitngs ( Size 4" X 7"  or 7" X 9" )

Taking advantage of the fact that water colour paintings do no smudge I conveniently put them all together in a plastic folder making sure that it is placed in a safe and dry place.

Small Charcoal paintings

Since I regularly take two days workshop in different mediums, I also have a collection of small charcoal works. Charcoal paintings, I have realised , do not smudge as much as pastel paintings, hence I have purchased a big number of self sealing polythene sheets and I carefully slide my small charcoal painting inside the packet. ( sealing from other side ). If at all there is a need to frame any of my works, I would probably remove it and do a little touch up. I never spray a fixative on my charcoal painting as I do not feel the need to do so. The paper I use is good enough for the charcoal to get fixed on.

self sealing polythene packet

A. point where there is a small strip which can be pulled out to seal the packet

by pulling it over to the other side.

Charcoal paintings as protected in self sealing packets.

Plastic folder to store small charcoal paintings which are individually

placed in self sealing polythene packets.

Regarding art works that are much bigger and done in different mediums, I shall be writing a post soon.

Keep browsing and thanks for visiting my blog.

Finally, new header for my BLOG

Completed almost eight months of blogging and I am enjoying every moment of it. Decided to Change the header  by including some of my latest works, which includes trees and landscapes.

My old header as shown below.

Created the new header as shown below using PicCollage. Individual images edited using Aviary App.

Looking back - Rural home in water colours by Manju Panchal

Water colour paintings done in the past

Looking back at some of my old water colour paintings, reminded me of the wet on dry technique that

I used to create my water colour works. It was more like layers of glazing done. Both the water colour paintings are done using a reference photograph. 

Even in those days ie about fourteen to fifteen years back I had this strong desire to create wet on wet water colour works but had no idea where to begin with. But now I am doing only wet on wet technique as can be seen in my Leh Ladakh paintings. The pleasure in doing wet on wet is really great but at the same time one needs to be prepared for frequent disappointments which happens when one is not quick to place the right colours at the right places and the values go all wrong. Once done it cannot be easily rectified. Nevertheless it is a great medium and a lovely technique.

 Rural Homes

Water colour paintings on acid free paper.

For any inquiries pertaining to sale of my ORIGINAL PAINTINGS or otherwise write to me at

manjupanchal@hotmail.com or call me at 0091-22-9820683983 ( Mumbai - India )

Water colour Paintings on cartridge paper by Manju Panchal

Two small water colour works.

Created two small water colour paintings using wet on wet techniques on ordinary cartridge sheets.

Forest with wet road and the reflections of the trees and foliage, followed by an apple on a folded 

fabric. Since these are study works for me, I normally use inexpensive paper like cartridge paper.

Some time later I may use it as a reference to create a larger piece of work.

Water colour paintings ( cartridge paper )

My palette for water colour paintings

The Folding Palette 

Years back I had picked up this folding palette which i did not put to use earlier as I had got into charcoals, pastels and other mediums. Hence recently when I began using it I realised how convenient it is. It is made from lightweight plastic, so you can hold it steady for as long as you wish to paint. It has a  hinged thumb hole which is deep enough to hold short-handled brushes and small paint tubes. 

The small rectangular depths are perfect to put in the different colours from tubes. The bigger rectangular depths are perfect for creating the mixed colours that are required.

The palette in folded state

The open palette with colours in it.

Over a period of time I have realised that I use certain mixed colour schemes a lot. So more or less my

each rectangular space is fixed for a particular colour. The violets, the greys, the dark greens and so on.

It saves me a lot of time and once done with the painting, I fold the palette and keep it aside.