Limestone cliffs at Phi Phi Leh ( Thailand )

I painted the scene as below with reference to my photograph taken at Phi Phi Leh. Phi Phi Leh
is an uninhabited island that lies 1.5 km off the southmost tip of Phi Phi Don. The stunning
vertical cliffs capped with foliage give way to small sandy beaches and tropical coral seas.

We took a six hour Long tail boat tour which took us all around Phi Phi Leh. The view all
around was amazing. The water all around was so crystal clear that we could see the
submerged rocks and other thriving marine life underneath. As an artist when I look at the
marvel of nature I immediately begin to interpret the colours, the source of light, the shadows
and this acute observation combined with the reference photo helps me recreate the
magical atmosphere on paper.

Getting the colours in the rock right sometimes can be a struggle such as this one. But I have
been doing so many forest scenes of late that a change of subject is like a new beginning in
itself. after having done this one, I am doing another of "Phi Phi Leh" series. The next one will
probably require a little less effort.

 The Vertical Cliffs
Soft Pastel on Canson Mi Teintes paper
Size 6" X 8"

What I enjoyed doing the most was the rocks that can be seen under the blue green waters.
Thailand is blessed with beautiful beaches. This place also reminded me of
my visit to Langkawi in Malaysia where we had similar tall cliffs.

Phi Phi Leh ( Thailand ) 

Image courtesy: Google.com

The next soft pastel painting that I am doing is from a photograph which I clicked while

we were approaching Phi Phi Leh by the Long Tail boat.

Painting the greens

We were at Kilim Geoforest in Langkawi, Malaysia, two years back. ( Ecotourism 

destination )The soft pastel painting below is from a scene at one of the beaches that we 

visited while we were touring the island. 

When I see something beautiful in nature I photograph the place so that I can create an 

original painting in future referring to the same. However some scenes are complicated 

and intimidating so I keep postponing my decision to paint them. This scene has been one 

of them but the place was so beautiful that I knew some day I would be painting it.

I finally took the decision of getting it started last week using my soft pastel medium.

It went through various stages of correction but nevertheless I completed it. 

Some art works become a source of great learning experience and this happened to be one

of them. I had to paint the foliage in background as well as in the foreground, taking care of

the cool and warm colours. The greens cannot be created by mixing of different pastels as this

is a dry medium and too many layers can cause the "MUDDY EFFECT". Hence I have to

depend on all the greens available from different brands. 

This particular painting has lots of greens and blues in it and to tone it down I have added

the warm browns at places. Overall it was a tedious affair but lots of fun too. Every painting

poses a different challenge and this challenge keeps the interest going.

Amidst the greens
Soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper.
Size 6" X 9"

Kilim Geoforest park is a beautiful place with an ancient heritage, countless natural wonders, 

home to myriad of flora and fauna, and a vibrant local community of Kilim village. It is a must

visit place for all nature lovers, artists and photographers.

One of my favorite paintings from Langkawi that I painted in 2014 is as below. 

Soft pastel painting on Fabriano Tiziano paper

SOLD

My plan as of now is to continue working on both Landscapes as well as Portraits

and to blog more regularly. Will be posting another soft pastel painting soon

created referring to my recent visit to Phi Phi Islands.

Thanks for browsing.

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.

A walk in the woods - Coorg ( Madikeri )

In the past few days I have created several thumbnail sketches of Landscapes and seascapes 

using the soft pastel medium. The plan was to create final pieces of art referring to some of 

them. Along with the study sketch, I will also be using the original photograph taken by me.

The first soft pastel painting that I have finally selected is inspired by my visit to Coorg, ( Madikeri ). Coorg is a very quiet and peaceful hill station in Karnataka. Its green all round 

the year and a paradise for photographers and artists. Any road you take leads to some great 

views. The trees, the bushes, the red soil, the distant hilly mountains, you can spend hours and 

hours soaking in the beauty of the surroundings.

The image below is of a soft pastel painting created referring to one such sights that I came 

across during my routine morning walks. The early morning sunrays, the fence running across 

on the left, the green foliage around, some wild flowers, each element adding to the beauty of 

the landscape.

No matter how many landscapes I do, everytime I am doing a forest scene, the greens intimidate

me the most. Getting the right green becomes a challenge. Therefore I use soft pastel palette

which is a combination of Mungyo, Gallery and Kohinoor soft pastels. Each brand comes

with a different collections of "Green shades" , therefore combining all of them I get fairly

different shades from bright to dull. The Camlin brand too comes with some beautiful greens.

A walk in the woods

Soft Pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper.

Size 6" X 9"

Soft Pastel Palette

A Mix of different brands.

Another of my soft pastel painting is in progress referring to my Phuket and

Phi Phi islands visit recently. From forest, I am moving to cliffs and mountains and some

breathtaking views of white sanded beaches.

To view my paintings you can also visit my FACEBOOK page. If you like my works

please share with friends. Thanks for browsing.

Rabindranath Tagore - A portrait study using white pastel pencils

In September 2015 I posted about the Strathmore Artagain 400 series black paper. It is a
fairly new paper in my collection and was recommended by a friend who is also passionate
about art. I used it just once to try out a tree sketch as given below and loved it. It has a
fine grain textured surface which works fine with white pastel pencils.

The idea of using Strathmore black paper for sketching a portrait was working on my mind
since long and therefore I finally decided to start off with study sketch. Study sketch because
its a new paper and it will take me a few portrait works to understand what technique will
work best. Will I have to blend a lot or just create scribbling and strokes ? There are a whole
lot of questions in mind which get answered only when I actually sit down to sketch.

The subject I selected for my portrait study is Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, a poet, philosoper and an artist. ( Photograph courtesy : Wikipedia )

Sketching on black paper, I realised is a lot different as all the tonal values have to be
created using only the white pencils. The colour of the paper acts as the darkest tone.
As always sketching a portrait is more challenging than doing a landscape or still life work.
It is challenging but a very satisfying experience too. I enjoyed my step by step
involvement in creating this work and would definitely work more towards it.

Portrait study of

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore 

on black Strathmore paper

The three different pastel pencils that I have used for the above portrait study are as seen in the 

image below. I have been using these three brands frequently for my other works too.

1. Conte A Paris white pastel pencil

2. Cretacolour White pastel pencil

3. General soft white pastel pencil

The other tools used apart from the above pencils are a kneaded eraser, normal eraser and 

blending tools. The pencils as above are available at ART STATION, Andheri West OR

the next best thing which I find easy and it saves time too is to check it out on online stores

like FLIPKART, AMAZON or SNAPDEAL. These days many art products are easily

available online and at discount too.

Some time back I had ordered CRETACOLOUR water soluble graphite pencils from

AMAZON. I received it and I have used it in combination with Camlin water soluble

graphite sticks to create some beautiful study works. Will be posting about it soon.

Thanks for browsing and I would love to read your comments if any.

Recently sold Portrait works in different mediums

Given below are the images of  some of my recently sold Portrait works created in different mediums. The details about each one of them can be found in my blog by using the

SEARCH column as on the right side of the BLOG. 

Some of these are my latest works and others have been created in the past. However I have 

written a post about each one of them in my Blog describing in detail about the paper used, 

medium etc.

Apart from doing landscapes, I love doing portraits as well as still life paintings. I have not 

done much of still life lately but creating a still life painting from a live object too is very challenging.

As an artist, I would love to draw and sketch and paint too BUT the whole issue is that there are

so many things to do and time just passes by. Which reminds me as always to take "One step 

at a time". 

Presently I am into creating soft pastel landscapes. I have already posted about the 

"Thumbnail Sketches" that I have created recently. Referring to them and the original

photograph I will be creating landscapes and seascapes in different sizes.

Working in the same medium and subject can be saturating at times. Hence I take a break 

sometimes to either try out something new which refreshes my mind OR I work on Portraits.

I know from my own experience that when the mind is tired and exhausted no matter how hard

you try, you never get it right. Therefore my "Way of working" is start two different works at

the same time. When I get saturated with one, I keep it aside and start working on the other one.

A beautiful quote that I came across today which is exactly what I feel every time I paint.

"I may not be there yet but I'm closer than I was yesterday."

Few more Thumbnail sketches of Landscapes and trees

Painting every single piece of art is a journey in itself. It starts with the visit to a beautiful place.
Then I capture the most breathtaking views in my mind as well as the camera. I make all my
observations pertaining to the colours, atmospsheric perspective, etc. Many a times I squint my
eyes to gauge the right values. Seeing and observing well helps me in rendering the right
colours to get the feel of the atmosphere.

It is much later some day when I am browsing through my photographs that I take the decision
to finally go ahead and create the painting and to capture my memories on paper. Then starts
the process of creating a Thumbnail Sketch followed by the Actual painting.

What I enjoy the most is the entire procedure or the steps involved in creating every single
painting. I do it loosely and with a free mind not worrying about how the painting will
eventually look in the end. Not every painting meets my expectations. I make mistakes and I personally that these mistakes help me learn better because it gets me "Thinking". I reevaluate
my technique and colour theory and try to analyse how and where I went wrong?

In conclusion Every painting that I create makes me "Experiment and Explore" and the whole
journey of art is a thrilling experience. Given below are some more of my recently done
thumbnail sketches using soft pastels.

Thumbnail sketches from

Himachal, Phuket and Coorg.

" We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to."  Terri Swearingen.

I came across this beautiful quote recently which is so inspiring. We all need to make a 

collective effort to save trees and to maintain the beauty of the nature. When I am travelling,

I come across some amazingly beautiful old trees and I do not miss out the opportunity

to sketch it out or capture it in the Camera. In the above collection of Thumbnail sketches

I have done some study works of trees too and hopefully soon I plan to create some artworks

referring to them.

From photograph to thumbnail sketches - soft pastel medium

Most of my landscape paintings are inspired by NATURE.

Over a period of years, I have shortlisted a whole lot of photographs for my future artworks.
The intention is to create Landscape paintings as and when I get time. Therefore I decided to
create a series of thumbnail sketches which will help me visualize the final outcome as
the painting will look on completion.

Thumbnail sketch or study sketch is "The most important deciding factor for me" to go ahead
with the final painting procedure. I have used charcoal and water colour medium too for
creating these small study works but this time around I have used only soft pastels. The size
is more or less, always 4" X 5".

Given below are four thumbnail sketches created by referring to photographs taken by me
on different locations.

Thumbnail sketches

Created on Fabriano Elle erre paper

and Canson Mi Teintes paper.

After completing the thumbnail sketches, I analyse the final colours, values, composition etc

which helps me to decide whether to go ahead with the painting or redo the thumbnail sketch

by making the required changes. 

The upper two sketches turned out fine as planned in the mind but the lower two were a bit complicated scenes with a whole lot of overlapping elements. So the technique and steps that I followed did not quite work out. Therefore I may have to redo the lower two by following a totally different plan altogether. The photographs that I referred to for the lower two thumbnail sketches

are as below. They are from LANGKAWI island ( Malaysia ) and I am definitely planning

to do both these landscapes some day in my style.

Two landscape photographs from Langkawi ( Malaysia )

Creating thumbnail sketches, I feel, has brought about a lot of discipline in my art journey.
I was inspired to do so after seeing many other artists doing the same. My personal
experience also taught me that whenever I went ahead with a large sized artwork
without a preliminary study, the painting either got ruined or did not turn out
satisfactory.

Portrait sketching - A study work

Canson Mi Teintes is available in many different shades and it works beautifully with charcoal

and pastel medium. I have used the dark grey paper for portrait shading earlier. Many artists

use black, beige and other toned papers as well. I get inspired by looking at all the beautiful

work done by other artists and I love to experiment with new papers, mediums, stationery etc. 

The whole idea is to grow as an artist and to learn something new and better everyday.

Using a beige coloured paper I created a simple portrait, ie face at an angle. Since the paper 

colour is new to me I have not overworked on the portrait. Just bare minimum strokes to get the anatomy of the face right. Sketching a face at an angle is a challenge and I plan to do a few more sketches of these kind. 

The colour of the paper acts as the midtone and the highlights are created using

General and Cretacolour white pastel pencil. The darker shades are obtained by Camlin and 

General charcoal pencil.

Portrait study work

Charcoal and pastel work on Canson paper

Canson Mi Teintes papers

in different colours

A beautiful quotation 

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together" Vincent Van Gogh

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.

Experimenting further with water soluble graphite sticks ( CAMLIN )

Since I am enjoying the newly discovered water soluble graphite medium, I decided to create a
few more landscapes with forests, mountains etc and in every small little study work, I tried out
something different. Some experiments work and some don't and I make it a point to jot down
my learning experience underneath in the little space so that when I am browsing through it in
future I will know about MY TRIALS and THINGS THAT I MUST AVOID DOING. It helps.

For instance, I overdid the layers in one of the study works in my regular sketch book, and was
not too happy with the results. So I mentioned "Overworked" alongside.

Working with graphite sticks has made me realise that the more simple I keep it, the better it looks and I need to STOP working on my art at a particular time. In the final layer, in some of the sketches
I have used a normal 6B graphite pencil to increase the value by creating darker strokes.

The 4B Camlin graphite stick

which I have sharpened at the tip.

Landscape study works created using

Camlin water soluble graphite sticks

on Cartridge sheets.

It is fun to work with water soluble graphite BUT I am definitely missing using a sharp pencil

like tip. Hence when I visit ART LOUNGE next week to do my art stationery shopping, I am 

definitely going to buy some good brand of water soluble graphite pencil. I have already 

mentioned about the art sale that is on presently at ART LOUNGE which is situated close to

Churchgate station.

Using water soluble graphite sticks by Camlin ( 2B, 4B, 6B )

I mentioned in my last post about the water soluble graphite sticks from Camlin that I 

purchased recently from ART STATION. It has three broad diameter graphite sticks ie 2B, 

4B and 6B. The tip is pretty blunt and difficult to use for strokes, so I have sharpened the 4B 

stick for creating sharp strokes.

For a better understanding of a new medium or art stationery, I safely go to creating small

study works in my sketching book which has cartridge sheets. I have written about this book

earlier too. It is available for Rs 65/- at ART STATION, is convenient to use and carry.

Small travel sketch book

with cartridge sheets.

This is my third sketch book and I plan to buy many more. Using the water soluble graphite sticks

I created many different landscape sketches and I am posting four of them as below. Study

sketches ( 4"X 5") mean a lot to me as I get to understand the new medium, the techniques

that I can use. I get to experiment on small works so that when I plan to prepare a larger work 

I know for sure the strokes that will work. Also I get to develop my own style.

What I enjoyed about using the water soluble graphite sticks is that I get to involve myself in the

water colour painting technique as well as the tonal study work which happens brilliantly with

graphite on white paper. As a preliminary work before starting a bigger work, this will definitely

help. In other words I am getting addicted to this medium.

Small landscape study works created using

water soluble graphite sticks by Camlin.

Water soluble Graphite sticks can be used in the following ways, ( From my experience )

• Create sketch and run a wet brush over it.
• While the sketch is wet, create more strokes with dry tip of graphite stick. ( you get darker strokes )
• The graphite tip can be made wet by dipping in water and it can be applied on dry paper.
• Once the first layer is dry more sketching can be done to create different values and again a wet brush can be applied on it.
• In the final layers, few strokes of dark graphite can be created and left as it is, which will give the landscape its texture at places where it is required ex trees, mountains and rocks etc.

Graphite soluble pencils are also sold by other brands like CRETACOLOUR, WINSOR and NEWTON , KOH_I_NOOR etc. I may want to purchase a set of pencils later but will do so

after reading a lot of reviews by other artists. As of now for the price that I got CAMLIN graphite sticks, I am pretty happy using it.

Exposed roots - A study work on Canson Mi Teintes paper

I came across this tree when I last visited Karnala Bird Sanctuary. It is a fairly simple 

composition and I have used a beige coloured Canson Mi Teintes paper this time for a 

change. The colour of the paper acts as the mid tone value. The brightest shade is achieved

by using the white pastel pencil and the darker shades are obtained by scribbling with 

Camlin and General soft charcoal pencil.

I have done little blending at places but mostly used the pencil strokes to achieve the bark

effect. I do these works very often and call them study works because everytime I do one of 

these I try out some different stroke or effect in an attempt to evolve my technique and to learn something further.

Charcoal and pastel study work.

Size 5" X 7" 

In my last post I wrote about having purchased the water soluble graphite sticks by Camlin

I am posting an image of the same below ( Courtesy google.com )

The pack has three graphite broad diameter sticks. I would have preferred something thinner as creating strokes can get difficult with these. So the next better option was to sharpen the tip of 

one of these. I have used it to create few thumbnail sketches which I will be posting soon.

When I see a new product such as this, I buy it off instantly because if it works good with

me and my kind of works then I know I can incorporate it along with some other medium later.

I think I can combine this with my normal graphite pencil to create small forest sketches. It is

a THOUGHT PROCESS which may eventually work out. Trying out new materials and techniques is a great way of challenging oneself and I truly enjoy doing these things.

Thanks for browsing.

Back to ART and BLOGGING after a long break.

It feels good to be back at art and blogging after a long break. I have been busy travelling and

attending to a lot more personal work.

After a break, I always restart with my artwork with charcoal medium. It is almost like 

getting into basics once again. The tonal value study, and use of just few tools makes it a lot 

easier too. I am doing a tree trunk with exposed roots on toned paper ( Trying out a new

colour this time instead of the regular grey ) which will complete by tomorrow.

In the meantime I am posting a soft pastel work which I completed last month but did not get 

time to post it. It is with reference to a beautiful photograph taken by my friend's niece at 

Florence falls, Melbourne. The photograph reminded me so much of Langkawi, which had 

similar rocks and atmosphere. 

At Florence Falls, Melbourne
Soft pastel painting on Canson paper
Size 6" X 8"

Art Lounge, the art stationery shop at Churchgate is holding its annual sale from 17th of this

month and this will continue till may be the 16th of next month. I visit Art Lounge every year

for my Canson Mi Teintes paper which I use a lot for my soft pastel work. Unfortunately it is

not available at ART STATION which is a shop close to my place.

Like any other artist I have a big collection of art materials at my place be it brushes, pastels,

charcoals or papers. Despite this fact I would still visit the sale for the following

General soft charcoal pencil

General soft white pastel pencil

Canson Mi Teintes paper (  Grey and black shade )

Koh-I-Noor individual soft pastels ( Vandyke brown, few greens and blues )

Water soluble graphite ( I have recently started using this and it is lot of fun )

Canson water colour paper ( Want to try it out )

Canson c a grain paper ( I use this for my charcoal works )

General charcoal powder ( Have read good reviews about it so may buy it this time )

Certain things that I buy is a one time investment. For example the charcoal powder by General

comes in a big bottle so I may not have to buy it for a long long time. This year, Art Lounge is

also selling some premium quality water colour brushes like ESCODA, Winsor and Newton etc

so I may have a look around at them too.

The charcoal powder jar by

General