Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Grass Eaters of Chahala

Title - Grass eaters of Chahala
Size - 15 x 22 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Reference Photo by - Satyesh Naik

Similipal is a wild life sanctuary in western part of Odisha consisting of tiger reserve and national park. It has also been declared as a biosphere reserve by govt of India and UNESCO added Similipal to its list of biosphere reserves in 2009. Of the seven ranges one of the ranges in Similipal is called as Chahala. A friend of mine who is a keen wildlife enthusiast and a photographer while on a birding trip got to stay inside Similpal at Chahala. He has written quiet an essay on his trip and it can be read here. This painting is based on one of the many excellent photographs he has taken during the trip. The photograph can be seen in this post.

The photograph itself was really good and had captured the atmosphere very well. I just added some deers here and there in the painting to make it a little different from the photo. But I guess the photograph is perfect and it is impossible to improve upon perfection. :). So I thought I'll give a catchy title. Something like a movie. Guns of Navarone, Gangs of New York, Prisoner of Azkaban types you know.. :) And the composition itself was so non-text book. Gray for top 2/3rd of the painting and yellow for the bottom one third. Surely does not sound like a great color composition. But then sometimes I think we need to go with our intuition.

p.s. For the next few days I'll be having very scarce or no internet access. I hope you guys do not miss me much during this time. LOL.

12 comments:

جمال السيد said...

My friend Prabal "rebirths" the photograph by pouring his soul

Carol Blackburn said...

Wonderful rendition of your friend's photo, Prabal. I love the long shadows of the late afternoon and the atmosphere. Of course we will miss you, and look forward to your return to blogging.

Studio at the Farm said...

Prabal, you have out-done yourself!! This painting is so very good! The mist, the trees, the grasses [and the grass eaters!] are perfect. Bravo!

martinealison said...

Bravo pour cette magnifique aquarelle... J'aime beaucoup comment vous avez traité la brume...
Je vous envoie de gros bisous

M R Anand said...

the hanging mist has been beautifully captured..the highlight of the morning light is awesome!

Crystal Cook said...

Prabal I am not exaggerating at all when I say this: I LOVE THIS PAINTING! I LOVE it! This to me is your best piece yet. I love the atmosphere, the fluid paint, the light, especially that sparkle of white paper as you've dragged your brush against it. Just wow. I for once don't actually know what to say to let you know how much I love this.

It's gorgeous.

Huzzah!

:)

Meera Rao said...

I saw scene likes this at Chennai IIT campus ( which is also a wild life sanctuary, hence dotted with deer too!) but never felt brave enough to paint it. You have done a marvelous job - I would say definitely improved on the photograph too :)

Art with Liz said...

This is great! Had a look at the original photo, and you've done it proud. And we always miss you!

Prabal said...

Dear Syed,
Those were a poet's words. Thanks you so much.

Carol,
Thank you for missing me. I am back now. :)

Prabal said...

Kathryn,
I am glad you liked everything here including the grass eaters of course. :)

Martinealison,
Je vous remercie beaucoup. J'ai reçu les baisers que vous avez envoyé. :)

Prabal said...

Anand sir,
Thank you so much.

Crystal,
Thank you so much... really. And I could not have got a better compliment for this..

Prabal said...

Meera,
Is IIT chennai so beautiful?? Then I must visit that place. Thank you for liking it.

Liz,
It is always so lovely to hear from you. Thank you. :)