Thursday, February 7, 2013

Koti Teertha

Hi there. This painting is a new effort from my side. My approach was quiet different in this painting. Generally I paint the 'scene' and then place 'people' in it. But here I thought the scene was the activity on the water front. Hence I painted people first and then painted the scene around it. The scene was kept as simple as possible so as to draw attention to the people.

In my last post Jona asked me how do I get light in my paintings. I'll try to answer that here.

1. I first try to fix the type of light for a painting. It could be soft, harsh or something between soft and harsh.
2. Feel of light comes from the shadow areas painted around it. I try to keep the shadow areas large so that the impact is more.
3. The contrast and edge (soft/broken/hard) of the shadow will define the type of light.
4. The colors in the shadow (warm/cool) will contribute to the over all mood of the painting too.

So before starting a painting using small sketches one can work these things out. Then you can paint more freely and confidently. I hope this is of help.

Koti Teertha (Gokarna - VII)
11 x 15 inch

5 comments:

Studio at the Farm said...

Prabal, this is brilliant!!! My eye went right to the people, following their activities along the waterfront. I believe you have moved on to another level with your painting.
And thank you so much for your advice on creating light - well-written and very clear.

hmuxo said...

This is a fantastic watercolor, Prabal. So much going on in this scene and love the reflections!!

Ivona Hrvatin said...

Thank you very very much, Prabal, for taking the time and explaning so well the tips on how to create great light in a painting. Your explanation is very clear and I'll try to incorporate everything in my next tries.

A beautiful painting of the bath. I really like how you managed with 2/3 of water to drowe the viewer's eye towards the people.
Nice greetings.

Sandra Busby said...

The painting is beautiful! And it's so nice that you share your process :0)

Crystal Cook said...

This is so beautiful Prabal, and I really think that painting the people before the scene really was effective at making the people the star. :) Also I loved your tips too. SO interesting to see how another artist thinks.