Adventure with Colours

Plein air and updates

2012-01-30T06:44:00.000-08:00

26th January is the date when Indian became a republic. So 26th January is celebrated as the republic day and every year and on and around republic day a huge flower show is held in Lalbagh (Lalbagh is a huge botanical garden) in Bangalore. This year I went to paint there. And instead of seeing flowers I saw a lot of people everywhere. And then there were these F&B stalls where everybody was crowding around. So I decided to paint the people and the stalls. And I had good fun painting that day.

I attended Chitrasanthe yesterday. And thank you all for wishing me luck and also for visiting my stall. But I guess my luck was really bad this time and I did not sell anything. I wish myself better luck next time. LOL.

Next weekend I'll be displaying 6 of my paintings at a group exhibition at Alliance Francaise, Bangalore. It will be on the 4th and 5th of February. And the timing is 2 PM to 7 PM on both the days. A play will also be staged on those two days called Snakes and ladders. So you can, plan to visit the exhibition and watch the play too. My theme for the exhibition is Bangalore. I hope to see you around. Please note that it will only be an exhibition and there will not be any sales happening there.

Signing off now and wishing you a great week ahead.

Plein air @ Lalbagh flower show 26 Jan 2012

Size - 15 x 11 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Chilika Stills - IV

2012-01-27T06:28:00.000-08:00

Here is the fourth and in all likelihood the last painting of the Chilika stills series. Its gone a bit (Please note I ma not using the word 'little' out here. LOL) dreamy, but I think that is okay.

I also wanted to inform you that this is that time of year when the annual Chitrsanthe is held. It is a one day rodside art market where more than 1000 artists are expected to take part. And this year again I'll be having a stall there. And as expected from Chitrasnthe I'll be giving my paintings at a good discount. So if you were looking to buy art you could drop in. It is on 29th of this month (Sunday) on Kumarakrupa road from 10 in the morning to 6 in the evening. Please note it is for one day only.

Signing off now. Have to prepare for Chitrasanthe. :)

Have a great weekend.

Title - Chilika Stills - IV

Size - 22x15 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Chilika Stills - III

2012-01-23T06:31:00.000-08:00

Learning from my previous painting I was alert while working on this one. Probably a little too alert. Because I feel I became a little too tight here. Anyway that is part of the journey. And I hope to do a little better in the next one. I guess I have used the word 'little' a little too much here. LOL..

By the way sometime back I was interviewed by Crystal Cook and the interview is here. This had completely slipped out of my mind. Hence the late announcement. But as they say better late than never..whatever.. :) And if you have still not seen Crystal's art you must check out her blog and be ready to be stunned.

Title : Chilika Stills - III

Size : 15 x 21 inch

Medium : Watercolor on paper

A lesson learnt..yet again

2012-01-18T07:59:00.000-08:00

Here is my second work in the Chilika Stills series. I was probably not going to post this one, but on a second thought I am posting this as I thought of sharing a lesson that I learnt in the process.

The most challenging part of this painting was going to be the ripples in the water in the foreground, because of the technique I was going to use. I dont know what is the technique called. But the process requires to paint quickly with plain water when an already laid wash is just about to dry up. The wetness of the wash, amount of water in the brush, the pressure that you apply on paper while giving the strokes and the direction and size of the strokes, timing, just about everything had to be perfect.

The first thing I did was the sky, which was exactly the way I wanted it, then I did the foreground ripples, which too turned out exactly as I wanted it to be and I was thrilled. Then the overconfident me spoilt the rest of the painting, which were supposed to be 'child's play'.

And hence a lesson was learnt.. Yet again. Never to take any part of the painting casually. What I mean is not painting everything tightly. You can paint with casual strokes, but not with a casual attitude.

Anyways I hope to apply this leson learnt in my next painting. Till then take care.

Title - Chilika Stills - II

Size - 15 x 11 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Chilika Stills

2012-01-12T06:55:00.000-08:00

First of all thank you so much for suggesting title for my painting in the previous post. I really loved all of them. The title that I chose was inspired by a title suggested by a friend on facebook. So my painting is now called 'Ode to the superhero', the superhero in context being the farmer who keeps al of us well fed.

Currently a watercolor exhibition by Mr Kashinath Hiremath is going on at Chitrakala Parishat. I had had the good fortune of meeting him last year in January and again this year I met him at his exhibition. It was really a nice experience chatting up with him and it was a treat experiencing his work at the exhibition. It is on till 15th Jan. So you may want to go there if you are around. You can see some of his works here.

Coming to this painting now. This is a scene of the banks of Chilika lake. I had visited this place in December and had spent a night in one of the islands in the lake. The landscape in that time of the year was very still. Everything looked almost like a photo, where nothing moved. I have tried to capture that stillness here. Tried, but not sure whether captured it. I am calling this Chilika stills - I, because I plan to do one or two more of such scenes. I hope I carry out my plan. :)

How have you been. What is that you are trying to capture in your next painting? I would love to hear from you.

Title - Chilika Stills - I

Size - 15 x 22 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Kicking off 2012

2012-01-05T06:19:00.000-08:00

2011 was great. But it is over now and what we have is an entire year in front of us to make the best of. And this is the painting I made to kick start 2012. I want to wish you all a very happy new year once again.

This place is my ancestral village in Odisha. There is a small hillock at the end of the village. On one side of it you can see the beautiful Chilika lake, which is the the largest coastal lagoon in India and the second largest lagoon in the World. One one side lies my own village and on other side these paddy fields stretch to kiss the horizon. A trip to this hillock is a must whenever I go to my village.

I have not yet found a title for this and I would request you to give your suggestion. I would surely pick one up from all the suggestions I get.

That is all for now. See you around.

Untitled

Size - 20 x 30 inches

Medium - Watercolor on paper

May you all grow

2011-12-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a great year ahead. I hope it brings you growth. Material, intellectual and emotional. May you all break free from the lure of darkness and take the stairs that leads you towards light. Keep the faith.

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.

And I would also like to thank you all for being the great motivators that you always have been and having more faith in me than what I have in myself.

BIG THANK YOU TO ALL.

Title - See you soon

Size - 24 x 17 inches

Medium - Acrylic on stretched canvas

Inspiration - Devdutt Pattnaik's writings

Khairi

2011-12-22T23:24:00.000-08:00

Khairi was a angry, confused and petrified cub when she was handed over to the forest conservator of Similipal Late Dr Saroj Raj Choudhury on October 5, 1974 at Jashipur. She was aggressive and was gnawing her claws at everything. But Dr Choudhry knew exactly what to do. He imitated the sound of a mother tigress and within no time the little cub was feeling at home. Thus startred the legend which were to be told and retold in every household in Odisha. It was a legend about forest conservator who dared to risk his life and went beyond the call of duty for a tigress he considered his very own.

Dr Choudhry would record each and every move made by Khari and all the knowledge that he gathered is used today for the conservation of the king of the jungle. And the pug mark based method he invented is used today for tiger census.

Khairi passed away prematurely at the age of six and half years and Dr Choudhry passed away soon after that in grief. But even today one can hear Khari roar in the forests of Similipal for a legend never dies.

This painting is dedicated to Khari, the princess of Similipal.

p.s. You can watch some rare footage of Khairi with Dr Choudhry and Nihar Nalini Devi (foster mother of Khairi) here.

Title - Khairi - Princess of Similipal

Size - 22 x15 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo courtesy - Satyesh Naik

Cityscape

2011-12-17T03:20:00.000-08:00

Finally I managed to paint last Sunday and I was feeling on top of the world. This was done en plein air at Ulsoor lake. There was kayaking and canoeing competition going on on the othet side of lake. I could not see it from where I was sitting. Probably I had to buy a ticket for that. LOL.

A two week gap without my brush in hand seemed like ages. But I am getting back now. :)

En Plein air @ Ulsoor lake 11 Dec 2011

Size : 15 x 11 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

p.s. I have started working on my second ever (first ever was done two years back) acrylic work. I'll share it when it is done. I am excited because I dont know how it is going to turn out. Here is the line drawing of this. And it is already titled 'See you soon'.

Sketches

2011-12-11T06:03:00.001-08:00

Most of my watercolor sketches end up getting lost as they are done on bits and pieces of paper. So some time back I bought some paper, cut it up and made a watercolor sketchbook so that these sketches, studies do not get lost. And guess what!! It has woked big time.

I thought of just quicky posting some of my watercolor sketches, which have later gone on to become bigger paintings. These are about 7x9 inches in size. Mostly they were all done within half an hour to get a tonal/color composition going. And painting for each has already been posted in my blog before. I am sure it will be interesting to see the sketch and compare it with the painting. And it will be interesting for me to know what you think.

Click here to see the painting

Outdoor works

2011-12-07T06:58:00.001-08:00

I have not been painting since last two weeks and it is starting to get to me now. Firstly I was away and now when I am back there is loads of work piled up and it is getting difficult to manage some painting time. Till I paint my next piece I thought I'll post some of the plein air works I have done recently. Hope you enjoy them.

At NGMA, Bangalore

At Museum Canteen, Cubbon Park, Bangalore

At Berhampur island in Chilika lake, Odisha

Grass Eaters of Chahala

2011-11-22T02:55:00.001-08:00

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.

Faith

2011-11-18T07:14:00.001-08:00

Title - Faith

Size - 11 x 15 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

A typical Hindu household most definitely has a Puja room or a Puja place in a room. Puja translated to English roughly means worship. Idols or photographs of Gods and Godesses are placed in this little space and everyday in the morning they are bathed, decorated with sandal pastae and flowers and offered fruits and sweets. Lamps are lit up, incense sticks are lighted and little prayers are sung in the glory of the Gods. And after this ritual only everybody goes about doing their work. This ritual everyday in the morning inculcates one very important qualities that we seem to be losing in modern life. Faith. From faith comes patience and empathy which surely makes the world a little better.

The other day my mom was preparing for Puja. I opoened the window of the room and sunlight came rushing in to create this beautiful scene and my painting was born.

Matteo Coffee

2011-11-14T06:17:00.001-08:00

Title - Matteo Coffee

Size - 15 x 22 inches

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Trying out a different subject here. The other day on one of painting outings I spent some time sketching in a coffee shop. This painting is based on one of the sketches. Somehow these coffee shops have a weird kind of lighting. It creates a kind of haze all around. It was a big challenge to try and get that feel. Dont know how much I suceeded, but it was worth trying.

My Desktop

2011-11-09T06:07:00.000-08:00

Title - My Desktop

Size - 10 x 14 inches

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Hi all. I hope you guys are in perfect health. Here it has been raining quiet a lot and only since this Sunday we got to see the sun after a long time. That meant I had to paint at home itself. So I came up with this idea of painting what I paint with. So here is my desktop. And yes it is very much an active desktop. LOL.Wondering why the paper is missing from my desktop? I was painting on it of course.

Short spell @ Church street

2011-11-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

Title - Short Spell @ Church Street

Size - 22 x 15 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Bangalore has a very strange weather pattern. In one day one can experience 3 different types of weathers. Hot scorching sun in the day followed by rains, followed by chilly nights. And since 2 weeks we are having rains almost everyday. In short spells though.. Rains in November..November rains.. Reminds me of Guns and Roses. :). Anyway here is to Bangalore rains.

Shopping @ UB City

2011-10-25T02:25:00.000-07:00

Title - Food court @ UB city

Size - 15 x 22 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Photo - Ramesh Jhawar

Hi everyone. First of all I wish you all a great and uplifting Deepavali. I hope all of you have a great time celebrating this festival. And as usual I am running late here too. Not yet done my Diwali shopping. So I thought I'll put a painting where somebody at least is shopping. LOL.

Depth of Fields

2011-10-17T07:47:00.000-07:00

Title - Depth of Fields

Size - 15 x 22 inches

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Nandi hills is a small hill near Bangalore and it is a very frequently visited place too. Last weekend our outdoor sketching group had been to this place for sketching. I did a few watercolor works there. And this one was done back in the studio using one of the sketches as a reference.

I had heard one of my photographer friends mention 'Depth of Field' of a camera. I just used that to name this painting. :)

Eevening on Ganga

2011-10-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

Title - Evening on Ganga

Size - 20 x 30 inches

Medium - Watercolor on paper

This painting is not something I usually do. Firstly the colors and the feel are very melodramatic. Putting a wash of pure crimson and vermilion takes a lot of courage on my part. Secondly its a full sheet painting. And this has to be done standing, which I do not really prefer (Its not such a crime to be lazy.. Right!!!). And managing a full sheet is much tougher than doing a half sheet painting. But anyway this was a good stretching I got. Literally. :)

Thanks for stopping by.

Work in progress

2011-10-08T02:55:00.000-07:00

Title - Work in progress

Size - 14 x 21 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

I really could not decide what these guys were doing. But assumed that they may be doing some work unlike me. So I decided to call this one 'Work in progress'. This is a completed work in progress. LOL. Have a great weekend friends.

Rajdhani @UB City

2011-09-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

Title - Rajdhani @UB City

Size - 11 x 15 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Photo courtesy - Ramesh Jhawar

Last month my artist friend Ramesh Jhawar visited Bangalore and we had a good time to catch up and going around Bangalore. We even did some little painting together outdoors and visited National gallery of modern arts (NGMA). One one of the days we had our lunch at this place called UB City. Its a famous landmark building in Bangalore. Ramesh had taken some pictures of this place and I painted one of them. This is part of a big a food court and I guess this restaurant is called Rajdhani.

I have also been facing some problems in leaving comments for your blog posts. I hope this problem gets solved soon. I just wanted you to know that you all have been making great paintings and I have been enjoying them.

Have a great weekend.

Outdoors and Indoors

2011-09-24T03:43:00.000-07:00

Outdoor painting is very exciting to start with. But it is also a great dampener by the time I finish the painting. I generally get caught up with all the details and end up describing the scene, rather than capturing the mood of the place in my outdoor paintings. And sometimes though I start well I get carried away towards the end and spoil a painting just in the last 5 minutes or so. But it is a great study for painting the same scene back in the studio and also a great learning experience. But on the flip side the studio painting may lack the spontaneity of the plain air one. Here I am sharing some such examples. Hope you enjoy it.

Title - At Cannt Station (Plein air)

Size - 14 x 10 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - At Cannt Station (Studio)

Size - 22x 15 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - Morning at Ulsoor lake (Plein air)

Size - 11 x 15 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - Morning at Ulsoor lake (Studio)

Size - 15 x 20 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Thank You

2011-09-22T04:28:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for supporting the cause of Flood relirf operations for which I was trying to raise funds. Thank you for your wishes, encouragement and finally a BIG THANK YOU to the people who bought my paintings. A sum of Rs37,500/- was collected by sale of paintings and the same has been donated to UBSS.
Here is the list of the paintings that were sold and the people who bought them.

Mini Jain and Manoj Nahar

Niraj Ranjan Rout

Rituparna Mandal

Haripriya S

Satyesh Naik

Irfan Shaikh and team

Ravindra Karnad

Vijayalakshmi Krishnamurty

Art for a cause

2011-09-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

Odisha or Orissa, lying in the eastern part of India has always been susceptible to natural calamities like flood, drought, cyclone. Just as the state was recovering from the great floods of 2008, it has again been hit by floods which has caused even more destruction this time around. More than half the state has been affected by floods. Over 2 million people have been affected. Official death toll as of today stands at 19. Many people have drowned and many have been swept away. Those who are alive have lost everything and have taken shelter on places like national highway. According to official reports 3,505 villages in 19 of the 30 districts have been affected and at least 21,816 houses have been damaged. But the worse is yet to come as the fear of epidemic breaking out looms large. If you just search for 'Orissa floods 2011' on Google you'll be able to understand the amount of destruction that has taken place.

Flood relief operations are on in the state by government and non government organizations and they are facing a serious crunch of resources. The current situation requires all of us to come forward and contribute towards the flood relief operation in whichever way we can. And you can lend your support to this cause by buying one of my paintings. I have put 40 paintings of mine up for sale for this cause and all the proceedings collected from the sales will go towards an organization working at ground zero for the flood relief operations. A group of earnest young men here in Bangalore working towards the cause have identified UBSS (Utkala Bipanna Sahayata Samiti) for the ground level relief operation. UBSS, an NGO with proven track record in relief operations, has got many accolades for its tremendous commitment and dedication for this kind of activities. This NGO operates in all the districts with local volunteers. More information on UBSS can be found at http://ubssseva.org.

So here are the steps how you can help towards this cause.

1. Select the paintings shown in the link, that you are interested in. Please click here to see the paintings.
2. Send me a mail at prabal.mallick@gmail.com with the details (name and link) of the painting.
3. Make sure the subject line says 'Painting for Orissa floods'.
4. Then I reply back to you and you make the payment to me.
5. You get the painting and the certificate of authenticity.
6. I'll publish the details and receipt of all the money collected in a future post, so that you know that your money has been used for the right cause.

Please note that the paintings have been priced at a much lower rate, so that it becomes affordable for you. The price range of the paintings is Rs 1000/- to Rs 8000/-.

In the end I would again appeal to all of you to come forward and contribute towards this noble cause.

Afternoon at Puri

2011-09-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

Title - Afternoon at Puri

Size - 15 x 11 inch

Medium - Watercolor on Paper

Jagannath temple in Puri is one of the most popular Hindu pilgrimages in India. The temple is really really huge and it looks really big even when seen from a good distance. The following piece is from wiki.

'The huge temple complex covers an area of over 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2), and is surrounded by a high fortified wall. It contains at least 120 temples and shrines. With its sculptural richness and fluidity of the Odia style of temple architecture, it is one of the most magnificent monuments of India. The main temple is a curvilinear temple and crowning the top is the 'srichakra' (a eight spoked wheel) of Vishnu. Also known as the "Nilachakra", it is made out of Ashtadhatu and is considered sacrosanct. Among the existing temples in Odisha, the temple of Shri Jagannath is the highest. The temple tower was built on a raised platform of stone and, rising to 214 feet (65 m) above the inner sanctum where the deities reside, dominates the surrounding landscape. The pyramidal roofs of the surrounding temples and adjoining halls, or mandapas, rise in steps toward the tower like a ridge of mountain peaks.
The main shrine is enclosed by a 20 feet (6.1 m) high wall. Another wall surrounds the main temple.'

So you can probably guess the enormity of the temple. Anyway I had done 3 sketches before this (One pencil and 2 watercolor) and was not very sure about doing the painting. And then I happened to watch a video clip of Joseph Zbucvik, where he says, just have faith and go for it. So at 11 at night I put my faith in Lord Jagannath and went for it. I finished it by 2 AM in the morning and yes at the end I was happy. By the way I was using Waterford paper for the first time and I liked it.

Childhood's End

2011-09-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

Title - Chilhood's End

Size - 15 x 11 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

Two weeks back I saw this picture with three tiny kids headed for school in local newspaper. What caught my attention was their overfilled and over sized school bags. And it started a chain of thoughts and then this painting was born. It is called Childhood's end. I hope you are able to empathize with the perspective of this one. Have a great week ahead.

A farmer's life

2011-08-31T06:23:00.000-07:00

Title - A Farmer's life
Size - 22 x 15
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo courtesy - Satyesh Naik

Sharing a song for you. I came across this song just a couple of days back. I do not understand the language (There are about 30 odd languages in India. I know only 3 languages). But the feel of the song is very melancholic and I just loved it. Later I found out that it is about a farmer in debt. And hence sharing it here.
Patras Karan Ki..

Something different..

2011-08-26T04:39:00.000-07:00

Title - Salandi

Size - 11 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo courtesy - Satyesh Naik

Well as the title suggests its actually not something different, but something that I attempted in a different way. It is a landscape after all. But I was attacking the paper more. In fact I generally do not attack paper while painting, but here I was doing that. And I was making an effort not to move away too many times from the painting to see how things are going. I would really appreciate if you leave your honest comments for this one.

Kondh Village

2011-08-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

Title - Kondh Village
Size - 10 x 14 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo courtesy - Satyesh Naik

Here is the painting of the sketch that I had posted in my last post. It is a tribal village inside a wildlife sanctuary in Odisha. The blog post about this sanctuary can be seen here.

Satyesh, thanks for the pic.

India art gallery Pune is running an abridged online version of my solo show for some days under emerging artist's section. A big thanks to them. The exhibition can be seen here.

I hope you all had a great weekend. I had a good one too.

Hadagarh, NGMA and a sketch

2011-08-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

Title - Dusk at Hadagarh
Size - 11 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - Plein air at NGMA
Size - 14 x 10 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Watercolor sketch of a tribal village

When a painting has a lot of area unpainted it is always a temptation to fill in something. I got tempted too but I think I did not go. Somehow I managed to stop and let it be. So I was actually quiet happy about that.

This photo was taken from my friend's blogpost on the dying Hadagarh sanctuary in Odisha. In my painting I wanted to see the river touching the horizon and hence I increased the height of my viewing point for the painting.

Last Sunday I had gone out to NGMA with my weekend drawing club friends to do some plein air work. The biggest difficulty was to get a place where you could sit in the shade of trees and paint a nice view that had enough light.

And lastly I am posting a sketch in preparation for a painting.

Thank you for stopping by. Have a great day.

Coexistence

2011-08-12T06:59:00.000-07:00

Title - Coexistence - II
Size - 22 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - Coexistence - I
Size - 22 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Nature is truth. Probably absolute truth. Culture is a subjective truth. Culture is man made. It is anti nature. Nature has to be destroyed for culture to thrive. And when the side effects of culture becomes unbearable nature strikes back. It destroys culture. But a new culture flourishes again. Nature and culture are opposing forces. But at the same time both validate each other. Both give meaning to each other. Nature and culture co-exist. The balance of power keeps shifting, but they exist together to define each other.

Black, White and Brown

2011-08-03T06:52:00.001-07:00

Title - The Brown Gai
Size - 14 x 10 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - The White Gai
Size - 14 x 10 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - The Black Gai
Size - 14 x 10 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Gai in my mother tongue means cow. It also sound like 'guy'............

2011-07-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by my artist friend Crystal Cook on something called as the 7-links project, whereby I am supposed to decide and talk about the following and also tag 5 other friends.

Your most beautiful post
Your most popular post
Your most controversial post
Your most helpful post
A post whose success surprised you
A post you feel didn't get the attention it deserved
The post you are most proud of

First of all thank you Crystal for tagging me. This post was very tough one. I had to look at all my posts and then decide on each one out of so many posts. But here they are finally.

My most beautiful post
My mom's portrait...

My most popular post
This was a tough one. I mean I really did not know how to pick. Based on the number of comments I received or the content of the comments probably. I finally picked this..

My most controversial post
This one was the toughest. I think this should qualify..

My most helpful post
It has got to be the first post I made. It got started me on a journey that has been more than fulfilling.

A post whose success surprised me
I was painting after a gap. I was not confident. A block kind of thing you know. My hands were not moving properly. And this painting resulted. Though unsure of posting it I still did post it as I had nothing else to post. And of course I was surprised. In fact that is the painting I later started to like and was the first painting to be sold in my recent exhibition.

A post I didn't get the attention it deserved
This was a painting which had gone according to the plan. The washes were just as I wanted it to be. The feel, just as I wanted it to be. And moreover I thought I had been able to capture the essence of tribal living, which was closer to nature. Here it is..

The post I am most proud of
This one was probably the easiest of all. I have been an ardent follower of Indian Ocean and I wanted to make a painting of them after Aseem Da passed away in 2009. But I did not know how to capture the essence of each of them. For this I kept watching their videos, kept sketching from it and took a long time on this process before the final composition came through with each of their personalities coming across. So here it is again....Indian Ocean...

And now its time to tag five friends who have not yet been tagged (hopefully). And they are
1. Ramesh Jhawar
2. Kathy
3. Liz
4. Kathryn Ragan
5. Pat

Thank you

2011-07-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

Opening of the show by artist Mr J S M Mani

I also lighted one of the lamps. :)

Some visitors

My best visitor

A lot of clicking happened during the show

Friends from my workplace also visited

I made some new friends too

An article in a local newspaper

My first solo exhibition has come to an end and I want to start this post by thanking you all for your wishes, for coming down to the show, your appreciation and critiques, for filling up my visitor's book, for .... well for everything actually.

The show was great. I had visitors almost at all times during all five days and most of them enjoyed my works and some of them did stop by to say hello and leave a comment for me. I got to meet many seniors, super seniors and contemporaries in art field and it was a pleasure interacting with them. There were some interviews with newspaper and TV channels too. I hated the TV channel part though. I was just so uncomfortable in front of the camera. LOL. There were some inquiries from some other galleries too. And yes I did manage to sell a few paintings too. So over all it was an amazing 5 days and I can only be thankful to everyone for everything.

I have not been in touch with my fellow bloggers during this time. And with a little follow ups to do after the show I think I'll be out of touch for a few more days. So I apologize for that. Here are some pics for you all.

Invitation

2011-07-19T07:10:00.000-07:00

Hi friends. I hope you are all doing well. Here is the formal invitation to all of you for my first solo exhibition. It is a big moment for me and I hope that you will make it special by dropping by. Here are the details of the show.

Title : Explorations of the watercolor kind
Date: 22nd July - 26th July 2011
Time: 11 AM to 7 PM daily
Venue: Gallery 2, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat, Kumarkrupa Road, Bangalore
Preview: Please click here to see the preview

In case you need more information please drop me a mail or just give me a call. Have a great day..

A painting and the poster

2011-07-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

Title - Arrived or Moving??
Size - 14 x 22 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo by - Satyesh

Last Sunday I did this painting and was using Indian handmade paper after a long time. The paper has a good texture and can take any amount of punishment. It has a few drawbacks too. But anyway I was painting very freely and confidently on this one and finished this painting in about an hours time. Really enjoyed doing this.

Unfortunately I'll not be taking this one for my exhibition as I may not be able to get it framed in time. But anyway I am also sharing with you the poster for my upcoming show. Hope you like it.

Sold..

2011-07-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

Diputacion Street

Begona Basilica

Tug Boats

I just wanted to share some good news with you all. I have sold 4 paintings in Bilbao, Spain for a future gallery project called BETA PICTORIS. These paintings were made for the project and are actual places in the city of Bilbao. I also sold one painting that I had done earlier this year. You can see that one here.

I hope you all are having a great week.

Here is the painting

2011-07-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

Title - At Pune university
Size - 15 x 11 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Cropped image

Here is the painting, the sketch for which was posted in my previous post. What do you think?? The sketch was done in about 5 mins without much planning. Only the tonal values were planned and warm/cool areas were being tried out. In the painting almost everything was planned. May be around 80% of the painting was planned while in the sketch only 20% was planned. And the painting took about 1.5 to 2 hours. I would like to know your opinion on how the painting compares with the sketch...

And I cropped the image to get the motorcyclist in focus and I kinda liked it. So posting that too. :)

By the way, preparations for the show is going according to plan as of now. Keeping my fingers crossed. I shall be getting the invitees and posters etc printed this week. I think I have decided on my final 30 paintings, which I'll be displaying, unless of course I end up doing a masterpiece in the next few days. LOL.

Happy painting to all.

Some Sketches and a Video

2011-07-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

Watercolor sketch of a painting to be

Contour drawing (without lifting the pencil from paper) - Anthony Martin getting wicket of Suresh Raina in recently concluded one-day series in West Indies.

Another Contour drawing - My sister having a really nice nap.

I have not painted much since last week. So nothing really worthwhile to post. In such situations generally my sketchbook comes to my rescue. So here are some sketches from my sketchbook.

And yes a video. I made a small video as a trailer for my upcoming show. Have a look. Share it with your friends if you like it.

Click here to watch the video.

Announcement

2011-06-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the biggest announcements from me this year. I'll be having my first solo exhibition next month and it has been titled "Explorations of the watercolor kind". I know it sounds like the title of a sci-fi novel. But after much thoughts and deliberations I arived at this title. Here is the first poster and my thoughts below. I have also created a facebook event page here. Have a great weekend.

Explorations of the watercolor kind

"Watercolor is a restless medium - it teases the painter - sometimes with pleasant surprise, sometimes with plain frustration, all the while being extremely playful. This makes it one of the most endearing mediums, and the the process of painting becomes an exploration of possibilities, of both the known and the unknown.

This exhibition features a few select results of such explorations over the last two years, inspirations for which have been drawn from a myriad stories of travel, music, lifestyle, nostalgia, and more. "

Something new

2011-06-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

Title - Somewhere in Deccan, Pune
Size - 13 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - En plein air @ Sheshadri Library
Size - 15 x 10
Medium - Watercolor on paper

I tried this new something (first one) on quiet a glossy paper. To create textures (whatever is there) I was rolling my brush on the paper. How do you think it has come off!!!!

And the second one was done last Sunday in an outdoor session at Sheshadri public library in Bangalore. I had never been to this place before. But it was a beautiful place and I loved painting there.

Somewhere in Germany

2011-06-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

Title - Somewhere in Germany
Size - 15 x 21 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Okay here is the painting.. I hope you like it. It did not go according to the plan completely, but to quiet an extent.

Somewhere in Germany.. in progress

2011-06-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

I saw this picture in newspaper last week and thought of painting it.. I made a line drawing and then a value sketch. The painting is in progress. Till I complete the painting I hope you enjoy this.

November morning

2011-06-05T05:17:00.000-07:00

Title - November Morning
Size - 11 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo by - Satyesh

I tried this 15 minutes sketch which got over in 10 minutes. It was fun as I was trying to use the left over colors from my palette.

Poona Trip

2011-06-02T00:05:00.000-07:00

At Milind sir's studio - A heaven for artists

Outdoor painting at BMCC, Pune

Plein air at BMCC, Pune

Great lunch at Mathura restaurant

Satyesh shooting the scarlet minivet

With Gajanan, Sanjeev, Ravi, Kaka and Shailesh at Shantiniketan (canteen under the Banyan tree), Pune university

Plein air at Pune university

Last week I had been to Poona/Pune for 4 days. I met up with the maestro Milind sir and some other really awesome artists over there. It was great interacting with Milind sir and going through hoards of his work in his studio. I also managed to see him in action in studio and outdoors and it was very inspiring.

I also met up with some other great artists like Sanjeev Joshi, Shailesh Meshram, Gajanan Kashalkar, Ravi Songirkar, Kaka and enjoyed their hospitality at Pune university where I joined them for an outdoor painting session.

I also went for a birdwatching session with two wild life lovers Satyesh and Siddharth, and it was great fun. We did manage to spot some 25 different kind of birds that day.

It was really a great trip and wish to be back there soon. Here are some pictures of the trip and some en plein air paintings I manged to do there.

Exhibition

2011-05-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody. A quick announcement. I am participating in a group exhibition of paintings at Renaissance Gallery, Bangalore. The exhibition runs from 20th May to 25th May with Sunday as a holiday. Timings are 11 AM to 7 PM daily. So if you are around please drop by. And I would be really happy if you buy one of my paintings. :)

Here is a collage of some of my paintings that will be on display. And the gallery is situated in Westminster building on Cunningham road if you are planning to visit. The telephone number of the gallery is 080 - 22202232.

Plein air..

2011-05-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

I did some plein air work this weekend and the last weekend too at Lalbaugh. I am posting the outcome. Some okay, some not so okay. Anyway here they are. But its always great fun to paint outdoors.

I also realized that for some tricky compositions I needed to have a view finder. Hopefully I'll have one next time. And being a not so organized person I always end up forgetting something or the other. I think a checklist will of help. Those, who do not score very high on being organized must have a checklist for plein air painting I guess. Imagine if you forget your pad or your brushes.

Happy painting..

Indian Ocean

2011-05-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

Title - Indian Ocean
Size - 21 x 14 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

So here it is finally. Indian Ocean. I tried to bring out the character of each member on stage through different color schemes. I hope you enjoy this.

Indian Ocean - In progress

2011-05-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

Okay. The suspense of my last post did not really last. But still I'll formally break the suspense now. The sketches in the last post were that of a cult Indian band called Indian Ocean. Here is the wiki link. I have been the biggest fan of this band since I heard them first in 2000. Their music ans story has had a very strong influence on me. A documentary film titled 'Leaving Home' was made in the band and was released last year to rave reviews. It is one of the most inspirational movies I have ever seen.

I have been thinking of doing some paintings on them for a very long time, but never got the courage to do it. Portraits are tough anyway. And doing 4 portraits in one painting is a big ask. But finally I am doing it. It started off well. But midway it was not going the way I wanted it to. Anyway it is about 70% complete now and in my next post I'll post the painting no matter what is the outcome.

Before starting the painting I did a quick watercolor sketch of my favorite person in the band, just to gain some confidence. I am posting that for now. And in the meanwhile you can enjoy some of their music.

Kandisa
Desert Rain
Bondhu
Bula Raha
Jhini
Shunya

And by the way they have also been a band that lives by its own terms. Here in India record labels actually exploit musicians. But musicians have no other option other than going with a label. But Indian Ocean ditched record labels and was the first band in India to release their latest album on internet for free. You can download those songs for free on their site.

Sketches

2011-04-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

These are the preparatory sketches for one of the most difficult paintings I am planning to do next.

Last of the backwaters

2011-04-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

Title - Alleppy Morning
Size -20 x 25 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

So finally my backwater series ends. And this is the last painting of the series. Alleppy is a small town in Kerala. The best way to see this place is on a boat as beautiful canals run through the entire town finally connecting it to the backwaters. I plan to go back to Alleppy soon. May be I'll see you there on a boat. :)

2 quick ones

2011-04-20T08:02:00.001-07:00

Title - Abandoned house on Backwaters
Size - 14 x 21 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - En plein air on Nitin's Balcony
Size - 11 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Continuing my backwater series I tried to paint this quicker than I normally do. The main reason being the weather. The other ones was done plein air from the balcony of a friend's house. That too was also done real quick as I was at his place for a very short time. I intend to get back there and paint with more time in my hands someday.

I actually completely forgot that I have been given 'Vearsatile blogger award' by Resham. Thanks Resham. There were lot of rules involved. I am only going to follow one rule. That is to pass it on to a new found blogger. The last inspiring blog that I had found was that of Anuradha's. So I pass it on to her.

Backwaters continued..

2011-04-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

Title - Lets Talk
Size - 14 x 21 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - Boat Stop
Size - 21 x 14 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Here I am again with 2 new paintings of my backwater series. I am not very happy with the way things are coming out now. But I guess they are leading me somewhere. So still some more to paint in this series.

It has become quiet hot and dry now here in Bangalore. That means paper dries really fast now a days. So you can guess how frustrating it gets some times. I think I'll have to increase my speed of painting to counter the heat. I have to adapt. That is it from my side... until next time..Take care..

Backwater Living

2011-04-09T01:41:00.000-07:00

Title - Backwater living
Size - 14 x 21 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

This is the painting version of the sketch that I posted about 2 weeks back. I think the spontaneity of the sketch is gone in this one. I also think a little bit of complementary in the dark shadow areas could have livened it up a bit.

Painting backwaters

2011-04-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

Title - Alleppy twins.... Size - 14 x 21 inch.... Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - Under Repair.... Size - 14 x 21 inch.... Medium - Watercolor on paper

First of all congratulations to all Indian cricket fans on the Cricket World cup win affter 28 long years. The world cup has been keeping me busy for all these days and hence delayed posts, replies etc.

Coming back to art now.... I had been to Alleppy in Kerela a few days back and had taken a lot of pictures out there. Almost all of them had water as an element as the pictures were taken in the backwaters of Alleppy. Now I am trying to paint some of them. And I am experimenting with the water part of it. These two are the first two of those experiments. Please leave your feedback on what you feel and what could have been done better etc etc.

Best of luck

2011-03-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

Title - In Bloom
Size - 14 x 10 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Saturday Skecthing

2011-03-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

Watercolor sketch of a house in the backwaters of Alleppy.

LDC sketch - I. Close up of Chikkatata

LDC sketch - II. Complete profile of Chkkatata

Yesterday I attended a session of Life Drawing Club (LDC) and it was great fun. For the first time I drew someone who had actually posed for the sketch. :)
In the evening I did a watercolor sketch from a photograph that I had taken during my visit to Alleppy.

When I come home

2011-03-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

Title - When I come home
Size - 15 x 11 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Breathe by Pink Floyd has been playing in my head for quiet some time now. And probably that is the reason this painting came out of my imagination. Here are the lyrics of Breathe (reprise).

Breathe (reprise) - Pink Floyd
------------------------------
Home, home again
I like to be there when I can
When I come in cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells.

Before I sign off, wishing everyone a very very colorful and joyful Holi.

Breathe

2011-03-15T07:12:00.000-07:00

Title - Breathe (in the air)
Size - 15 x 22 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

This is the last painting of my really small series on Ranganthittu. The title is inspired by a song from Pink Floyd. The Pink Floyd song goes like this...

Breathe
Breathe in the air
Dont be afraid to care
Leave
But dont leave me
Look around, choose your own ground
Long you live and high you fly
Smiles you give and tears you cry
All you touch and all you see
All your life will ever be.

Someday, Somewhere

2011-03-10T07:26:00.000-08:00

Title - Someday
Size - 15 x 11 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - Somewhere
Size - 15 x 11 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Someday, somewhere, we'll be together. :)

This is the park around Ranganthittu bird sanctaury. My last post also is the same place. My next post will also probably be a painting of the same place.

Come with me

2011-03-05T20:33:00.000-08:00

Title - Come with me
Size - 16 x 22 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Hear my cries, hear my call
Lend me your ears, see my fall
See my errors, know my faults
Time halts, see my loss

Come with me

Floral Experiments

2011-03-02T03:12:00.000-08:00

Title - Flowers in the wild
Size - 11 x 14 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - Wild flowers

Size - 11 x 14 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

These are two experiments that I did last week. Both have the same composition, but treatment wise they are completely different. The first one is more of wet in wet and glazing etc while the second one is more of dry brush type. The second one looks a bit hazy, but it is not due to any problem in the photo. The photo is fine. Its the dry brush probably that gives it that look.

By the way I just read a art quote which says 'Art does not tolerate reason'. Completely agree.

Daringbadi Day

2011-02-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

Title - Daringbadi Day
Size - 15 x 22 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo by - Satyesh Naik

Once again my friend posted a nice write up in his blog with some great photographs and I was inspired again. The place is Daringbadi in western Odisha. This is the only place in Odisha that receives some kind of snowfall during winter. The people here live from and with the forest. This is a typical setup for a house whereby it would stand in the middle of a field near a Sal or a mango tree. Pumpkins are generally grown on the roof of the house while papaya is grown just outside the house. Such great eco-friendly living.

By the kitchen window

2011-02-19T21:07:00.000-08:00

Title - By the Kitchen window
Size -22 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo by - Sudakshmina Mandal

In rural India where life still walks at its own pace kitchen serves as an important social place for women. It is also the place where family gets together for their meals. And hence it is generally a spacious and cosy place unlike the modern kitchens.

This painting was done in quiet a different way than my usual way. It was done in parts. I completed the upper left part first. Then the bottom part and then the upper right part. Those rays of sun made visible by smoke was done in the end. Hope you enjoy this piece.

A bad painting day

2011-02-15T09:21:00.000-08:00

Title: SECMOL campus at Phey, Leh

Size: 15 x 22 inch

Medium: Watercolor on paper

Fisrt of all what is a bad painting day??

Sometimes there is something at the back of your mind which keeps troubling you at a sub-conscious level. And in such a situation (not necessarily) when you paint you never get a good feeling of the painting process. Somehow you start to feel that things are not going right in the painting. That puts you off further. And it starts a chain reaction. You start screwing up new things in the painting and your mood keep spiraling down till it hits an abyss. Suddenly from somewhere a voice starts repeating these words in your mind.... "You were never meant to be a painter". This is just one of many ways of having a bad painting day.

I had a bad painting day this Saturday. And why am I talking about it?? That is because such 'bad painting days' are bound to keep occurring in an artist's life. And when it occurs one has to learn to shut that voice and recover from it.

I could not sleep properly on Saturday night. On Sunday morning I called up home and friends and just had a small chat with everyone. Then I listened to my current favorite song for about 10 times in a loop. In the afternoon I watched one of my favorite films, 'School of rock'. Laughed my guts out at Jack Black's histrionics. In the evening I watched another film in a theater. And on Monday morning I was ready to paint again. The bad painting day of Saturday seemed like a distant memory. Then I went back and looked at my painting again. I found some problems with it, But it did not seem that bad anymore.

Sometimes those demons gets created in our head and try to break us down. I think in such a case it is best to take our mind off those demons and their silly voices. When you have ignored them for some time they just go away.

I am sure bad painting days happen to everyone. Some of them are realy really bad painting days too. But that is a part and parcel of the game. Isn't it??

Ideating at Baga

2011-02-10T05:47:00.001-08:00

Title - Ideating at Baga
Size - 22 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

In December last year when I was in Goa with my friends most of our discussions would have a central theme. And that would be deciding the place to have our next meal. We were having one such discussion on Calangute-Baga road one morning when I saw a small group of people having some discussion on the other side of the road. I wonder what they were talking about, but it surely made a nice shot.

Baba's beauties

2011-02-05T04:07:00.000-08:00

Title - Baba's beauties
Size - 11 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

This is yet another painting of my home back in Bhubaneswar. My father spends a lot of time taking care of those green beauties. Hence the name. The colors are a little bit too chic for my taste, but I thought the purple and yellows were making a good complimentary pair.

Some kinda test..

2011-02-01T01:11:00.000-08:00

Title - Karlapat Bliss
Size - 11 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor and gouche on paper
Photo by - Satyesh Naik

Generally I plan my paintings beforehand. Compositional sketch, value sketch, and sometimes may be a watercolor sketch and all that. Its not a 100% plan, but yes there is top level plan and while I am painting the entire process follows the plan loosely. I dont exactly stick to the plan, but in spirit I go by the plan.

But sometimes once in a while I just test myself, whereby I just paint without any plan at all. No sketches at all. Sometimes no pencil also. Just color, brush and water. I dont know what am I supposed to test this way. May be its a spontaneity test. May be. But I dont know. Everything need not have answers. Many times in this process I surprise myself. And in most cases I do like the outcome because in the first place I started with no expectations at all. So this is also a 'make myself happy' kind of exercise. :)

Anyway this painting was also done without any plan. I just started directly with brush and color on paper and I did like the outcome. In my last post I felt that I have not been able to capture the feel of the place. In this I think I have captured it. By the way this place is also Karlapat wildlife sanctuary and the photo was given to me by Satyesh.

In my last post Crystal had motivated me to write what I like about my next painting and so here I go.

I think I managed to get the serene feel of the dense forest with a good overall looseness and lighting. So I am happy. Hopefully this painting cheers you up too.

Karlapat

2011-01-28T01:15:00.000-08:00

Title - Karlapat

Size - 22 x 15 inch

Medium - Watercolor on paper

This painting is done from a photograph taken by Satyesh and is inspired from this post by him. Karlapat is a wildlife sanctuary in Kalahandi district of Orissa or Odisha (new official spelling). I really enjoyed this post and wanted to paint something that would capture the feel of dense forests of Karlapat resonating with the music of streams. To be honest I thought I was not successful in doing that, but Satyesh said he liked it. Since he is the person who had been there and taken the picture I thought I'll share it.

Cosy..

2011-01-22T20:27:00.000-08:00

Title - Cosy
Size - 22 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on Paper

I was trying this little different subject this time. It took me almost double the time I usually take for a painting. There were so many straight lines, play of perspective and so much of negative painting that had to be done that by the end of it I almost lost interest in this one. Hope you like it.

A little mist and a little sun

2011-01-20T05:53:00.001-08:00

Title - A little mist and a little sun
Size - 15 x 20 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

This one was not originally planned to be the way it is right now.

I was using a handmade paper for this and had wet it thoroughly for doing an initial wash in wet in wet. But somehow it had soaked up a lot of water and was not drying up at all. So I left it to dry overnight. Next morning it was still very damp and I realized it was going to remain damp for a long time. Since the dampness was perfect for wet in wet I started doing wet in wet and continued for about half an hour. It was good fun as the paper was maintaining its wetness. Then I left it to dry. By evening it had dried up and colors has toned down a bit and it was looking like a mist scene. Then I added some pale shadows here and there to have a little feeling of soft light. And there I had my fog scene. :)

Its not a great painting. But why I am sharing this is because some times in watercolors things do not go as planned. But that also gives you an opportunity to stumble upon something new. Sometimes its good to just accept what has happened, work with it and learn from it.

Dusk on Mandovi - II

2011-01-14T21:32:00.000-08:00

Title - Dusk on Mandovi - II
Size - 15 x 19 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

My last painting was full of colors. This painting however is an experimentation with grays. I kept some colors in the foreground to have some drama and just let the eye move around. But I guess I went a little overboard it with it. I am not sure.....

By the way it was done on a pale yellow tinted sheet. Any guesses why???

Nestled

2011-01-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

Title - Nestled
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Size - 14.5 x 20.5 inch

I dont remember where but I had read something like this somewhere told by some great person.
"Each day I dont practice I take a step back".

That is exactly how I feel. I picked up my brushes after a gap of 15 odd days and I was feeling that I just dont know how to paint. My hands were freezing. Strokes were just not confident enough and I was doing all the mistakes all over again.

That means I need to restart all over again. Practice, work hard and just be patient. I think any sort of art form has this magical quality to teach you to be patient.

Anyway here is the painting that I made. While on Goan roads I came across this beautiful house nestled among thick foliage. And immediately I saw a painting. And here is that.

Bye bye 2010

2010-12-23T05:53:00.000-08:00

I guess this will be my last post for this year. Both these paintings are done from the photos I took in Goa. First one is on a normal watercolor sheet while the second one is on the sheet I have been using for last two of my posts.

The biggest achievement for me this year has been getting the experience of more than 100 paintings. And I would like to thank all of you once again for everything.

Wish you all a very happy Christmas and a great 2011.

Title - On the way to Arpora
Size - 14 x 10 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Title - Staying home today (too/two)
Size - 22 x 28 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

CKP morning

2010-12-19T05:31:00.001-08:00

This one is also done on the same paper as the last painting. I used very thin washes for this except for the dark parts. It was done in about 45 minutes and I enjoyed this one a lot as there were not much difficult shapes to take care of and I could just paint freely.

Anyway as the year is coming to a close I just thought I would like to thank you all for all your love, support, encouragement, critiques, comments, appreciation and stuff like that. All that has helped me a lot and kept me motivated too. I just wish I continue to get all of this in the future.

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU.

Title - CKP morning
Size - 14 x 20 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Staying home today

2010-12-15T06:14:00.001-08:00

Title - 'Staying home today'

Size - 20 x 28 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

The paper I used for this one is not a watercolor paper. It is a regular drawing sheet and has no texture at all. It is rather slippery. I am just experimenting on this paper right now as it comes very cheap. Rs 10 (less than a quarter of a $) per sheet. Most of the techniques either do not work or work only partially on this. But it is worth experimenting on this. I am posting WIP pictures of the painting so that you can get an idea how did I go about this one.

Pleasant surprises

2010-12-11T05:18:00.000-08:00

The other day I accidentally came across some pleasant surprises and then PC too found out one for me.

I was covered in watercolor gallery blog. Click here to go to the site.

My blog was listed in top 50 inspiring art blogs in guide to art school site. Click here to go to the site.

My blog was also listed in top 50 watercolor blogs of 2010 at online graphics design degree site. Click here to go to the site.

Now wouldn't I be happy!! :)

Anyways leaving you here with memories of Goa.

Title - Really bad food shack at Arambol beach
Size - 11 x 14 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

En Plein Air in Goa

2010-12-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

Well I am back from my trip and thanks for all your wishes that I had got before going for the trip. I had a really great time. The beaches, sand, sea, beer, food,bike rides and the crowd was all great. But the best part was I met with many of my college and some of my school friends after a really really long time and that made the trip special. And I did manage to do some paintings in between all these.

All these paintings were done en plein air. Sitting in the cool shade of a beach umbrella surrounded by friends, sipping chilled beer and painting. Can I complain? :)

Actually it was very hot and hence the paper was drying up too fast. That posed a good challenge. All I could do was paint fast. So all these paintings were completed in about 45 minutes to an hour. And they are all around 14 x 11 inches in size.

Painting outdoors keeps throwing up a new challenge every time and that is why probably it is so exciting.

Day 1 - Rock on cafe on Vagator beach in north Goa.

Day 2 - Cheap seaside hotels at Arambol beach in north Goa

Day 3 - Soaking up some sun at Baga beach, north Goa. The couple went to take a dip in the sea as soon as I had started painting. I had to complete this from the instant memory I had created of the couple.

Day 4 - Beach, beer and a friend for company at Benaulim beach, south Goa

Takmachik

2010-11-27T23:13:00.000-08:00

The place in this painting is Takmachik village in Ladakh. Alleys are always very nice to paint. And this one also had the perfect lighting along with very beautiful houses and those flower vases on the windows.

I'll be on a break for a week and hence will be absent from blogsphere. See you all after a week. Till then enjoy this one.

Title - Takmachik
Size - 22 x 16 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo - Sudakshmina Mandal

Apricots and Doodles

2010-11-23T06:01:00.000-08:00

I did some experimentation once again. The paper I used for the first painting is normal cheap drawing sheets which are quiet smooth and have no texture. I did not use any pencil because I thought it was unnecessary as I was just doing a trial on the paper. It took about 30 minutes to complete. Though this paper does not reflect as much light as a proper watercolor paper, I did quiet like the end result.

The photo for this came from a friend which she clicked at Ladakh.

I have also posted some doodles from my sketch book.

Title - Fresh Apricots
Size - 14 x 10 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo - Sudakshmina Mandal

Painting vertical

2010-11-19T05:52:00.000-08:00

For this painting I kept my board almost vertical on the easel and tried to paint. The idea was to see how it would be.

Well it was different, but I really cant tell how it was different quantitatively. I think that is because in case of this one it was not so different. But it did feel good.

Title - Sindurg Post
Size - 20 x 12 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo - Satyesh Naik

RimTaal

2010-11-12T22:44:00.000-08:00

Rimtaal 1

Rimtaal 2

Sketchbook time

2010-11-06T23:03:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have posted anything from my sketchbook. Finally took a few pictures and here they are. Enjoy.

Color Scapes Gallery

2010-11-04T01:38:00.000-07:00

Bangalore now has a new art gallery at Whitefield. Its called 'Color Scapes'. The entire gallery and the space surrounding it is very aesthetically designed. There is a lot of open space and it seems in some days there is going to be a small cafe there. So if someone is planning to spend some arty time there one can do it in leisure with some hot coffee for company. And it is conveniently located about a kilometer off from main Whitefield road opposite Herbs and Spices restaurant.

I am posting some pictures of the gallery.

Wondering why am I telling you all this? Well you'll be able to spot some of my paintings in the gallery. :)

Before I sign off a very very happy, safe and prosperous Deepavali to all of you.

Poolside Party

2010-10-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

Tried a lot of different things in this painting. The longish canvas, subject (which I thought was very cute. Thanks again to Satyesh for the picture), a little gouche with watercolor etc. And I liked it and enjoyed it. Hope you like it too. Have a good day.

Title - Poolside Party
Size - 14 x 19 inch
Medium - Watercolor and Gouche on tinted sheet
Photo - Satyesh Naik

With or without you

2010-10-23T01:10:00.000-07:00

A bullock cart is supposed to be pulled by bullocks. But bullocks seems to have deserted this man. So now its upto him to move his cart around. This rather peculiar moment was very well captured by Satyesh and you can see the post here. I found it really interesting and tried to focus on the man and his cart in this painting.

Title - WIth or without you

Size - 11 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo - Satyesh Naik

Somedays back Crystal cook had posted some of her high school work and dared everybody else to post theirs. Recently I got hold of the photo of one of my paintings from high school. One of my friends from school took this picture and surprised me with it. It was done when I was 13. Its oil on canvas. The canvas is quiet huge. I guess around 3 x 4 ft. I remember when I was doing this painting the canvas was as big as I was. :). This painting still hangs in the ante rooms of my school.

I had done quiet a few paintings while I was in school. I really dont know where they are hung now. I hope to keep getting pleasant surprises like this one. :)

Wish you all....

2010-10-15T23:46:00.000-07:00

Hi friends. I wish you all a very happy Durga puja\Dussera. And hope this painting cheers you up too.

I am having a good time this Puja. I had been to Indian Ocean's concert yesterday and today it will be Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia and Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma together. Hope you guys are having fun too.

Title - Konkan Morning
Size - 11 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo - Satyesh Naik

Trying different stuff

2010-10-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today I am posting 2 paintings in which my approach was very different compared to how I normally paint. It was a conscious attempt to break monotony in the first case and the second case the decision was taken on the fly.

This one is the outcome of the Niladri Kumar concert I had been to. I tried to paint quickly with really dark hues in an almost abstract manner. I am not sure how this has come out.

Title - The Zitarist
Size - 15 x 21 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

I started this as usual. But when I put the first wash the paper behaved very unpredictably. It also dulled the color. It was one of those defective papers that you sometimes have in a pad. So I decided to paint quickly, which is not very natural to me. I am a bit of a lazy painter. It came out better than I expected with a good likeness.

Dad's portrait - II

5 down memories

2010-10-04T02:03:00.000-07:00

This post by my wanderer friend talks about his childhood days. But it also brought back many childhood memories of mine. There is something about small nondescript railway stations in India which becomes an integral part of the lives of people around it. To sit and spend some time in such stations is an experience that is addictive.

In this painting I was trying to paint memories. Though it is single person's memory it is no different from the memories of so many of us.

Title - 5 down memories
Size - 11 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Photo - Satyesh Naik

Escape - II

2010-09-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

This painting of mine reminded me a little bit of the Lord of the rings. But I thought the water was not as it would be in the Shire. There would be a a gentle breeze causing smooth ripples on the greenish water which would then reflect the golden sunlight to create a magical ambiance. So I thought of redoing the painting.

Though this did not come anywhere near what I imagined still it looked good to me. I hope you enjoy it too. By the way I have one last ticket to the Shire left. Anybody game? :)

Title - Escape - II
Size - 21 x 14 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

Inspiration

2010-09-24T06:22:00.000-07:00

About 3-4 months back I had come across this blog which looked very interesting. I did not have time back then to go through it and in due course of time I forgot about it (I am a busy person after all... LOL). Then it was a small coincidence that brought me back to the blog again and this time I started going through it. This is a travelogue which explores that part of India to which I belong. I found it so engaging that within 2 days I had read all the posts. Some of the posts were so well written that it kept taking back to my growing up days. And when you can paint such blogs do serve as inspiration.

The author of the blog Satyesh was kind enough to allow me to use some of his photos. This painting comes from this post of his. I have tried to capture the feel of a lonely little forest stream. Can you hear the water flowing down?? :)

Title - Untitled
Size - 14 x 19 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

By the way I'll be there in Mysore participating in Mysore's first Chitrasanthe (art market) on 3rd of October. The venue is Najaraja Bahaddur Choultry near Metropole circle. If you are there you can drop by. It will be nice to meet you.

Portrait V - Smruti

2010-09-21T06:16:00.000-07:00

Finally the final portrait of my first family portrait series is here. She is my youngest sister Smruti. Though I did overwork it a quiet a bit, but still I am satisfied with it because Smruti liked it a lot.

Portrait Four and More

2010-09-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

This is my sister Smita. I kind of screwed up this one. I think I need to concentrate more. Anyways the title of the post says Portrait Four and More. So here is the 'More' stuff.

Have you ever experienced this feeling where nothing seems to exist. Not even yourself. The only thing that exists is pure bliss (using bliss for the lack of better words to describe the experience).

Today I attended a Sitar concert by Maestro Niladri Kumar. Sitar is a beautiful instrument and its beauty was brought to life by the maestro today. It was part Hindustani classical and part fusion concert. I just cant describe the experience of attending the concert. He also played Zitar (an electric version of Sitar which is invented by him). And to give him company there were some other great musicians. There are a lot of videos available on youtube. For starters you can try one fusion one here and a classical one here.

Music is the highest form of all arts and I feel blessed when I get to hear such great music.

Detour

2010-09-13T06:56:00.000-07:00

A little detour from portraits that I was trying out. Actually this is a second level of detour so to say. Landscapes -> Portraits -> Landscapes. LOL.

After a very long gap I met up with PC to paint. Enjoyed good food cooked by his parents and wife and painting with him. The reference picture was originally on a calendar. It was great to be painting landscapes again. It gives much more freedom you see.

Title - Escape
Size - 15 x 22 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

The event

2010-09-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

I guess making a self portrait is quiet a event in itself for any artist. It was not so different for me. :). So here is my first official self portrait. I got a little carried away and ended up overdoing it. But perfection is overrated anyway.

What is on my head is called a phete. I had been to one of my friend's wedding at Satara, Maharashtra and everyone got one of these to wear. I was very fascinated by this and kept it on my head for the entire day.

Final cut

p.s. I worked on it a bit to remove some 'excess age' that has come into the portrait. And here is the final one.

Portrait - II

2010-09-06T06:52:00.001-07:00

Here is the second portrait. The first one was my father and this one is my mom. I am very happy with this one. I think I'll make another portrait of my father. I am improving and that is exciting.

p.s. My sister says this one has more likeliness, but the previous portrait is better. All my excitement has vanished now. :)

p.p.s. If you do not already know Crystal Cook is giving away a free portrait. You can check out her blog here.

Portrait

2010-09-03T22:12:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking of learning portraits for some time now. And what better way to learn than just doing it. So here is my first portrait. Its not a good portrait, but not a bad start.

Parked Free

2010-08-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

Everyday as I go to the basement of my apartment I see this kiddie's bike parked (for free of course :) ). It has been raining now a days. And the pool of still water created a lot of interest in the scene. I have been thinking of painting this scene from a long time and finally I did. And I am glad that I did.

Title - Parked Free
Size - 15 x 19 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper.

This painting has sunshine, rain and a cycle and I cant help but write a few lines from a Hindi movie song.

"Give me some sunshine, give me some rain
give me another chance, I wanna grow up once again."

Trying is worth trying

2010-08-20T23:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I attempt something new it generally is not a very successful venture. But I find it a really good exercise to keep trying something new. It works as a good feedback mechanism and there is also that chance of stumbling upon something that I am completely unaware of.

So I guess trying is always worth trying. :)

Take II

2010-08-15T06:08:00.000-07:00

Well I did try to do do this one again. Thought of doing it differently to keep myself interested. After completing it I think I learnt a lesson. And the lesson was no matter how bad the original piece is, it is still the original.