Plein air and updates

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

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

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

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

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

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