The trip to Nandi hills with pencil jammers last Sunday was some experience. The bus that we had hired seemed like the slowest bus around and took forever to reach the hill top. Sometime it felt like the bus would start rolling backwards on those hilly roads. But anyway we reached our destination around 10:30 AM after a hearty breakfast on the way. There was a big surprise waiting for us there.
Strong winds were blowing across the hill. It was cloudy and was drizzling intermittently. Fortunately we found a covered place overlooking the hill side where we painted. But we had to keep running for our boards and palettes as they flew off many times while painting. It was some experience I tell you. The scene that I painted was very difficult and I was not able to resolve it well enough. So got into some unnecessary details. But I guess I could get the cloudy and windy feeling in the painting.
After lunch we came down and visited a beautiful temple which is around 1300 years old. It was the Bhoga Nandiswara temple and the residing deity was Shiva and Parvati as you would have guessed. Unfortunately we were not allowed to paint there as it was a protected site under archaeological dept of India. But some of us were negotiating with the authorities to allow us to sketch there. While they were doing that I quickly managed to sketch the scene. Later on when I came back I finished it at home. Though I could not continue painting there it was a great experience visiting the temple. It was so beautiful and peaceful. If you go to Nandi hills anytime make sure to take out sometime to visit this place.
All in all it was a great day of painting and learning.
En plein air @ Nandi Hills, 16 June 2013
11 x 15 inch
En plein air @ Bhoga Nandiswara temple, 16 June 2013
11 x 15 inch
7 comments:
Love the reflections, Prabal...and those stealth skills you have that allow you to sketch without being caught. :)
I think you have captured the mood in the wet and windy hill-top scene.
And I would love to see more of the Bhoga Nandiswara temole ... maybe sunset? I know ... in my dreams. :)
Two fabulous paintings! There is so much depth in the landscape and I love the reflections on the ground in the second :0)
These two paintings are fantastic, Prabal. Beautiful colors and as always, I love your reflections..It sounds like you had a wonderful day!
Well it sounds like you had one heck of an adventure! And look at you being all sneaky and sketching while your friends are doing the negotiating! LOL! I saw the first one on fb and it still strikes me with the clouds being perfectly captured pre-storm. But the second one I haven't seen and it is GORGEOUS! I love those wet reflections. SO beautiful Prabal.
And P.S. I had to ride in a tour bus a few years ago for about four hours with a bunch of teenagers. Twas not fun. Not fun at all. I feel your pain.
I usually pull towards very colorful paintings, but I just want to say how colorful this is in its own way. I love the greens and blues tossed in and the ground is just beautiful.
Busy, yet peaceful
The hills are stunning - even if they tried to whisk your work away from you. I can imagine myself sitting up there, watching the world. The sneaky paint that you completed at home is wonderful. The reflections and the feeling are beautiful.
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