Thursday, January 28, 2010

fall in the falls



This is an acrylic painting .,that reminds me of the wonderful time when  we(group of 3)would have painting party when I  said party  I meant, we used to meet exclusively to paint  one subject ,It was so much fun .This painting helped me  sharpen my skills in landscapes ,apart from that the other reason that made me happy  about this artwork was when  my daughter's piano teacher who is from Latvia and who had not visited  her country for years ..........felt really nostalgic on looking at these aspen trees .so this turned out to be a christmas gift for her..this  painting is always close to my heart

the hidden creek




The intersting thing about this oil painting is that ..,I tried wet -on-wet painting technique  for the first time and  the advantage was that i did not have to wait  longer  to get the layers dried I completed this painting in an hour

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

snowy foothill







This is my very first oil painting....when it came to choose a subject my very first choice was SNOW
It has always never failed to impress me ...the light blue... purplish ....pink ....shadow of the snow  ..drives me crazy
I realised how shadows can transform a painting

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

stages of water colour

I just thought of sharing the gist of different stages of basic water colour technique


we could explore the first few stages in this post


PAINTING SET UP


This stage is applicable to any medium , ...the point is what ever we work on...... we need a proper work space with sufficient lighting ...preferably natural lighting   and access to all the resource we need .By this i did not mean a hi-tech studio with hi-tech lighting etc etc,to begin with a table and a chair in a corner of your room(preferably near window )will be more than enough


VALUE SKETCH


a.First pick our subject


b.Jot down ideas in the form of value sketch


c.Explore subjects in terms of dark and light tones


d.value sketch  is a rough pencil sketch of what we plan to paint


LINE DRAWING


This is a light pencil outline of a subject to be portrayed  on the water colour paper


PRESERVE WHITES
We do not use white paint  in transparent watercolour ,any white in a painting is the white of the paper,we must decide on the white areas of painting even before we start painting so we can leave that area blank.
The other method of preserving white is by masking the area where it needs to be white
for this we can use either
masking fluid 
or
masking  tape
I thought of giving details on this in my next post 


hope this post was informative









WATER COLOUR



I am pretty much a beginner ,when it comes to watercolour,I feel its a very unforgiving medium ..this medium calls for really careful planning  ...............,despite all these challenge I am fascinated by this transparent medium after reading the books of Susan Bourdet , Bart Rulon  and various other watercolour artists
Their paintings have tricked me to think that its a photograph ....Iam not kidding or exaggerating its true .


This is one of my fav s ........,i learned lots of techniques  while doing this painting  and the results stunned me ,
this was from susan bourdets,s book on bringing light in watercolour painting,I loved doing this painting
I'll keep you posted on more about watercolour soon
hope you enjoyed this post ,happy painting.




Friday, January 22, 2010

Tips that might help while painting

painting  is not just a hobby to me ...i could tell for sure that its  a habit 


I read somewhere that while painting ,  mistakes never happen only happy accidents occur ,I realised how true it was ...... I've experienced it ..







   This is one of my favourites ,my very second oil painting on canvas size 16 x 20 , the inspiration was from a calender ,I named it "sunset @ canyon beach"




so here r some tips that I've learned


1.While choosing our subject ... its really important to choose a subject that ignites a spark in our mind,
choose the one you like 


2.Once we choose a subject  .....study the subject  in detail, observe the colours ,if its a photo ,put it in a place where we can see it often,this  would boost our inspiration and helps us decide  the colours and position of the subject (ofcourse remind us about the painting waiting to be finished by us)


3. Its always better to mix the paint on our palette ,than on our canvas . ,this helps to avoid mess 


4. Being stingy with the paint ,ofcourse will make the painting aweful


5.Applying   all the leftover paints on,t the canvas....... just to avoid wasting them ....well  by doing this  ..we'll be wasting our painting 


6.We must allow ourself ample time to work otherwise we'll end up loosing our initial inspiration(this might be a real challenge for most of us)


7. We do not have to fix each and every mistake  on the canvas ,as i told u earlier they r not mistakes  they are happy accidents .


8.We dont have to think too much ...........i feel its more of a feeling thing than  an intellectual thing


9.Do not try to paint like someone else...try  being  ourself


10. Its always better to trust our instincts and our selves and leave the rest , do not worry abut the result


hope you enjoyed this post,wish u happy painting

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

rajput paintings



This is a rajput painting which i tried on a wooden bark , I used acrylic paints and the following are some of the intersting facts about rajput painting , i got on the net  so thought of sharing it

Rajput Painting is an Indian art form belonging to the state of Rajasthan. Spanning from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, this art originated under the earliest Rajput Kingdoms and was so named. Rajput Painting flourished as a court art in the 'friendly' Rajputana states, under the umbrella of the Mughal Empire. Therefore, the style carried a strong influence of the Mughal Art. The subjects and a degree of inherent abstraction however, set the Rajput Paintings apart. Different Rajput states developed their own distinguishing styles, yet all of them retained the fundamental elements of Rajput Painting as a whole.

The Details

A large body of works from the Rajputana Kingdoms centered on devotional and religious subjects that included the life history of the Indian God Lord Krishna. Tales from the Indian epics, like Ramayana & Mahabharata and Indian holy books such as Bhagavata Purana were also important subjects here. Bikaner, Bundi, Kota, Amber, Jaipur, Kishengarh, Marwar, and Mewar were the most significant regions that contributed towards the development of Rajput Painting. Bundi, where court scenes, noblemen, and amours attracted maximum artistic attention, is considered the birthplace of Rajput Painting. Painted works from Bikaner blended the characteristics of Deccan Art with the Mughal style. Artists from Kota, on the other hand, focused on hunting scenes, Ragamalas, and portraits. The Kishangarh School of Art is well known for its regional style termed as 'Bani Thani' paintings. Mewar was the key territory, in which, the Rajput Painting kept away from the Mughal influence and instead, drew its inspiration from the Indian Chaurapanchasika style. By the end of the sixteenth century, this Indian painting style started blending domestic as well as international influences, such as Persian, Chinese, and European.

Flat forms, bold lines, and vibrant colors marked the two-dimensional Rajput Paintings. Bright yellow, orange, red, brown, and deep blue were usually the dominating colors on the Rajput palettes. These paintings were noted for their ornamental abstraction, where physical features were emphasized and accentuated. For example, eyes were often portrayed in large, almond shapes, and necks & fingers were elongated & sleek. No part of the frame was left untouched, which created a rich and flamboyant final output.

Rajput Paintings were mostly in the form of miniature pictures placed in manuscripts or small sized pictures, as part of collections. However, they were not limited to these forms with a host of works being painted on the walls of the royal courts and fort chambers, especially in the regime of Shekhawat Rajputs. The color pigments were derived from organic, mineral and metals. Not only did the use of precious metals, including gold & silver, and processed gemstones, but also the brilliance of style and execution, make Rajput Paintings among the most invaluable contributions in the field of Fine Arts.

narthana vinayagar

Painting  has always been a pleasure to me ,the same way lord Ganesha 's images have always made me happier
so here is the outcome of that love

before sharing this painting , i must say that this painting was a result of my inspiration for kerala murals

kerala mural is the fine paintings on the walls of ancient temples and churches  in kerala , the subjects mainly being deities and the mythology.

now more on murals from the net

The mural of Kerala is very much related to Dravidian art of Kalamezhuthu. This was much more developed from the customs and religious  rituals . It was the art of sprinklings and filling up of attractive colours inside the outlines of drawings. The architecture and murals are also influenced by pal lavas.


The Sanskrit text silparatna, describing painting and related subjects by Sri kumara must have been a role model for contemporary and later artists. There is no other text instead for it till now, which precisely discuss about the aesthetics and technological aspects of Indian Arts.