Plein air painting and studies on divided sheets

Plein air studies on quarter imperial sheet 

Little flower studies on half imperial sheet

Lanes of Varanasi #3

Watercolor on Fabriano paper

14 x 10 inches

Where to ma'am?

Watercolor on Saunders paper

14 x 21 inches

I always love to include the letterings and the sign boards in my paintings…makes them more interesting! Varanasi is a place where you get to see( the signboards) and hear a lot of languages as its a very religious and a very important pilgrimage for all Indians and people from all over the world, not just India, visit the place.

I’ve tried to keep the focus on the main figure, the rickshawallah by blurring other portions in the painting.

Below is a small sketch in pen and watercolor of the same scene

Catching up

Watercolor on Fabriano paper

14 x 10 inches

Again a scene from Varanasi. Though the scene didn’t have strong contrast of light and darks, it were the colors of the robe and the textured wall that made me choose this subject to paint.

A smoke at the paan shop

Watercolor on Fabriano paper

14 x 10 inches

I had captured this scene in Varanasi. And there were quite a few things about this image which attracted me a lot. One, it was a night scene (I was eager to paint one) second - the reds, totally different from my usual palette...third, the relaxed expression of the old gentle man, casually watching the people, pilgrims and tourists on the ghats, about to light his cigarette, and fourth, his cast shadow on the left. Since I found this to be a little challenging, I chose a quarter sheet size for better control. I was happy with the outcome!
'Paan' is a hindi word which means a betel leaf filled with chopped areca nut and other mouth fresheners. Many people have the habit of chewing a paan after a meal (I don't...he he) and you'll find such shops all over India.
This particular kiosk was a temporary one, as I found out the next morning. The place was empty..not a sign of the shop. The paanwallah would come in the evenings and start his job!

Same place...next morning

I hope you like and enjoy this painting. Have been getting fewer and fewer comments...sometimes none! So would be happy to hear from you all!

Have a great day :)

Narrow Lanes

Watercolor on Bockingford Paper

14 x 10 inches

I had been wanting to do this painting for quite some time. I was attracted by the brightly lit buildings in the upper half and the dark cool shadows in the lower half. Its very difficult to paint large dark areas in watercolor in one go. I had to glaze the dark areas thrice to get the desired result ( It still looks a shade lighter in this image when compared to the original painting! )

Plein air studies

OK...I'm exactly late by a week in posting this...
These were done last Sunday! :)
Inspired by Robert Wade’s studies on divided sheets, I used the same method and it was fun! In fact, I got a comment  on facebook for this from the master himself :) 
Would love to know what you think of these...and how you do plein air studies yourselves.
Have a great Sunday!

Lanes of Varanasi #2

Watercolor on Bockingford Paper

21 x 14 inches

In the spotlight

Opaque Watercolor on Tinted Paper

12 x 16 inches

Lanes of Varanasi #1

Watercolor on Fabriano Rough Paper

21 x 14 inches

Gathering for the Ganga Aarti

Watercolor on Paper

10 x 14 inches

detail

This scene was quite complicated even while working from a photograph! I wanted this painting to be loose, unlike my other works, almost in a plein air fashion, so I squinted a little to simplify the shapes and the whole scene. The fast brush strokes give a feel of movement and spontaneity. I painted this in transparent watercolors except a little opaque color used for the florescent lights on the poles.

Have a wonderful weekend! :-)

Ghats of Varanasi and its WIP

'Ghats of Varanasi'

Opaque Watercolor on Tinted Paper

13 x 20 inches

Capturing the WIP was relatively easier here as this was done in opaque watercolors! :)

Varanasi Vista - WIP

'Varanasi Vista'

Watercolor on Saunders Paper

Full imperial size - 21 x 29 inches

I’ve often tried to capture images to show my work in progress but almost every time I become so engrossed while painting that I forget to click them. It becomes difficult more so, when you are painting in watercolors, as the colors dry very fast. So one needs to be fast to click the images in between, or the painting gets unwanted hard edges! This time, I succeeded…though not fully, he he…I missed a couple of shots towards the end. But I still feel that you’ll enjoy the various stages of this painting.

After completing the painting, I reviewed it next day and felt that the temperature of the painting looked a little cool…I wanted to give the mood and feeling of a late sunset, when the sun has just gone down, so I applied a glaze of raw sienna on the distant buildings and adding burnt sienna to the wash while coming on to the closer buildings and the ghats. Also applied a thin glaze of orange on the water for balance. You’ll notice the difference in the last 2 images.

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Continuing the Varanasi series

2 more paintings from the ongoing series...

'Heading out'

Watercolor on Bockingford Paper

10 x 14 inches

'Boats and reflections'

Watercolor on Fabriano Paper

10 x 14 inches

Plein air at Nandi hills

Plein air studies in watercolor, 5 x 7 inches

Last Sunday, I had gone to Nandi hills for plein air painting with a group called Pencil jammers of which I’ve become a member now. We were 21 artists in total which also included one of my close friends, Prabal Mallick. Initially I was very excited and quite sure about painting some nice sketch studies of the place. After a while, I begin to feel totally the opposite! Painting on spot is very different from painting in your studio. First, it was very windy and chilly. Second, the light just kept changing, transforming the entire scene from cool to warm and vice versa. I finished 3 sketches and needless to say, was not very happy with them. Felt others did better!

After coming back, I just evaluated the sketches and felt the values needed to be adjusted a bit which I did and voila!...the paintings begin to look a lot better!

I also painted 2 different versions of a scene back in my studio from a reference photo that I took while we were coming down from the hills. As soon as I finished the vertical one, I was tempted to try out a landscape version of the same scene.

'On the way to Nandi hills - version 1'

Watercolor, 14 x 10 inches

'On the way to Nandi hills - version 2'

Watercolor, 14 x 10 inches

Hope you like both and the sketches as well.

Have a great week ahead! :)

Varanasi Series

Ghats of Varanasi # 1

Watercolor on Saunders paper

9 x 21 inches

I've started a new series on Varanasi - a very ancient and holy city which I had visited a couple of months ago. This is the first in this series...more to follow. Hope you enjoy! :-)

The Flower Sellers

Watercolor on Saunders paper

21 x 29 inches

My second full sheet watercolor! Painting on a full sheet still looks daunting...must get used to it!

I've moved!

Hi all…it has been so long!! I’ve moved to Bangalore and slowly coming to terms with my new surroundings. Whoa…everything had been so hectic! I’ve never had such experience…my life had been so easy all these 35 years…he he!

Ah well, everything is in order now in the new house. My son has started his schooling and finally I have time to start my work! I’ve finished a painting today, the one that you see on the easel. I’ll be posting it next.

My studio...

My little library for inspiration and motivation...

One huge difference I clearly felt in both the places is the weather. Its kind of chilly here because of the heavy downpours in the last week as the monsoon is fast approaching but its very good for painting in watercolors as the paper stays damp for a longer time. It was totally the opposite in my earlier place…it was so hot that I never dared painting…the colors would just dry the moment they were applied!

 Dark terrifying clouds...

View from my 4th floor house...

And finally wanted to share the news about the sale of 3 of my paintings recently…Ciao :-)

Update

'Bicycle for hire'

Watercolor on Saunders Paper

21 x 29 inches

Hi all...it has been long since I last posted here! I have decided to relocate to Bangalore and so quite busy since last month. It's hard to believe that I haven't painted since a month which is really frustrating...looks like it will take some more time!
This one was done sometime ago. This is a  full sheet watercolor and my first one...and though the full blank sheet seemed daunting at first, I'm quite happy with the result since I chose a simple subject :)
Also wanted to share the good news that 2 of my paintings were sold recently. The first one was picked up by a collector during the Bombay Art Society's annual show and the second one by one of my buyers from Delhi. Here are their images

 'End of the day, Varanasi'

'Working Early'