Sonam Kapoor with her portrait

A very nice thing happened to me during the exhibition at Chitrasanthe in Bangalore. A young lady who bought 1 painting from me, a portrait of bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor, happened to be the cousin of the actress herself! She wanted to gift this portrait to her and she promised that she would send me the image of Sonam Kapoor with her portrait. So here it is :)

A New Day Begins

Watercolor on paper

15 x 20 in.

I'm glad that you all like my 'veggie market/vendor' series. There are still many more to be painted. This one is from my usual cityscape theme...a scene from my city of a bright morning when people just start their activities. Hope you like it!

Have a great weekend :)

Fresh News

'Taaza Samachar'

Watercolor on paper

11 x 15 in.

Vegetable seller

Watercolor on paper

15 x 20 in.

Aloo le lo, pyaaz le lo, gaajar le lo, mooli le lo, bhindi le lo, neembu le lo, (the list goes on and on) le lo...le lo...le lo !!!

Sometime back, I heard this funny ringtone on my cousin's mobile. This painting always reminds me of that ringtone :))

SOLD TO BETA PICTORIS

'Kitchen' (Oil)

'After a Rain Spell' (Watercolor)

Two of my paintings are sold to Beta Pictoris, Bilbao in Spain.

Evening Light

Watercolor and opaque on tinted paper

16 x 12 in.

Tinted paper was used for this painting. However the paper didn't behave well while applying washes. In fact, I struggled at one point and thought the painting is ruined!

Since last week, a wound in my index finger has been giving me trouble. I've been unable to hold the brush. Will take another week to heal :(

Chitrakala Academy's Annual Group Show

Paintings on display...

Chief guest taking a look at the paintings...

My painting 'Morning Ride' in the center that was sold

My second entry...

The 5 day annual group show of Chitrakala Academy in Coimbatore, of which I'm a member, concluded yesterday. All the members were asked to exhibit 2 paintings each for the show and totally 64 paintings were on display at the gallery. The sale was almost 50%. Out of my 2 entries, I sold one titled 'Morning Ride'!

Chitrasanthe 2011

The main entrance of Chitrakala Parishad

My stall

Art lovers at Chitrasanthe

My art collectors

Participating in Chitrasanthe was a good experience. More than 1300 artists took part in the event! The only bad side was that people asked for the paintings at very low prices. I was able to sell a few paintings, with some discount though! The weather also gave some trouble. It was blazing hot for a few hours in the morning but it became all right by late afternoon. Prabal, Praveen and I had booked our stalls together and so I had good company. Met some of my facebook friends too for the first time! All in all it was a good learning experience. The beginning of this year has been good for me. I sold 11 paintings in January. Hope the sales continue :)

Flower Seller At Madivala

Watercolor on paper

15 x 20 in.

I'm leaving for Bengaluru tomorrow to participate in 'Chirasanthe 2011' - a one day art fair where around 1000 artists would be participating. The event would take place on Sunday the 30th.

Well...speaking of Bengaluru, the image that I've uploaded today is a scene from the same city. The reference photo for this was taken during my last visit to the city in July 2010. The day was overcast and how I wished there could be some light! Lets see if I'm lucky this time :)

Returning Home

Watercolor and Opaque on Tinted Paper

12 x 16 in.

Amid Nature

Watercolor on paper

11 x 15 in.

I painted this one from a reference photograph which I took while I was driving to Mysore. My cousin accompanied me and it was here that we stopped and had our lunch. It was such a beautiful spot on the highway, just on the border of Asanur forest area. On our way back, we missed seeing this spot as the weather was bad and it was raining!

A Bright Morning

Watercolor on Paper

15 x 11 in.

Winter Morning

Watercolor on paper

11 x 15 in.

Wishing all of you a Very Happy New Year 2011. May the dawning of this New Year, fill your heart with new hopes, open up new horizons and bring for you promises of brighter tomorrows :)

Maples

Watercolor on paper

11 x 15 in.

SOLD

A Merry Christmas to all my friends here :)

Tomatoes anyone?

Watercolor on Paper

11 x 15 in.

This man seemed happy to pose for a photograph in the local vegetable market and I too found this a nice subject for painting :)

A memorable trip

With Shri Milind Mulick and fellow blogger Sandeep Khedkar

Gorai Beach, Mumbai

Parimal Garden, Ahmedabad

Lake Palace, Udaipur

With fellow blogger Anurag Mehta

Hi all, I'm back from my trip. Yes...It was a long trip (a little more than 2 weeks) and a really memorable one! I travelled to Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and finally Udaipur. I met some of my blogger and facebook friends for the very first time during this trip and it was such a pleasure. They were all so friendly and helpful. This was my first visit to Udaipur and needless to say, I was awestruck by its beauty and I was just there at the right time. The cold weather was bearable and this year's bountyful rains had filled up all the lakes and it was the beginning of the tourist season particularly for the foreigners. Udaipur is very famous for its beautiful lakes and is truly called the romantic city of India (Ah...I missed my wife :) Anurag Mehta, who lives in Udaipur was kind enough to show me around his beautiful city. Thank you so much Anurag :)

I now have loads of photographs...should start working on them! More photographs on my FB page, here.

Last but not the least...many thanks for your generous comments on my last post. The result is out...the portrait format wins :))

Creek

'Creek 1'

Watercolor, 11 x 15 in.

'Creek 2'

Watercolor, 11 x 15 in.

While passing through Asanur, a forest area, on the way to mysore, I saw this creek. I have painted the scene in both portrait and landscape formats. Would like to know which one you liked more!

I'll be absent from blogosphere for a little more than 2 weeks as I'm leaving on a trip to pune, mumbai, ahmedabad, udaipur and jodhpur tomorrow.

Another good news which I would like to share is that my painting titled 'After Rains' is sold in Sydney, Australia via indianartcollectors.com.

Another WIP

'A Rainy Evening'

Watercolor on paper

16 x 12 in.

Hi, posting another WIP of my recent work. Hope you like it. I have used masking fluid (for the first time!) in this for the bus's headlights and their reflection. Masking fluid is a liquid solution used in watercolor painting to preserve the white of the paper in some areas while giving an even wash of color in a large portion of the paper.

Have a great weekend :)

Wet Road and its WIP

'Wet Road'

Watercolor on paper

15 x 11 in.

Wet Street

Watercolor on paper

15 x 20 in.

Dear friends, hearing very little from you all nowadays...wonder why?

This is another from my rainy streetscape series. Hope you like this. All critiques and comments welcome :)

A Rainy Day

Watercolor on paper

14 x 20 in.

Rainy Reflections

Watercolor on paper

15 x 20 in.

Its monsoon season now in Tamilnadu. I love painting rainy scenes such as this one! This is a scene from my city and the colorful reflections made such an interesting subject!

Its also the time to celebrate our biggest festival, the festival of lights- DIWALI. So here's wishing all my friends a very happy and a safe Diwali :)

Kerala Landscape

Watercolor on paper

11 x 15 in.

This was somewhere near Palakad in Kerala. The whole painting was done using wet in wet technique to capture the mood of the rainy and misty atmosphere.

Pink Bicycle

Watercolor, 15 x 20 in.

Came across this interesting scene in fort Kochi...

Jetty at Cochin Marine Drive

Watercolor, 11 x 15 in.

SOLD

The marine drive in Cochin, Kerala is a very beautiful promenade and a popular hangout place for tourists and the local people. Its built facing the backwaters and there are several boat jetties, like the one I have painted, along its walkway.

After Rains

Watercolor, 15 x 20 in.

SOLD

Another one from my Kerala trip...The name of this road is Gujarati Road as there are many gujaratis living in this part of Cochin, known as Fort Kochi!

P.S. I am not able to post any comment on my blog...seems theres some problem. So I wish to convey my thanks to all of you for your valuable comments! They are much appreciated.

Chinese Fishing Nets

Watercolor on paper

15 x 20 in.

A scene from Fort Kochi beach in Kerala. These fishing nets are a popular tourist attraction in Kochi ( Cochin). It is believed that these nets are chinese in origin and that the nets were introduced by the chinese explorer Zheng He. The nets were brought to Kerala between 1350 and 1450.

I did this from a photograph that I took during my recent trip to Kerala.

SOLD

"Shimmering Water"

Oil on canvas

16 x 20 in.

Just sold this painting! A gentleman from Spain has purchased this. This is my first direct international sale and I'm so happy about it :)

Kitchen

Oil on canvas

30 x 30 in.