Pastel Portrait Process

Here is the finished portrait that got completed last week.

18 x 24.5

Soft pastels on paper

I have compiled the process in a video. Not sure if that works here but let me try. Please see if this link works for you:

Here is direct youtube link, just in case.

Sweet Tomatoes

This piece was created in Fall of 2011.

   Sweet Tomatoes
20" x 16"
Oil on board

Recently I  donated the above painting to Epicurean Delights. This will be used for a good cause, raising money for charity. I am happy the admin suggested that. Thank you, Shalini!

The composition involved fresh ripe tomatoes, a small latern, and an everyday cup. The idea was to show the tomatoes sliding off of a a basket onto the table. I tried to reflect time of Fall by fresh harvest and barely visible dried leaves.

I remember almost abandoning this painting in the middle when I first started. It seemed like just too much work. The lantern's colors seemed impossible to imitate.

But, I kept trying. Finally, piece by piece, it all came together.

Here is my first plein air painting that we did in the early fall last year. The weather was warm, the light was perfect and the quiet of the area was inviting.

"Mission Hills" 14 x 11 oil on canvas

Until I did this one, I haven't had the courage or the inspiration to draw or paint from the nature directly. Sure, I had heard about it and had seen those people doing it but to actually experience it was an awesome experience. The instructor thought that it would be a good idea to get outside the classroom and give it a try. I wasn't all that excited in the beginning. Why leave the classroom setting to go out, carrying all the stuff?

Finally the day came. I got lost on my way to this foothill park where we were supposed to meet with our classmates. But that was a different story. I finally made it. After the instructor's demo, we set up our easels and took out the paints and other supplies.

For me, it was a long gap before I picked up my paint & brush and it was quite obvious as the caps of my paint-tubes were jammed. I tried my best to open it but a few refused completely. I took it to the instructor and he tried his best too before giving up. What must he be thinking!
The Sun started to come down slowly and that's the fun of on-the-spot painting- the light begins to change! It makes you understand the sense of urgency. So, I decided to borrow some paints from the classmates and get to it. I narrowed down the wide landscape for the canvas and set off.

Within an hour or so, the light was totally different and we had to wrap up the work. We came back at the time of next class. Its amazing how different the same hill looked now just after two days. So I chose to not add much to the work and started off another painting. That made this one an alla prima but not to the real sense as I did touch it a bit this time around as well.

Overall, I loved the experience. Everyone should try it atleast once. It makes you one with the nature in a very spiritual sense, no matter what your beliefs are. Give it a try, if you can!

Here is a painting to celebrate Halloween -

Martini Glass, 11 x 14, Oil on canvas

This is the classwork from the Art class on Oil painting. I entered this to the student show.

Landscape

The first part of the class is dedicated to the plein air. And I tried alla prima. The result is somewhat this.

Painting - why we paint

Its almost a fourth week into the painting class that I am taking. There is so much opportunity to grasp what's all been there since forever. I still ponder over 'why I paint' questions, get confused when no sensible answer pops out and then try to go deeper into or out of the paintings to seek wisdom.

There are more wider canvases to paint, beyond myself, beyond my surroundings and beyond everything that meets to the eye. And often this emotional aspect of journey dwarfs the physical one. I know other people face similar tussle among themselves, a process of self evolution, so private yet so impersonal. And that helps me put things into perspective.

Things uncover for the better or for worse, there is this spark that makes you to to rise to the occasion. I hope this hurry, this rush, this urgency gets me to my right answers sooner! 

 

Why, if you read this, do you paint?