In the Woods

I have been wanting to do this painting ever since I saw the “Scheewe Art Show” on PBS. The opportunity presented itself in Frank’s birthday. I thought I’d paint this forest landscape as a gift for his birthday. I liked it and Frank loved it too :)

 

Tips for choosing the right paper to paint

Watercolor is an easy medium to paint with as it does not have the hassles of having to get a separate medium and mix it to the right consistency. You just have to dab water and start stroking on the paper. But a lot depends on the paper on which the painting is made. I have been painting with watercolors since my school days and have tried painting in many types of papers and I have seen how different and beautiful the painting can look when done on a good paper. So I thought I would write on the various choices of paper for your paintings.

 

1. Light and Heavy Weight Paper: Weight of the watercolor paper is measured in pounds/realm. Light weight papers are about 90 Pounds/realm and heavy weight papers weigh around 300 pounds/realm or more

 

2. Student grade Paper: These paper may look and feel similar textured to artist grade paper but are not made of the same quality. These  papers are the best for beginners. But, these are buffered with acid which means they will turn yellow with time.

 

3. Machine Pressed paper: These come in three varieties: Rough, Hot Pressed and Cold pressed

 

4. Rough Pressed paper: This type of paper has a rough texture as the name suggests. That it the texture is toothier and painting on this paper will give a grainy effect to the painting as water runs and settles into the indentations in the paper.

 

5. Hot Pressed Paper: Hot pressed papers are the smoothest and have an almost glossy finish. Paint runs well on this paper and doesn’t dry as fast as it does in a rough pressed or cold pressed paper. One can use this paper for paintings that require multiple washes.

 

6. Cold Pressed Paper: These are also called as ‘in-between paper’ as it is just in between the hot and rough pressed paper types. It is the most common type of paper that watercolor artists use. I use a cold machine pressed paper.

 

7. Handmade Paper: There is nothing like it if you can afford a handmade paper! These are made from cotton,flax and hemp and are characterized by their ragged edges. Depending on its fiber concentration and absorbing capacity, the effects of painting on them can be interesting and very different.

Got my new painting framed.. hurray!!

My latest painting now adorns the walls of our living room. Frank thought that this was worth of a frame and voila its here now!! Am so so happy :)

An Indian Beach

This is technically the longest painting I’ve ever done.. This has taken 2 years to complete.
Yeah trust me! its true

Started this painting when I was in India and we were building our house (2008). I wanted to decorate the interiors of our house with my paintings and Frank accepted! So I searched and searched for ideas, finally landed up with this beach scene. Me and Frank’s cousin did the mountain in this painting. Then we also did the sea and sky, but after that Frank had to come here and the painting stood still for all these years.

When I had gone to India for a vacation this June, I saw this painting and got it with me here.. I just finished painting this today and felt so happy completing this. Do comment on what you think of this piece of art!

Tropical Beach

Atlast finished my painting.. had actually drawn something else before my India Vacation (yup! I was there in June..).. Lost the mood to paint that.. So I painted this now. Hope its gud

Ideas for my next painting

Searching for ideas for my next painting.. Any suggestions friends?
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Fawn in the Wild

My latest Painting - my first on canvas. Have added painting's stages of development too :)

Peacock

Peacock.. up close

Indian Village Scene

Tried to paint from a photo.. Hope the cattle look like cows :)

Fuchsia

Another one from Dewberry's book. Loved this flower.. havent seen a real one.

Bird of Paradise

Got Donna Dewberry's painting book from library.. painted the flowers from that book.. planning to do more from that book

Craft - Statue

My first craft item :) A statue made from old newspaper and aluminum foil.

Autumn leaves

Upon Cerun's idea, I have drawn what I liked the most in US. I was fascinated by the colors of the leaves during the fall season - never seen that in India!! It was lovely and I enjoyed the season. So I have tried to draw the autumn leaves in their beautiful orange, red and purple colors just before they fall.

Another natural landscape

This one's yet another landscape painting. Landscapes are fun to paint and I paint those places where I covet to be. This location (if it exists!) would be an ideal place to spend a Saturday's evening don't u think??

A winter scene

This is my latest painting. Completed this 4 days ago. Shows a winter day scene after a good snow

A house near the fields

One of my favorite paintings. Required a lot of patience and detailing. There are so many small small details that add to the depth of the painting.

Boats on the deck

My husband saw this pic in internet and wanted me to paint it. I have tried my best to bring out the different blues in the sky and the blues and greens in the water :) One of my personal favorites.

Roses

This painting is yet another dual color technique experiment. In this case, the brush had to be dipped in different color on either sides and stroked on paper at correct angles. Simple yet good picture

Beach

This is a painting of a Beach with a Dad and his two kids along with their dog taking a view of the sea.
When I was a kid we used to stay in Triplicane - a place near the marina beach (one of the world's longest beaches). We used to go to marina very often esp during summer evenings. How I miss those days!!

Meera

This was some serious work and my longest duration work. I enjoyed using most of my favorite colors here - those lovely purple, blue and bright orange. This is a picture of Rani Meera Bai playing a bhajan for Krishna :)

Hibiscus

This was an amateurish painting from me :P I like the hibiscus though. That came as a perfect watercolor art. Nevertheless, this decorated(?!) our walls for few months.

Branch with Flowers

This was my first painting after shifting to US. I started painting after a long gap. So this was a trial effort. The main thing that I find interesting about this painting is that there is an element left to the onlooker’s imagination as there is no definite beginning or end for the branch on which the flowers are

Peace Lilies

I did this in 2008 when we had started building our house. I wanted to do paintings that can adorn the walls of our living room and bedrooms. But that dream is yet to be realized as we shifted to US just when our house was ready. Anyway, I am saving these for that someday:)

Birds on a tree

I painted this painting in two days over a weekend in 2007. I saw this pic in internet and wanted to paint it. What I like most in this painting is the red flowers on the branches. The detailing of those flowers took the maximum time. I also liked the strokes of yellow on the birds. The birds remind me of the sparrows that I used to see as a kid. I wonder where all those sparrows have gone now. The sparrows were brought in by the British when they came to India (that’s what I heard) and their count has decreased considerably now  I used to throw bits of biscuits and grains (when I get my hand on them) to the sparrows at the opposite house’s roof from our window.

Single color Painting

This is one of my favourite paintings. This was done with only one color. I was happy to have brought out the gradients in the shading. The painting shows silhouettes of buildings in Delhi against a sky.

Watercolor art Penstand

The penstand here was a gift to me from TCS for being the "star of the month". I didnt want to have photos in the place just how everyone does, so I made a painting for the place. This is a painting done with just brush strokes (having the brush dipped in two contrasting colors and making strokes in paper). It came out better than I expected so adds to my collection

My art for my husband

This is the painting of a bunch of flowers on a single stem. I was inspired with the idea of creating borders without actually drawing them (the top left hand side corner art indicates a border which dosent need to be continued to be emphasised). I made it into a letter holder sort ( :P ) by adding the black piece of sheet with a cute Rose on it. Dedicated to my husband Franklin

My interest with paintings

Hello!

I have always been fascinated with paintings. I attribute that to my mom. She is a biology teacher and is a great painter. She has done watercolor, fabric, acrylic paintings that are awesome. With the trainings that I received from my mom (amidst my busy schooling days), the interest lay dormant until I quit my job and took painting up as a serious hobby. I had started caturing my paintings from the year 2008 and until now have been doing that. Post June 2009, I shifted to US with a "Not allowed to work" visa :P So my jobless times are spent painting now. And here I would love to share my work.