Exotic Pink Plumeria

Flowers are my favorite for painting and this exotic Pink Plumeria caught my attention while browsing through reference pictures for painting. I liked the play of light and shadow on the flower. In my painting I tried to paint this light and shadow on the flower.

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Exotic Pink Plumeria - 7 x 11 inches, Watercolor on Arches paper

Code# PK_15_043

Available Here

In different cultures, there is different symbolic meaning for Plumeria flowers and it was interesting to read from ehow:

Hawaiian Meaning
For Hawaiians, plumeria represents perfection and the bond between everything good. In addition, plumeria is the symbol of new life, springtime and re-creation of the nature.

Chinese Meaning
In China, plumeria flowers are tokens of love. Chinese consider plumerias even more precious than orchids.

Hindu Meaning
In Hindu culture, plumeria flowers represent loyalty, and young brides wear plumerias in their hair on their wedding day to show their loyalty to their new husbands.

Vietnamese Meaning
In Vietnam, plumeria is the flower of the educated and westernized upper class. Therefore, plumeria flowers are used to show status in society.

Spring Roses 2 - SOLD

Once again indulging in Watercolors!! I had started another version of Spring Roses couple months ago but left is half done. Finished this one today. The earlier Spring Roses can be seen here.
In this new one, I added more texture in the background using rubbing alcohol and salt. I love how the texture shows in this and added a more defined bud on left side compared to earlier one.

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Spring Roses 2 - 16 x 20 inches, Watercolor on Arches paper

SOLD

Spring Roses - SOLD

I don't know if I was burnt out or what, but couldn't continue on Oil painting. So took a break for sometime and saw these beautiful Roses. I love painting flowers and I had not done watercolors for so very long! I love how watercolors create a magical effect when mixed.
For some reason, I have never mixed colors on palette. All my color mixing is done directly on paper in this case and on canvas directly when I am painting oils. The 2 colors laid side by side on paper using watercolor creates a magical effect. Its a surprise to see the effect when the painting dries up.
Also this is the first time I have painted this large size - 16x20 inches using watercolors. I think I should work with even larger paper now, its fun experimenting with this medium!

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Spring Roses - 16 x 20 inches, on Arches paper

SOLD

Email me if interested in a similar piece - preranap@hotmail.com 

In the Woods 2 - SOLD

I painted "In the Woods 2" to present a different perspective of the forest. My client suggested minor changes in my earlier painting - In the Woods. I did those and then thought I would create another view of the forest, to give a choice. But **SURPRISE** she liked both my versions of In the Woods and bought them both together!!
The painting looks different in different light conditions - the first is a picture in normal room in daylight, the second one is when painting is placed under light.

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In the Woods 2 - 81/2 x 11 inches, Watercolor on Arches paper - SOLD

SOLD

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In the Woods 2 - 81/2 x 11 inches, Watercolor on Arches paper

Below are both paintings "In the Woods 2" and "In the Woods" side by side:

 

Glowing Branch - SOLD

I love to try out different mediums. Here is my latest, experimenting with Watercolors. I find watercolors a magical medium. This time I tried out spraying water on the painting to create the background effects. If the painting is too wet, then the water spraying did not work quite well. I darkened the background colors once again, waited for it to dry a little. You can tell how much a painting has dried by looking at it in at an angle and observing how much it shines. The shimmer is quite less as it dries. This is a perfect time to gently spray water and it creates magical texture on paper. Had fun with this piece. Hope you like it!

Glowing Branch, 81/2 x 11 inches, Watercolor on Arches paper - SOLD

SOLD

Day 22 - 30 Paintings in 30 days Jan 2014 - Scentimental Floribunda

My favorite flower - Rose!! This rose is from my front yard, I had clicked a picture of it some time back and bookmarked it for painting. Finally, I got to it this morning... after painting a flower yesterday, I was in a mood of Roses and that too in watercolor. This type of Rose is called Scentimental Floribunda. Although it is called "Scentimental" it has very mild fragrance, at least compared to the roses in India. But the color is just phenomenal!! A newly blossomed flower has very strong Red and Yellow color. But as it grows, the yellow and Red fade away - it is wonderful to watch different phases of its growth. The flower I have painted is middle aged - the color has faded a little bit, but still is in full glory. The roses grow in bunches of 5 or 7 on one single branch - probably that's the reason it is categorized as Floribunda.
Looking at the petals it feels like the flower is doing a Flamenco Dance!!

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Scentimental Floribunda - 6 x 8 inches, Watercolor on Arches Paper

Day 21 - 30 Paintings in 30 days Jan 2014 - From a Bee's Eye View

It had been long time since I worked with watercolors and I was tempted to paint my favorite subject - flowers. This time it is a view I presume bees or butterflies would be able to see through their eyes as they fly for honey towards the center of the flower. It turned out to be very soft colors, I like it!

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From a Bee's Eye View - 6 x 8 inches, Watercolor on Arches paper

Fall Colors - SOLD

Fall colors have always fascinated me. Now equipped with new watercolor paints (Maimeriblu professional watercolors), new watercolor brushes, an awesome new palette and masking fluid, I had the urge to try out couple different techniques. The techniques used in this are - masking and spreading salt. Below is the result:

Fall Colors - 9 x 12 inches, Watercolor on Archies paper

SOLD

Masking: the very bright areas in the painting were covered with masking fluid. At the very end, the masking was removed. On few areas I left the white of the paper as it is and that is the brightest in the painting. I did cover few areas with very watery paint so it doesn't appear as bright.
Salt: I used the simple cooking salt in few areas to create a texture. Different salts create fine or coarse texture and it also depends how wet the paper is when salt is sprinkled. In this case I got a fine texture. Next time I will try a different salt.
I had so much fun and reminded me of the silk painting techniques which are quite similar to watercolor painting techniques. 

Hibiscus - SunNShade

A flower from my backyard - Hibiscus in Sun and Shade.
I have 2 different colors of Hibiscus plants, this one is red and second one is Orange. Next time I paint Hibiscus flower, I will try the other one!

Hibiscus - SunNShade - 9 x 12 inches, Watercolor on Arches Paper

Day 30 - 30 Paintings in 30 days - Diwali Light

I am getting into celebration mood now - Diwali - Festival of Lights!
This picture was taken at our home last year during Diwali and I tried it using Watercolor.

Diwali Light - 6 x 8 inches, Watercolor on Archies paper

It is so much fun to paint on archies paper - the right paints, brushes and paper make the activity so much fun!

Day 29 - 30 Paintings in 30 days - Fine Horse

For the 29th day challenge, I asked my daughter - what should I paint next? "A Horse was the reply. Its not my typical subject and neither do I paint so often in watercolors. So here is my attempt:

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Fine Horse - 9 x 12 inches, watercolor on Archies paper