Happy Diwali to Everyone!!

Happy Diwali!! This is a different painting experiment!! Finished this couple months back. Posting it now, since the Diwali-e-magazine with this painting as front cover is published. The theme given to me was Diwali - Saat Samudra Paar (meaning Diwali Overseas). It got me to thinking how do we really celebrate Diwali here? The celebrations in India are really a lot festive. Here, kids don't have holiday for this festival so celebration cannot be the same as in India. However, I do make few traditional sweets/snacks, decorate with lamps/candles and put on traditional clothes. With the few fire crackers that I save from July 4th weekend, we have "mini" fun in our backyard. Call our parents on facetime to greet them and show what we are doing for Diwali. With these thoughts in mind, I created the painting. My very first attempt to get published in a Magazine!!

Click Here to enjoy reading the e-Magazine!

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Diwali_2015 - 11x14 inches, Acrylic on Canvas Panel

Rainy Dark Night on El Toro Rd - SOLD

I had in mind for a long time to do a night scene and that too when it is raining. Last time when I had the urge to click a picture of such a scene,  about an year ago, I did not have my camera on hand. About couple weeks ago, as I was returning back from the First Thursday Art walk from Laguna Beach, I got a perfect opportunity to click pictures. It was dark and rainy, but I was driving. I pulled out my camera from my purse, and clicked many many pictures while driving. After coming back home, I uploaded all pictures on my laptop and sorted through until I found the best picture I wanted to paint. Here is the result:

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Rainy Dark Night on El Toro Rd - 11 x 14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

SOLD

This picture is clicked as I was slowing down at the signal at the intersection of El Toro Road and Rockfield.

Autumn Story

Once upon a time lived a wonderful couple - Pumpkin Prince and Pumpkin Princess of the Land of Pumpkins. They were very kind to the pumpkin people in their Land. They took great care of their Land of Pumpkins. It was a lot of responsibility and they handled it very well. As fancy as it sounded to be called Prince and Princess, among all their royal  chores.., it got a bit challenging for them. So they decided to go on a date to rejuvenate themselves. The Pumpkin Prince loved reading books and the Princess loved to listen. What could be a better place than a perfect garden on the outskirts of their Pumpkin land!? They found this perfect spot in the garden to happily spend time together, doing their favorite thing.

I modified this painting, the background greens to give it more depth, do you like this one better?

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The original one is below if anyone would like to see the difference:

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Autumn Story - 11 x 14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Does anyone want to continue the story to the end? Please do write in your comments..

Whimsy Hat

Care to try this Whimsical Hat? The photo reference is from one of the weekly challenges on Wetcanvas online artist community. This was very unique and interesting hat and so I had saved it for painting. I change the original picture as per my interpretation i.e I may sometimes crop the original pictue to create an interesting composition or I may change the shapes a bit or change colors as per my liking. In this case slightly cropped and also added some of my own colors, you can compare by looking at the original photo reference also posted below. Also I have 2 different versions of the picture, the first one is taken in daylight and the second one in studio light.

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Whimsy Hat, 11x14 inches Oil on Canvas Panel. Picture taken in daylight

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Whimsy Hat, 11x14 inches Oil on Canvas Panel, Picture taken in studio light

Original Photo Reference: Wetcanvas



Original Photo reference from weekly challenge on Wetcanvas.

Desert Tune

Imagine warm, but crisp fresh air... a Desert Tune being played... and far away there is a caravan of camels crossing the desert in this sand dune setting! And now look at the painting... don't you think you have already reached your destination!?

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Desert Tune - 11x14 inches, Oil on canvas panel

 By the way, I got the reference image from the weekly challenge on Wetcanvas online artist community. Click on this link to see reference images and the challenge if anyone is interested in following:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1321114
It was hard to choose an image for reference since all of them are so good. But I setteled for this sand dune, since it reminded me of the trip to Jaisalmer, Rajasthan on sand dunes. We had sooo much fun there, there was no sign of any vegetation and everywhere there were big and small sand dunes. We spent hours climbing the sand dune and then rolling down and then back again. Fun fun...
Normally I should have posted a picture at 2 hours into the painting, but I lost track of time as I did a little bit in the mornings over three days. I believe it must have taken me about 6 hours.

Blue Camas Lily Fields

I haven't seen the real beauty of these fields in person. But the photo was so beautiful that I was tempted to paint it. I found the photo reference in Wetcanvas Reference Images.
This feels like a perfect place to go and relax or have a nice picnic or go on a hike!

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Blue Camas Lily Fields - 11x14 inches, Oil on canvas panel

Daddy's Little Driver

Father's day is just around the corner and this painting is perfect gift!
I painted it from one of the old pictures of my daughter. She used to ride this Jeep on the street in front of our home, and the way she handled it, it felt as if she was flying!

Daddy's Little Driver - 11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Leaning Over to see Myself

As I leaned over, it was a pleasant surprise to see myself – my reflection was beautiful! All this time I thought of myself as being quite ugly, being surrounded by murky water. It was a miracle to realize the beautiful world and all the wonderful blessings!

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Leaning Over to see Myself - 11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Rocks And Stream

Last Saturday - March 2nd, I participated in one day Watercolor workshop by renowned artist - Geri Medway. It was organized by Saddleback Art League. It is the first time I have taken watercolor class and I was so very happy. I came to know the importance of using good paper. I usually use Strathmore paper which is easily available, but the supply list strictly mentioned NO Strathmore... But after using Arches, I realized how wonderful the experience was using this paper, even though my brushes were not up to par! Good watercolor brushes are very very important as well.
There were 2 projects to choose from - Yellow Rose with lots of droplets and Rocks n Stream. My first impulse was to choose Rose, since I love florals. But I decided to use Rocks n Stream since there were different techniques to be learnt here. In the Rocks project, there was a great deal of negative painting and learning to create textures using resist, splattering using toothbrush, spray etc. I must say that my resist did not work quite well, so I could not get the water splashing against the rocks. In oils I would have done that as a last thing, but in watercolors the first was getting the watersplash right by using the resist. I am still very happy with the result. Below is my finished painting.
Now that I have professional watercolors and paper etc, I hope to indulge into watercolors whenever possible ...

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Rocks And Stream - 11x14 inches, Arches Watercolor Paper

Chillaxin Seagull at Sunset

Its been a while, had taken a short break from painting. I am so very happy to have finished this painting. This is a scene from Dana Point beach. The photo reference is from Wetcanvas library.

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Chillaxin Seagull at Sunset - 11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Illuminated Apple

This is a demo project for teaching Oil painting.
It is done using palette knife and with Winsor & Newton Artisan Water Mixable Oil and very limited palette: Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine, Phthalo Green (BS), Yellow Ochre, Titanium White.
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Illuminated Apple - 11x14 inches, Oil on canvas

Portrait of Anushka

I wanted to paint a portrait for this year and feel very accomplished. I probably will tweek a little here and there on this painting still, but this is 99.9% finished. Hope you like it and do send me your comments:

Portrait of Anushka - 11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Here is how the painting progressed:

Anushka - Stage1

Anushka - Two



Anushka - Three



Anushka - Final

Mommy N Me - Strawberry Picking - SOLD

Mommy N Me strawberry picking says it all! I had so much fun painting this, brought back great memories. Best of all, this painting was sold even before I finished painting! It felt like magic.

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Mommy N Me - Strawberry Picking - 11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel - SOLD

SOLD

Feeling Pink - Work in Progress

I made this a separate blogpost, just because I want to celebrate this progress in my painting journey!
This is the first time I have painted without critically sketching with pencil on the canvas. It feels like I have been able to express myself freely, fully and easily!
So here I am posting how I progressed through the different stages in painting this beautiful waterlily:
Final Painting:

Below is Stage 1. Stage 1 is just the first impression and marking the light and dark shapes in the flower.



 Stage 2: In Stage 2, I actually put in the shapes of the petals, specially the inside petals. I forgot to take a picture just when I stopped painting Stage 2. So below is the result of progressing a bit more into Stage 3 - specially the center part of the flower.

Stage 3: Don't have a picture of Stage 3 either. But stage 3 is about creating more variations in each of petal shapes and the background.

Stage 4: This is the completed painting with final touches and highlights.

The inspirational photograph is below. Thanks to Wetcanvas community for posting these wonderful pictures and hosting monthly challenges.

Feeling Pink

I am feeling pink today and this Waterlily is perfectly what I want to see!

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Feeling Pink - 11x14 inches, Oil on canvas panel

Here's something interesting - Popular phrases that include pink:

Tickled pink: to be happy

In the pink: in good health -- this phrase hasn't always had this meaning. See what it originally meant

Pinking shears: scissors with serrated blades

A pink elephant: term to describe hallucinations during intoxication

Pinkie finger: the smallest finger on the human hand

Pink slip: notice that employment is ending

Pink collar: refers to a particular class of jobs once only filled by women

Light at the other end

Here's my second one for the theme - Art with Architecture. I browsed through lot of buildings and photos. I found this one very interesting - again the building was in shambles but light shining at the other end does bring thoughts of hope and joy!

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Light at the other end - 11x14 inches, Oil in Canvas Panel

Beauty In Shambles

Friends, this is a place in India - city called Bundi, near Kota, State - Rajasthan. The city of Bundi is known for its ornate forts, palaces, and stepwell reservoirs known as "baoris". The beauty and serenity of this ruins captured my attention. Hope you enjoy it!

Beauty in Shambles - 11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

The Vibrant Banana Blossom

There is something very intriguing about a Banana Bloom - such large flower and stunning colors! Growing up we had a banana tree in our backyard. Not only did I enjoy looking at the blossom, but the banana blossom curry is a delicacy that we enjoyed occasionally.

The Vibrant Banana Blossom - 11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Hey Look - There's an Owl on the Tree!

This painting comes in continuation of the Fleamarket painting. Just across the road from the Fleamarket, there are trees in line all along the sidewalk. On the sunny afternoon it felt nice to walk in the cool shade of these trees. Just then, I happened to look up an spotted an owl on the tree. Quite a good luck on that day!

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Hey Look - There's an Owl on the Tree! - 11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Sipping Cool Coconut Water

How cool it would be, if on a hot summer day you could cool off on the beach, sipping some Coconut water and that cool ocean breeze! To me it would feel like paradise on earth!

Enjoy!!

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Sipping Cool Coconut Water - 14 x 11 inches, Oil on Canvas panel