Nets in Cochin

Practicing my paintings and working towards the exhibition. I did a pencil sketch as a first step towards completing this painting. It helped me get my values sorted! Then I have done a small version of the picture 11"x7 1/2". Now I am ready to do the final version, which will probably be on a half size sheet! I have fiddled with the colours and have chosen the ones I will use. I think this a good way forward really! It gives me space to think through what I want to convey in the picture and  experiment!
The reference pictures are from our trip to Cochin where we saw the Chinese fishing nets! They are only called Chinese fishing nets because they were originally brought from China by the Portuguese who first introduced them to this part of India and now they have become indigenous to the fishermen on this coast!

Out for the day!

I was driving through rural Gujarat! We stopped at a level crossing, it seemed we were waiting forever,  as the train took its own time to amble by!  It was mid day, hot and very dusty and I was definitely feeling a little cross, so I got out of the car to walk around. It was a typical railway crossing, out in the middle of nowhere, with hardly any shade anywhere, miles of barren fields baking in the hot sun. Suddenly I noticed this group of women, who had obviously climbed out of broken down jeep (the only other vehicle there), sitting together, laughing and chatting, dressed in   brightly coloured clothes, bangles jingling, enjoying a wonderful moment. The  heat or dust didn't seem to bother them at all, and seeing their sheer enjoyment of the moment my mood lifted! Thank goodness I carry a sketch pad and paints, so  I did a quick sketch...hoping to capture a moment that was special. I have taken a few reference pictures and am sure will definitely lead to a much larger painting!

Boats on the Hooghly.

I haven't been painting for a while, well not serious painting that is! But have decided to give more time to it now. So I did the woman in Ladakh, and now this one of boats on the Hooghly! The reference pictures are from pictures Viveck took during a weekend visit to a friend's place on the river. I have changed the picture qyite a bit from the reference. I wanted to capture the light of the early morning sun, when it has fully risen and the light is bright, and think I have managed that quite well!
This will definitely go up in my exhibition planned at the end of the year.

Making rotis in Ladakh!

My young friend Shahshank sent me pictures of his trip to Ladakh. This one of a woman making rotis in a little roadside dhaba brought back memories of my own treks and drives into the Himalayas. The picture also moved me as it had captured something special, possibly the resilience of this woman and a calmness of the whole scene while she continued with her cooking under such harsh conditions.
It also made for a great reference picture. I decided to  use it as my last picture for Fiona's online painting course. It has been a real challenge though, and it took me a while to paint it and be happy with the result. I thought it would allow me to practice all that I had learnt. So far I have been doing small paintings, but decided would like to make a larger version of the picture so have painted it on a half sheet. Fiona also felt I was ready for it! I first did a pencil sketch of the picture, just to make sure I got the perspective right and also that I had had understood the lights and darks, and where they should be in the picture. I have found that this is a very useful exercise.

I then painted the picture. It has come out much better than I expected, as the darks were really difficult to do'. I now feel that maybe this was not the best subject for a water colour, as getting solid darks is really difficult to do, especially if one wants to maintain the translucency of the medium.

Another learning point

I have been going to a weekly painting class. This time I was encouraged to take a pencil sketch  and looking at the values and tones paint the picture in colour. I chose this picture of a horse. I loved the sketch, as it had caught the movement of the animal, and the grace as well! I enjoyed the experience and see the value of actually sketching a picture in pencil, working out the lights and darks, the values  and tones and then paint it in colour.

The golden rickshaw!

Sometimes you paint a picture and it makes your heart sing, as it is exactly how you wanted it to be. That's how I feel about my recent picture of the rickshaw. I loved the colours the rickshaw took on, bathed in the light of the afternoon sun, a  golden glow....and I have managed to catch that....so YIPPPPeeee! I am thrilled with this! It did not take too much time....Around a couple of hours from start to finish, and this time I just let my feelings take over, not try and be too accurate with the details.....and here it is....my golden rickshaw! The interesting thing also was that I just used a very limited palette, just 3 colours, gamboge yellow, burnt sienna, burnt umber and a tiny bit of crimson!

I wish I painted more! I make these many resolutions to paint EVERY day or almost everyday, and  they fall by the wayside as life just takes over! Maybe the trick is to not make any resolutions but just do it....and not necessarily feel terribly guilty if I dont'!

More Pictures!

More pictures, just sketches really, basically time spent in my art class. These are really experiments and practices with colour palettes and none of it takes too much time. I just don't seem to have the time to sit down and concentrate on some serious painting. Life just  takes over sometimes and at the moment that's what seems to be happening to me and I seem to be constantly running to catch up. Anyway I'm pleased that I am doing a little something almost every day,  and keeping up my resolution for the year! Once Naeeda's wedding is over this month, hopefully I will have some quiet time to catch up.