the 20 min challenge again!

I was sitting down to a cup of tea early this morning and noticed that my old jug and sugar pot looked good in the light, so decided to do a 20 min challenge! 20 mins is actually quite a good amount of time! This helps me stay focused on whats essential to the painting and somehow the painting comes out looking as want it to, translucent and with clear colours. I don't fiddle unnecessarily! I have been wanting to develop a looser style for my water colour painting, and it continues to prove a real struggle! The 20 min challenge is really helping!

the red door

I was in Cambodia when I saw a similar door outside an old home. The original dark blue paint had begun to chip off, but it was obviously a really old piece, so grand and beautiful. I felt sorry I hadn't taken a picture. Then today on one of my Wet Canvas challenges...there was the door as one of the reference pictures.... in Chicago of all places, in much better condition. It was this lovely red and I decided I must paint it. This is a trial, but definitely one of the pictures I want to do for an exhibition I am planning!!! ahem!!!! Should have used a ruler as the right frame is a bit off!!! It hasn't come out quite as I wanted as I feel its a bit flat. Also maybe I am putting too much detail...I like a wet on wet, slightly diffused style.
Hmmmmm need to practice much more!

experimenting with negative painting

I took an online class on negative painting. We were not supposed to use a pencil at all. Started by dropping the splotches (I used burnt umber) and then paint a pale wash and then paint the background and the flowers remain the colour of the first wash. This is my first attempt! Not using a pencil and creating the background from my head, imagining the leaves and the spaces between them proved quite tough and certainly gave me a lot of brain activity! Its quite facinating though and I must try it again!

Another 20 minute challenge. I tried to do a complete picture, and it was hard as I kept wanting to add all the details! The light was coming from the right, but I didn't have enough time to complete the shadows! Anyway it is a really fun experience!

This is my first posting to a blog called the 20 minute challenge, where a picture needs to be painted in 20 mins. The red aednium flowered for the first time this week and it is such a lovely colour. I realised that 20mins is actually adequate time to create a picture. I have a tendency to want to paint every single detail in any picture I want to create and have been trying to develop the ability to look at only what is most needed in a picture and not get confused by too much detail in any scene. Attempting this challenge helped me do this! Will try and do one everyday!!!

I have been practicing my sketching skills...again a WC challenge. Its good fun. I am happy that I was able to get the perspective in the drawing of the stables. I dont draw animals often, but drawing this calf was enjoyable too. I am beginning to see the value of sketch a picture first, before painting it as it allows me to get a clearer idea of the darks and lights of a scene, where the shadows should be, where the light is coming from!

Have been planning to do some cameos of Kolkata...just a way to capture bits of Cal life and also practice my watercolour painting on a regular basis! This is a vegetable guy on Panditya road, who we stop at to buy bananas on the way back from our morning walk. I used water colour pencils for the firat time...under direction from Nafisa! Not a bad experience for small sketches...also in a way I had better control of the colour.