Colored pencil

Making Portraits in color was interesting as i did not have the whole palette of colors I just picked out the ones that I thought would give the effect "I wanted ".. and made the same picture of the young woman in my previous post in pencil colors..

Young woman

9" x 12"

color pencils

I am still trying.... and hopefully the next one will be better... :)

Learning..

Learning can be so much fun...

As I mentioned in my previous post that portraits don't come natural to me.. So i decided why not start learning how to do it.. and practice it.. 

I went to the library and picked up a book on portraits.. It had tips and tricks I never thought of.. 

As my first assignment I had to make a portrait of a young woman...

Young Woman

9" x 12"

Pencil

I thoroughly enjoyed each and every moment making it..... it was so much fun... :) Will try making it in Colored pencils too lets see how it comes out..... 

A pending gift..

I know I am a week too late for a father's day gift.. but it was in the making and i wanted it to be a surprise.... I have finally finished my second painting for father's day... Hope papa likes it....

Fly High

Oil on Canvas

12" x 16"

Tell me what u think about it.. :)

Incredible India..2

I was thinking "what should be next in the series of Incredible India???" and then it came to be.. what could be better than the national bird... Peacock... As my easel was busy with my oil paintings.. Watercolors was my best option... and here it is....

India series : Peacock

11" x 15"

Watercolors

please feel free to critique and leave comments......

Portraits...

Well.. potraits for me has always been a tough challenge.. I never get everything right.... But I Love Challenges... and this one has been my all time favorite... It does not come naturally to me and I always tend to mess up the propotions so, before trying to make something in oil I thought why not give watercolors a try and this is what I made....

The lovely girl

11" x 15"

Watercolor

This is one of the many photographs I downloaded for my practice drawings..I loved the way it was photographed and especially the hairstyle.. so thought of giving it a try... though i did mess up in a few places but worth a try...

Varun

11" x 15"

Watercolor

This one I made from a collection of photographs that my husband has of his childhood.. I always felt as if this photograph was calling to me... and about a week ago I thought now is the time I give it a try.... came out pretty good.. i guess it's the love of my husband that really helped me.. cause I had a big smile on my face while making it... : ) : )

This is a never ending challenge and I am in the process of making another one... Hoping it comes out good..

Incredible India..

Trying to capture the real essence of India in my paintings...

The Backwaters or Lagoons in Kerala are a sight..... and a must see...

India Series : Kerala

Oil on Canvas

12"x16"

Goa.. Our Honeymoon destination... It has everything one wants.. peace and calm as well as incredible night life and shopping experience...

India Series:  Goa

Oil on canvas

12"x16"

There are still more to come.... work in progress.... :)

                                                          

    

Happy Father's Day...

I protect You

Monochrome Painting

Oil on Black Canvas

11" X 14"

To all the dads out there..... wishing all you wonderful people a very Happy Father's Day!!!

They hold your hand on your every step, protect you from falling down but let you go when they think you are ready....
 A big thank you for always understanding me and helping me in which ever way you could , help me rise from every problem and celebrate the best moments of life.. teaching me throughout the way what life means and how to handle it...

I am getting overwhelmed by feelings as I write this post.. as it has been months since I've met my dad(s).. I Miss you a lot...

I am so LUCKY to have you as a guide,philosopher and a friend... whenever I need one..

I hope my painting conveys the message I wish to say..... Happy Father's Day!!!

La Jolla Festival of Arts... San Diego

Sometimes all you need is a little inspiration in life and there is no better way to get it from artists around you.. La Jolla Festival of Arts is an annual festival held in San Diego.. It was it's 25th Anniversary and about 200 artists were participating and displaying their skills.... I thought this is my chance to get inspired... And so me, my husband (Varun Mittal) and 2 of our friends ( Priyank and Himani Desai) set out to the beautiful San Diego.... The drive to San diego on a picturesque morning took our breath away...

We reached our destination and it was a big festival.. All excited we started exploring around.. beautiful paintings, mixed media , thread work, glass work, sculptures, pottery, photography... there was so much to see... and now so much to share with u guys..

 A comic artist made our visit more interesting as he drew cartoons of me and Himani right there for us.. and we got ourselves a piece of art.. here's the link to his new website..thisismylife.thecomicseries.com

While looking at the various paintings and the styles we came across some that were just WOW.. i just didn't have any other word to describe it.. some of the artists captured the light and the moment so beautifully that u actually felt you were there...

There was a painting which captured my eyes of a lady in a white dress standing in a bath tub... and while we were observing the artwork the artist stepped out of her little sitting place and said " I would love to paint you" .. It really felt good. thinking I  could be the subject of some one's painting..and may be some one will observe my painting like i was of that lady.... may be I will visit her gallery some day as she happened to live really close to our place..www.ellencbrown.com

We learnt how beautiful glassware is made and colors and designs are put into it.. and even got a present for myself from the artist who did it...  Who knew the a small colorful glass took only 5 mins to be made...

I also met Annette Hammer.. I just could not keep my eyes off her paintings.. such detailed work each leaf on the tree, each branch, each flower and even each ripple in the water was crystal clear and distinctive telling a story of its own.. do visit her website to see what i actually want to say... annettehammerart.com

I go to a festival and buy nothing... that never happens and I got myself a pendant made with Quail egg shell.. A real piece of art..

It was closing time for the festival and we headed out to the streets of San Diego to have more fun.. and beach was the perfect destination for that..

We did a little hiking too...

 and after that were too tired.. so to get ourselves refreshed and fill our tummies we stopped by a thai restaurant "Kitima " and had a lovely dinner.. yum yum..

With energy still left we went to see Sea Lions.. on the beach... It was soo cold out there... but a beautiful view.. sorry.. no pics.. it was dark and the camera could not capture anything....

Fully satisfied and exhausted we journeyed our way back to home sweet home... "Inspired" was a small word to describe all that I felt after the festival.. It was "exhilarating" and "uplifting"...

Illustration Friday

I bumped across this cool website www.illustrationfriday.com. This website posts a new topic every friday for its followers and the paintings that are submitted are critically examined by experts... They pick out the best every week, so I thought why not give it a try. This week they had "Launch" as a topic of the week for submitting paintings. Immediately my mind started racing and ideas started flowing....
I took out my sketch book and my pencil to give shape to my ideas which therefore converted into this painting...

Dream Launch

Water Color on Paper
11 inch X 15 inch

Its a hopeful start as imaginative painting was never my forte. Well as a matter of fact, i never used to paint as much as I have been doing for the past few weeks....

Its a new beginning....