Sullen

Rounding off the year with this skull post. I have always wanted to paint one. This was a quick 2 hour sketch; more like a stretch during a long day of live model figure painting. I am looking forward to taking a deeper dive into painting in the new year. The best is yet to come. 

Loving Vincent

A few weeks ago, I was at Gdansk, Poland to audition for Loving Vincent, a stop-motion full length feature film based on the life of Vincent Van Gogh, being made by an Oscar winning production company, Breakthru Films. Making the movie out of real paintings is a brilliant idea and I was more than excited to have been invited. A few years ago while I was in Paris, I had visited Auvers, and specifically the room where Van Gogh had last lived and the sites that he had painted. So I could kind of relate to the story of the misunderstood genius. The movie in the making is a humongous effort and it has been rightly called 'a labor of love'. 

The audition lasted three days and required us to create multiple paintings translated into frames in Van Gogh's style. The painting posted above is the first in the series and also the first frame of my animation. It was draining to say the least. As tiring as it was, I was kicked to see the end result. With a new bout of motivation, I was hoping to get a couple of more frames done, when the time ran out. I am glad I worked through the logistical issues and made it to the audition, though I don't get to take on the next level. For me it was a great experience and I am eagerly looking forward to watching the movie! Am pretty sure it will be spectacular. To round it all up, I decided to fly to Brussels the next day and then went on to Amsterdam before I came home. And oh, I managed to visit the Van Gogh museum (among other things!) while I was there. It sure lived up to all the hype!

At my work station, starting the series of paintings.

Four paintings. Eight Frames. Less than a second of animation!

Raven Undone

I just got back from a workshop with Michelle Dunaway at the Village Arts of Putney in Vermont. Its a beautiful and an inspiring place to say the very least. The format of the workshop was perfect in my opinion. We worked on figure the first day, portrait on the second and a two day 'model in an environment' pose in the next couple of days. I wanted learn how to turn the form in a realistic manner and came away with a good understanding on how to do so. A few simple things made all the difference. My goal with the painting posted here was to achieve luminous skin tones and to subtly turn the form. And I think I was able to scratch the surface on that one! Am now waiting to push the limits (read colors!) and see how far I can go. 

Back to the Basics

I used the brush only to lay down the ground and also to map out the contours of the apple. The rest of it was done exclusively with a palette knife. The idea was to get familiar with the kind of stokes that are possible. It was easier to control than I had thought and I liked the texture of the paint that went on. I'll probably start using the palette knife more often than not! 

Baylands

I had been to the Palo Alto Baylands a couple of times to do some plein air painting and it took me a few attempts to get the value scale right. This time I was mindful of keeping the colors bright, as they tend to look duller indoors. I think I'll try to go easier on the darks the next time around. I hope to make it a part of my weekly routine!

Painting Branko

Branko gave us an assignment to explore and push color and we chose to make him our model for it. It was so much fun that we painted way past midnight, despite having an early flight to catch the next morning! The weekend at Laguna was perfect. We walked to the beach, hiked to the 'top of the world', lazed on the patio gazing at the ocean, happened to spot some whales swimming about but also managed to paint and talk all things et art! Inspired. 

Songs of Silk

It was a painting marathon of sorts. I woke up and went straight to the easel and spent most of the day doing this. Surprisingly enough, I liked how this turned out at every stage. That rarely happens! I took time to work on this one but with a deadline in mind. Today I mostly used the Rosemary masters choice brushes as opposed to the Ivory line and I liked how they could hold a lot of paint and how easy it was to maintain a sharp edge! And now am tempted to order more! Posting some progress pics:

 

    

Playing the blues

I had started working on this a few days ago and waited too long before I got back to it. The under lying paint was too dry and I almost had to start over fresh. I played around with the background a lot before deciding to go with what I have now. I also decided not to put in much detail on the models face. 

Wings of Fire

This is the first in a series of figurative paintings that I am planning to do. I posted a picture of the painting earlier, though I felt it needed some more work. I added some variation to the background, upped the value scale on the figure and increased the details on the scarf. After the round of tweaks, I think its done!

Dream Dive

Coral Sea, Australia

Diving the Great Barrier Reef was really a dream come true. I panicked for the most part, but looking back at it has me in a total state of awe. It took me three attempts to calm my nerves and get a hang of things. But once I did, I was so inspired! I remember thinking - 'I've got to paint this'. And I did, propped on the rocking boat, soon after I got out of the waters. I even forgot about my sea sickness for a little bit there. To me, this was the best way to relive what I had seen. The reef is one of those majestic, beautiful things that puts everything into perspective and makes you feel at peace. Getting certified has become a part of my to-do list for the year. And I have Jen, my dive instructor, to thank for guiding me through this world unseen! This was my thank you note to Jen, and she loved it ! 

Managed to kick off day one of the year with a dive and a painting. Pretty special I'd think! And with travel sketching having reached a whole new level, I plan to invest more time and effort into creating art from life experiences. And here's wishing that this will be a revolutionary year for all!