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:

 

    

Garden chores

Its still in progress. I am just about done with filling the canvas with the overall colors in the painting. Yet to build it all up and finish it off. I'll be sure to post when its done.  

Dressed Up

I started with painting the face and then moved on to the head wrap and the dress. A few tones of color and a hint of a shadow were just about enough to suggest the intricate neck piece. I had initially planned not to include the flower, but did so as an after thought. I think it works well to balance the composition. 

The reference picture is from the Watts Atelier program. 

Spectacled

A simple sketch, just to get the paint juices flowing. This is a scene from union square on a bright sunny day and she had comfortably settled in with a book. I added the tree as an after thought and moved it around to add some balance. I am not sure if it was necessary for the composition! Hmm. Btw, can you tell that she is wearing glasses? 

 

 

Plum peaches

And that's day one with Daniel Keys at the Sadie Valeri Atelier. Getting the still life fix! Daniel is precise in his suggestions & critique. His stark colors & crisp brushwork make his paintings exquisite! Looking forward to working on a large still life painting in the next few days. Hopefully a complex composition. That would be fun, and his forte of course!

Hay bales

The way the myriad of colors play off of the complex shapes in the landscape is very beautiful. Makes simplification and color harmony that much more difficult to achieve! 

 

 

By the pitcher

From the Phil Starke program; the quintessential still life setup. Took a while to bring it to a level of finish. I reached for some much loved comfort food as soon as I was done! 

  

 

Lady in Grey

The reference is from the Watts Atelier Program. I kept in mind to break the painting down into and filling in the shadow and light areas before modelling the form with mid-tones and highlights. Taking color out of the equation helps to focus on the values! Though I did use a hint of terra rosa in the reflected lights to add some interest.

Marooned

From a private sojourn at a small secluded beach on a Langkawi island, where we had stopped to have lunch. The dense greenery in the background took most of the work. I massed in the darks and worked upwards, dabbing in the shapes with the more saturated colors and added a few hints of red flowers to break the monotony and to add balance.

A progress pic with a perspective!

Used the bigger brush for the foliage and the smaller one to punch in the dark holes. 

Tried to stay true to the reference and put the brushes away before I overworked it. 

The City

San Francisco - the quirkiest city I have seen. I wasn't very fond of it until I spent a full five days last year, roaming the streets, clicking pictures and eating a lot of great food. There is always something that is unique to every city; the steep and crooked streets are a fun drive especially for new visitors. One of them actually alluded to Disneyland - now, how is that for a new perspective! I enjoy strolling through the numerous art stores and galleries, I like the cuteness of Sausalito and the city skyline at night is very pretty indeed :)

  

Dedication

Dedicating the post to Fongwei, it was his deft hands that guided me through this one. This certainly has more of his touches than mine. This is a piece from a while ago and is one of my favorites. I like the looseness, the fineness and the flair.

Art Escapes

 

There are a few defining moments that kept me glued to Art. A painting kit that I received as a gift got me exploring; a crash course on oil painting got me learning, researching about artists got me wondering, reading articles and the experiments got me marveling. And what followed was an amazing trip into the realm of art, color, paint, workshops, failures, realizations, friends and of course life - which I have come to think of as my 'salvation' for the lack of a more dramatic word.

The weekend spent at E's ranch has been one such event and nothing short of spectacular. In keeping with the theme we watched art videos, discussed artists and their work, scouted the rolling hills for inspiration and painted too. We walked the beach drinking wine, hiked the tiny trails exploring the land, and lay on the roof under the brilliant sky counting constellations. The unprecedented escape brought a smile in me, that I shall remember for as long as I can.

 

A weekend well spent with Ellie, Anya, Branco, Breene and Cali.