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! 

Budapest

I spent a lot of time trying to complete this painting. Funnily enough, the most appealing part to me is the shadow of the main tower! Transparent red oxide is quickly growing to be my favorite color to have on the palette. The Chain Bridge is what I remember most from the trip to Budapest. We lived on the other side, across from the Parliament Building and we probably walked this bridge a million times before we discovered the convenience of using the metro. Duh! Budapest is beautiful during the day, breathtaking by night, historically significant and home to a great cuisine. Whats not to love? 

A peek at Queenstown

The other NZ sketch in acrylic, done from inside a cafe which had glass walls looking out to the Wakatipu Lake. It was a windy day and we were glad to be inside shielded from the elements while I painted and my friend settled in with a book and ordered multiple rounds of coffee and cacao to show our gratitude to the staff that let us laze inside. 

The sketch is now proudly owned (i'd like to think!) by a hitchhiker we had offered our help to earlier. He mentioned that he collected art as souvenirs and that he'd like to add this painting to his travel diary. I was more than happy to oblige! :) 

Nuggets by the Sea

Nugget Point at The Catlins, New Zealand

The blog has been very quiet and how time flies! Every time that happens, I wonder why I let time slip given how much I love to paint. This time on my vacation to NZ, I decided to paint and paint I did! This is one of the first nicer sketches en plein air using the acrylics kit that I had picked up in Auckland for the sake of convenience. I did struggle with the medium a few times and the surface used here is meant for water colors and hence the texture. I am back after two incredible weeks of flitting around in the mesmerizing world away from home, unwillingly so of course, and I plan to do some rigorous painting to beat the blues! Here's to the new year and a new beginning! 

   

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 :)

  

Icy Pinks

Cancelled plans to visit LA last weekend, lead instead to drive to Pacific Grove; and the stunning views made up for it. A change of subject was in order and I couldn't have picked a better scene. I was quite tempted to go back this weekend with my gear for plein air painting! This one is special; was done with some directions from dad and comments from mom :)
Landscape to me is a tough subject to paint. Getting the colors to be muted yet chromatic in a realistic way is quite the challenge. What I have here is a little more than a lay-in. Hopefully with some more work, I would have done justice to the juxtaposition of the icy pinks and the bright blue hues! 

A Study in Green

A sketch from the day at the Gardens of Luxembourg. I mixed up a lot of different greens to have some variations in the foliage in the green dominated scene. The day was bright and since I was not painting under shade, the colors and the contrast seemed muted under indoor light. A lesson learnt for plein air outings! 

Vendu à Paris

I am back from the great escape - The Kim English workshop in Paris. The city is synonymous with art and never once failed to inspire! We explored a new location every day for our painting ventures. Each day started with a demo by Kim followed by our own attempts at getting at least two sketches done in a day. The emphasis was on being 'quick' to capture the essence, especially of the figures, without getting bogged down by the details.

The couple here made the first day a little more exciting by buying my painting of the Cafe at the very lively Mouffetard neighborhood! I had blocked in the figures, but people kept changing of course. And my painting was way different from what it had started out to be and also how I usually paint. I don't quite have a comfort zone as yet, but trying to paint en plein air a bustling cityscape was a huge departure. Paris, along with the fun crew, made the perfect backdrop for the trip; the beauty all around did a lot to soothe the nerves and the many failed attempts dint seem so bad after all!

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. 

Pretty in Pink

I missed them last year and vowed to make a trip this time. And so I headed off to the Lover point Park in Pacific Grove. I was right in time to catch the pretty pink ice plants that have taken over most of shoreline here. It was an overcast day; I first walked around and took a multitude of pictures; hoping that I could use some of them as reference photos later. I then settled down and worked on the above painting for about an hour, before I decided that it was a wiper! I am still glad that I got to go out there and absorb it all. Hopefully I'll put in my experience and not to forget the richness of the pink-purple flowers when I make another humble attempt at painting this stunning rarity of a view - The shoreline that was clad in pink. 

Misty Mornings

The reference picture for this painting was from my trip to the Taroko National Park, a magnificent marble gorge in Taiwan. It was a pleasant morning with a slight drizzle, and this man here added an interesting pop of color to the otherwise sober morning!

The Countryside

The rusty roof, the run down walls and the pale blue sky from the quiet, quaint
and beautiful countryside of Ireland was a hard scene to resist.