The Cherry Pair

I made this pencil sketch after a visit from one of my friends during the week end that just passed. She is fond of cherries and happened to mention them a few times during her stay. So the cherries lodged themselves firmly in my brains and I should say I felt much better after transferring this pair to my sketch book. I wanted to sketch this pair to try and recreate the dimensions of the cherry on the left. The the front and rear portions of teh fruit form a part of the picture which is in contrast to the the fruit on the right which is pretty much only one side of the fruit. I used 2HB and 6B pencils to create this sketch.

No love like this love...

This painting of Radha and Krishna on the swing was inspired from a calendar (again!). This oil and canvas took me over a year to complete (in between work and classes). More than the main characters of this painting, I was drawn to the cheery back ground with its doves, parrots, peacocks and swans looking upon or up at Lord Krishna and Radha. I enjoyed every minute I spent trying to recreate the magic moment between Lord Krishna and his lady love.

Hey Ram!!!

I completed this painting after my high school exams. I worked on this piece for about 3 months. This painting was inspired from a calendar which my aunt presented to me. My interpretation of the picture was that that of Lord Ram travelling to Lanka to rescue Seetha and this was a probably a moment sometime before the bridge to Lanka was built by the monkey lords and the squirrels. He seems to be taking in the scenario and planning his next move. The inspiration was the colors of the original that seemed to relfect his thoughtful mood coupled with anxiety. This was completed using oil on canvas.

Attempt to do a Landscape

This landscape took me more than 6 months to complete. This was one of those paintings that dragged on for quite some time and even lost my interest to complete this half way between. It was the flow of water and the rainbow that attracted me to the painting initially but I wasn't doing too well with the trees. I finally did finish it - Oil on wooden board.

Tiles can serve as a canvas too..

This painting was done on a mosaic tile that is usually used for flooring's for home and office constructions. It was a beautiful cream colored tile that formed a lovely background for the the brown hopper enjoying his chow. This was one of the projects that I completed during my learning phase. Oil paints were used to complete this one.

The lamp in the living room

Continuing my endeavor to produce better sketches, I sketched this lamp shade present in the living room of the apartment where I currently stay. The various shades that it produced on the stand when it was lit motivated me to take my pencils and capture it on paper. It took me a few hours of sitting on the couch (in the same position) to complete this. I was left with a back ache after completing this sketch but I think it was worth it, though it can always be better. What do you think??

Monochrome Tulips

I sketched these tulips on a rainy weekend. I was inspired by the various hues of these beautiful flowers and the happy feeling they always bring when I see them. This is however an exclusive pencil sketch that explains the absence of colors on this sketch.

Deer Haven

These deers were painted using oil paints and I had a lot of help. It took quite some time to complete this as I had wait for the paints to dry. I don't recall when I completed this one but it was probably a year into my learning phases. The green and brown color of the rexin made me feel that the deers were actually in the woods enjoying themselves amidst the lush green grass.

This painting is the only one I ever did on Rexin. I never knew that this material that is usually used by some furniture manufacturers to use as covers for sofa sets and futons could also double up as a painting canvas.

Jai Maa Kaali!

From the land of 'rosgollas','jaal mudis' and 'loochies' this painting of 'Kaali Maa' is a tribute to the land of Kolkotta where my dad spent a good chunk of his life. My mom was a regular visitor to the very popular Kaali temple. She visited 'Kaali Maa' at the goddesses popular abode at Kalighat every Monday without fail as long as she was there and feels that was the reason I was born on a Monday.

I worked on this painting during my 11th grade. I completed it in 2 days flat. I fell in love with the original picture when I saw Kaali Maa's elaborate crown and her peaceful face. I painted her on glass using Fevicryl golden yellow as the primary colour using a lot of line strokes. This painting was framed using foil paper to give the transparent areas of the glass a nice background.

Setting my sketch book on fire with charcoals

I got a box of pencils in the hopes of developing my drawing and sketching skills. However I did not realise that the box had more charcoal pencils then the B and HB pencils that I actually required. Anyways I inaugurated the set and created this drawing of the phoenix. Attempting to sketch post 2.5 years resulted in shaking hands trying to draw the lines across the page. The sketching was followd by shading and touch up's with the charcoal pencils and the fancy blending stick. This is the result:

The brightness of the lines and shades is owed to the charcoal pencils. I love the way it looks but don't like the residue that the charcoals leave on the paper.

Some of my friends know where else they can find this phoenix :-)

Acrylics

This was the first medium I learnt to use. Oh yes! not water colours (am not counting those little tin boxes containing rounded cakes of water paints that we all mess with when we are kids)and not poster paints. I actually started off with acrylic paints. This painting was done on a black wooden board using Fevicryl acrylic paints (Of course the only brand of good acrylic paints that I am aware of). This painting was done eons ago - I guess when I was in school. In fact I made at least 2 of these paintings. One of these was gifted to a relative for their house warming ceremony and hopefully it still hangs on the walls of their home (It was there the last time I checked)

Oil is healthy in this world!

I love using oil paints. They mix well, give life to colours and expressions and have an amazing finish. I have always been fasinated with Lord Krishna - he is my favorite character from the Mahabharat and i am always interested to listen to stories about his childhood and life. This painting was inspired for a very beautiful calendar which my aunt gave me. She is a big fan of the ISKON. I consider this painting as one of my personal best [though I know it has flaws :)]

Let me know what you think of this one. The picture was taken by my parents after it was framed - hence you find that it looks weird as the transparent paper cover is still on it.

Yours Truly.....

Painting is one of my favorite things to do in this world!Bless my parents for taking me to Mrs. Lakshmi Raghavan in an effort that I don't throw away my summer holidays running around the house and getting into mischief. I got my first set of painting lessons while moving to class 6. Lakshmi aunty introduced me to the beautiful world of colours and making me believe that I could do it!Most of my best memories growing up are spending weekend and holiday afternoons and some school week evenings learning different strokes. I am not an amazing artist but I love the works that I produce and enjoy the entire process of making them.

As much as I find painting fun and easy I find drawing and sketching a little hard. In fact I am still working on these areas to produce better work. Off late I have also started to explore the effects of color pencils, water colors, soft pastels etc., I will to post my works here so that you can give me your thoughts and comments.