Prithvi Cafe

 

Pen on Paper

B4 Size

 

The famous Prithvi Cafe' with its beautiful and artistic ambience. An artist's delight and an artiste's haven! This café is famous for its celebrity clientele and Irish Coffee! The Sulemani tea is one of my favourites. This sketch absorbed two Sulmani Teas, half a chocolate pastry and a chicken pan sandwich! The morning hours at Prithvi on Sunday are great. Many celeb...rities bring their kids for the morning children's show and the rest of the crowd comprise classy people with chic dressing. Prithvi is the place to bump into singers, actors, flautists and artists hanging around discussing projects or just sipping coffee thinking about the next production! When I sketched this, the food counters were still empty as the morning food batches weren't delivered .

 



La mer à Manori

Oil on canvas with palette knives

6 x 10 "

It was a lovely Sunday when we set out to paint in Manori, which is a small beach about an hour's drive away from Mumbai.

I'd gone painting en plein air after ages and it was the first time I painted in the afternoon. After checking into a lovely resort for lunch, I decided to set up my easel in the backyard, overlooking the sea. I chose this spot with the three boats, which were bobbing up and down. It was a lovely experience as there was a cool breeze amidst the many coconut trees there, which gave me the right blend of sun and shade for the painting. As I was about to spread out my paints, I realised that I'd forgotten to carry my palette and went running into the kitchen to ask for something to paint with. After much begging and pleading the manager was kind enough to lend me a broken plate, which I grabbed with lot of gratitude! 

This scene took me about two odd hours to paint, with some curious onlookers, who thought I was crazy to spend time painting instead of lazing on a hammock! The only challenge was the bobbing boats which moved everytime I looked up from my canvas. I came back home and touched up the canvas a bit and this is what I have!

Manori is a beautiful getaway from Mumbai , which takes you into a Goa like setting of a small village with beautiful cottages. It is the first time I painted the sea and it was a good move from the lake scenes that I usually did!  

Littoral

Oil on Canvas with palette knives A4 Size.

There is more to this than meets the eye.We set out on a Sunday morning to paint some grand Hiranandani buildings, in Powai ( Mumbai, India). Just as we were setting up our easels, came security guards, who demanded some permission. Having no time to waste, and the sun coming up steadily, we decided to move base to the already much explored Powai lake garden. Well, I'd already painted the reflections of Renaissance, IIT and the boats. Also the Hiranandani Silhouette and insides of the park. Only thing left for me to paint was this building which I think may be the Ramada. Well, I couldn't complete the entire painting on the spot and did a skeleton. I had to do it back home, from memory. For those who are new to Powai, It's worth a visit, this garden. The lake shores look pretty with the Gulmohur trees bleeding here and there, contrasting with the fresh green of the trees!

Morning Glory - Oil on Canvas

A4 with palette knives

A palette knife composition done on the spot from Powai Jogger's park, near the lake. I tried to capture an impressionist work of the reflections of IIT Powai, on the lake. These buildings look beautiful , casting long reflections on the pristine lake.

It was an early morning exercise. There were interesting things happening in the park.

There were kids learning some dance classes ( looked like some modern moves), in the garden house there. There were serious walkers and joggers there.
There was a group of chattering ladies, who seemed to have taken a sunday morning off from their husbands, kids and cooking. They looked excited.

Of course after a while, most people stopped whatever they were doing and started joining the group of curious watchers , interested in our painting progress. We painted near an open air ampitheatre today, so there was ample space for them to watch my work in progress.

For all those who came in late to Powai, this park is beautiful, clean, serene and very well maintained. It's worth a morning walk and worth taking some time off for one-self. There were interesting subjects to sketch. One guy was sitting with a bunch of papers and a bottle of water and struck a very sketching friendly pose. But, i stuck on to my oils and knives and finished this work Oil painting en plein air is messy, or I havent Iearnt the right tricks. because I was covered with oils and paints by the time I was done.

Some snaps of WIP:

Afloat

Acrylic on Canvas- A4 size

This is an output of a Sunday morning Plein Air session. However, the painting (verb) behind this painting wasn't as tranquil as this painting looks here on this post! I ventured out with some regular plein air water colourists this morning. As oils could be cumbersome for plein air if you didn't have the right equipment, I decided to carry my acrylics with my palette knives. I had carried two brushes for priming the canvas before starting the painting.

The staggering beauty of the lake hit us when we reached the spot from the back end of the lake from near Renaissance Hotel ( from Ambedkar garden). The lake always holds me in awe and I had been wanting to paint these boats with reflection for over a year and was over-excited that I was finally going to do it.

I was mentally brandishing my knives and feeling them sliding over the canvas. But, as I was to discover, the palette knives did not agree with acrylic paints at all. The paints wouldn't get mixed properly, the colours were different and they dried into lumps the minute I put them out on my palette. For the first half an hour, I struggled to find a hold over the paints and then finally decided to resort to the only two brushes I carried, of which I could use only one, as the other was too big for any kind of detailing. So I actually worked out this whole painting with a single brush and finally have this!

I cheated a bit on the colours of the hanging curtains on the sides , as well as the stuff on the boat and the wheels, to bring in colour harmony. This was also to bring in a painterly touch.

Well, I really missed my oils today and my knives of course. "Well", said I to my oils,."Oils, oils! Acrylic was just a practice session, just a short fling, which I used only to understand painting better, so that I can love you more!" I have only come back to my oils with more love, more longing and more gusto! It takes a bit of what is not regular, to understand what is regular!   

Learning:

Oil painters should stick to oil paints.

Acrylics do not have the versatility for plein air. If you want to work with palette knives, it is better to work on flowers or still life if using acrylics. 

Always carry substitute media ( pencils/sketchbooks) when you go on a paint- out.

Powai lake is beautiful, with the back-drop of the Gorgeous Hiranandani skyline!

Lotus Pond - Oil on Canvas Board12x 20 coms

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Output of a Plein Air session in Borivali National Park, Mumbai, India. It was very difficult to choose what to draw, as we were out in the open in nature and two of us zeroed down on these flowers in the pond.

This one took more effort than I thought it would take. There was too much foliage in the pond and to do an oil painting was a little daunting.

However, I got my moment of truth when two talented photographers  requested me to allow to take a pic of my work in progress.

This is a snap of the work in progress clicked by Kapil Pandya : (Well the clarity in his photo can be easily contrasted with mine!!!)

Snippets:

Borivali national park is an interesting place , teeming with hobbyists.

Photographers with impressive cameras, freaking out on the wildlife there.

Painters ( especially watercolourists) painting beautiful, fresh sceneries.

I saw two cyclists with two very impressive looking cycles, who had some snazzy gear to strap the cycles on to the car!

Some people with hockey sticks in bags..(hockey???).

My most enjoyable moment was the gorging I did on leaffuls of raw cut mangoes, cucumber, Starfruit, sold by locals there!!

Off Art? KFC - Oil on Canvas Board 30 x 40 cms

Output of an early sunday morning exercise. KFC Hiranandani, Powai. Done on the spot. I painted from the opposite street, and luckily found a ready made easel for me , in the form of an ornate pillar, so much a part of the Grecian architechture there!I could easily spread my oils, paints and rags and paint luxuriously. My painting group consisted of 2 youngsters this time and a painting enthusiast/ fan(!!!) , who isnt yet a painter but is fast converting into one!

Just when I thought I was off art ( previous post), I fell headlong into art all over again and have been painting like a maverick all through the week!  Well..thats what art is about..spontaneity!

Preparations for this one and half hour event:

Negotiated by daughter for an early morning reluctant swim ( on my part) on saturday, so as to consent to come painting with me on sunday.

Convincing other youngsters over the week for this event

Bunking a lazy sunday morning in place of hurry scurry, paint stuff packing and driving down!

Well the results were sweet.

I worked very fast today. I have got a pretty good hang of Plein air now.
Revelations:

People in Mumbai are early risers!

Curiosity level of people towards plein air painters is high!

Crowd gathering is a constant, whatever time of the day you may be painting!

Aroma's Panaroma- Oil on A4 Canvas sheet

This is a long abandoned oil sketch done on one of the Plein air assignments, with my sketch buddy on a sunday. Truth be told, I never completed the entire panaroma that I selected. This was a view of the "Aroma's' cafe in Hiranandani, and we had painted from bang opposite the street near the busy D Mart supermarket.

Well, there was so much disturbance and so many people that I couldnt concentrate on the painting. Moreover, we had to cut short the entire session as there was a "mom' emergency that my buddy had to attend to ( I had in one of my very early posts commented that art and family life do not go together!).

When I finally got to finish it now, there has been a gap of almost a month and I couldnt recall the finer details . But I will safely bask under Ayn Rand's saying.. Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments!

I have used this canvas sheet for the first time. I wouldnt suggest it for seasoned oil painters, as we are more used to a hard or taut (stretched) surface .Good for learning sessions only. Doesnt take on bold strokes to bring about impressions of reflections etc. Maybe could be used for flowers or simple landscape, or some primary work in acryllic.

This is what I have at the end of it and add to it the crooked photograph ( living upto the expectations of my regular followers:), which I hope will help my viewers give some artistic leeway to the quality of my painting!

Plein Air- Some Experiential Notes

My experiences and learnings out of Plein Air :

I have been doing Plein air painting/ sketching on and off . Last few weekends have been especially dedicated to Plein air. Some notes:

Some salient points:
1) Ability to zero down on the exact view to paint. Once you are out in the open, its extremely confusing to decide what should be your "painting panorama".

2) Perspective: its challenging to keep the same perspective through out the painting as a slight movement can change it and confound the drawing.

3) Onlookers: they are fun but can create a bit of disturbance at times and harm your concentration. So one needs to choose to be a bit monosyllabic!

4) Disturbances: Moving objects , especially in streetscapes can be very disturbing and may change the entire view! Vehicles can suddenly block your view or traffic or anything else. Its good to absorb the original picture in your mind, when you start drawing. or you could even write down colours or some notes ( e.g. "chairs upturned", inside a restaurant, which may be changed once it opens and business begins, as you may be painting the original scene with chairs upturned.)  

5) Changing light: This is a major issue.Be smart to squint and see the values so you can quickly dab the colours in its true values. My last painting was a streetscape and as I was happily painting bright hues reflecting the bold sun, it suddenly grew murky and cloudy!

6) Speed: Its good to be fast and make a blueprint which you can detail on slowly. You can even come back and build on it , if you have written notes that I mentioned about in point 4.

7) Its good to carry a viewfinder and an easel which is easy to carry and fold.  

8) For oil painters, Wet on wet is a good technique for plein air. Using thick paint to paint layers is an option that I found useful if I wanted to finish most of the scene en plein air.

9) Carry sunscreen, a cap, water, sharpeners for your pencils, rags for wiping oil paint and do not forget to close your turpentine and linseed bottles. If it is hot/ rainy, its good to carry an umbrella.

10) Last but not the least do combine your painting with good food and fun in form of other painters to paint with and good music with you!

These are my personal experiences from my few plein air assignments.

Building Bandwidth- Outdoor Oil on Canvas Board

Its been more than 2 years since I have been wanting to paint the reflections of Renaissance hotel and surrounding buildings on Powai lake. I finally did it last sunday on my outdoor sketching exercise. Do I call it a sketch or a painting? Well it started out as a sketch but I guess now after finishing touches, I can safely call it a painting!Its my first Oil En Plein Air!

Garden House -Outdoor Sketching

An Oil pastel Sketch done on site at the Powai Joggers park. Outdoor sketching is fun but challenging as you  have to work against the time and light ( and also curious onlookers!!!!).

Oil pastels arent as easy as I thought. I have to do a few more to get the hang of them, as they suit my hard, rough,strokes. I feel oil pastels are best for my fast, brisk strokes., unlike other media requiring delicate strokes.    

Fountain- Outdoor sketching

Fountain at the middle of Powai Jogger's park (Mumbai).Tried to capture the reflections , which of course would have been better done with water colours. It was a beautiful morning exercise, done with my sketch group.

Hiranandani Silhouette- Outdoor Sketching

The silhouette of the Hiranandani buildings as viewed from the Powai Jogger's park in the morning at around 9. 30 am.The view was beginning to get clearer by the minute as the sun was getting stronger.I had to rush through this as the park was closing and the security gusrd was breathing down my back!This is an output of this morning's sketching exercise done with my sketch group.Done with water colour pencils. 

Cave Wave

These were done at location in Kanheri Caves in Mumbai..It was a delight to try to capture with water colour and inks, the beautiful architechture of the caves.

Tree-Water colour on hand made paper 25 x 36 cm.

This is another plein air painting output. This is a tree in full bloom in my sister's building and I painted this in natural daylight at mid morning.I don't know what this tree is called , but in our mother tongue we call it "Krishnachura".

Plein Air - Garden, Water Colour

My first attempt at Plein air painting. This is a cross section of the garden below my building, done at around 7. 30 in the morning. I could not complete the whole painting in natural light, due to lack of time, as I had to rush to work.That's why I have not worked in shadows and light. I hope to do more as it is fun, exciting and the best learning experience.