Creme de la Creme

10 x10"

Oil on canvas with palette knives

The good life starts with an apple in the morning so that you are fit enough to end it with an indulgent chocolate crème drink! So much for balance! The model is attached below for reference!





Dianthus Vincifera-

Got these carnations from my regular florist who is never excited to see me as I spend a lot of time and take only a small bunch, that too after repeated requests to add extra flowers. He does not identify with my need to paint flowers and says he only wants the price. He has big customers who order huge bouquets so am not really a big person for him, even though I may be his most consistent customer.
My maid suggested the addition of the wine bottle as I was setting up the ensemble.
Wine and flowers. What more does a woman want! A photo of the model for reference as well as one from the work in progress!

Peep Toes

8 x 10"

 

Oil on Canvas with palette knives

 

 

These are from my latest collection of shoes. Day 4 of the 30 paintingsin 30 days' challenge. Phew! A already running out of steam!

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Sula- Zinfandel Rose'

 

10x12 inches

Oil on Canvas with Palette Knives

 

Another one to my -OH series. This is a bottle of Zinfandel Rose' from Sula Vineyards in India, Sula is a brand of wine which has revolutionized the Indian wine industry in the past 7 to 8 years. The vineyards are in Nashik, in the state of Maharashtra and Sula is responsible for 'legitimising'  wine drinking amongst the urban middle class in India. Wine drinking, which was a thing for the upwardly mobile crowd has now become affordable and acceptable due to the reach that Sula has made possible. Sula also has lovely wine tours and resorts in the vineyards in Nashik. 

 

A very happening music and wine festival, The Sula fest is held every year in the vineyards which I would like to visit some day!  Coming up next on the -OH series is a bottle of Sula Portwine!

 

 

Zinfandel

 

Oil on Canvas with palette knives

A bad photo but still a photo till the time I click a better one! This is a bottle of White Zinfandel wine that I had got myself from an airport while on a trip. Now that I have opened it, I thought I should bring it on my canvas!

Bottle Green

Oil on canvas with palette knive

4 x 6"

This tiny painting has history ! What's the big deal about a small still life, you would wonder! Well, the story goes such. This bottle is important! About a year or so back, I read an article that plastic bottles are not good for storing drinking water and long usage leads to cancerous diseases. I realised then that I did not have a single glass bottle at home. I went out to the nearby stores to buy glass bottles, only to realise that they weren't easily available. That was when I asked some friends to pass on whatever throw-away bottles they had. In the stock of bottles that I received as donation, this was the biggest bottle; however, it came with a cork and smelt of wine every time you filled it with water, in spite of washing it several times. Eventually, it gave in to the rinses and became the "show stopper" water bottle of the kitchen! Well, to cut a boring story short, I soon lost interest in filling up glass bottles and especially this bottle, as it was too big in size. Every time I walked into the kitchen, it reflected beautiful reflections in the green colour and so it finally landed up on my canvas! The green bottle that is painted with bottle greens is an evergreen bottle on my kitchen rack, albeit empty!       

Mangifera

Oil on Canvas with palette knives

Small study

What better subject to pick on during the very famous,much awaited and much celebrated mango season! Mangoes of course! This small study is done in the Alla prima technique. I must admit that the mangoes that I painted as subjects were brighter in colour. I took darker values on my range. For special effects, I placed the mangoes on a purple background (took a risk with one of my branded tops and am yet to check if there are any stains ...but anything for art!!!).

These mangoes actually are for today's dessert . Paint them before eating them!!!

'A Major'

Oil on Canvas with palette knives
SOLD

This painting is special and strikes 'a major' chord in my heart. A musical soiree spent with some talented friends, a great host, some great jamming and a superb photograph...all this ultimately culminated in my picking up the palette knife and working on this almost with a frenzy! Truth be told, as always, I cheated on the 'real picture' with my own colours. I changed the sofa colours to bring in an artistic and painterly look. At the end of my brandishing, I came up with this.

This painting is special because, it has music and art, two of my favourite things. It's also the first time that I painted a musical instrument and I can hear my heart saying it's not the last!

Pomeceous

Oil on Canvas

10inch x 10inch

This painting was back breaking. I had painted a similar apple two years back. A friend of mine wanted that painting but I didn't have it anymore with me. So I had to make another one.

The challenges were in motivating  myself to re-paint a similar still and trying to make the arrangement different so that there is no clash with the older one. I juxtaposed the apple with some small grapes and focused on perspective here, as I wanted the apple to dominate the still-life. This white plate and the knife belong to my kitchen. 

I had got so used to palette knife, painting with a brush was a challenge after a long time. This one called for very neat finishings and accuracy. I had to move on and off from my easel to the floor and back to get it right and finally I am done!

Table composition- Oil on canvas

Marigolds, a bottle of water and a decorative arrangement with small flowers. Symbolises a typical table/ mantle piece arrangement.

This detailing , using the palette knife was a little daunting but I pulled through! 

I haven't signed the latest works , as the work is impasto and the paint layers are very thick and wet. Will wait for the paint to dry and then sign!

Steadfast Breakfast

These fruits and the empty glass ( waiting for the juice to be poured into it) was part of my breakfast the other day. Just decided to draw this as part of my ongoing experimentation with water colour pencils.I know I could have drawn the glass transparency far better with paints, but I think I can do a better job in my next painting! After my 6, 7 drawings and some reading on the net, I am discovering some great advantages of water colour pencils! These are especially good for figure drawings and on-site drawings!

Veggies

I wanted to paint some veggetables today and literally snatched out these from the maid's hand. This is done with water colour pencils.A tomato, half a capsicum and some dhaniya (Indian Parsley).Water colour pencils is proving to be a good refuge when I want to do a quick evening sketch after work, but don't want to get into the paraphernalia of linseed and turpentine or get frustrated by a badly turned out water colour.Of course I am using them vigorously for figure studies as well.

My painting stuff-20x 20cm-Oil on Board

The other day, I was dying to paint, but was wondering about the subject. After much looking around about the house and outside it, I zeroed in on my painting cups.The black one with the brushes is the kerosene cup and the white one contains a mixture of turpentine and lincid oil. These cups were given to me by a friend of mine, for my painting purpose.I have a collection of throw away cups donated by friends!!The tube of Lemon Yellow paint has been squeezed out of shape, as in oil painting, that's one of the colours that I use most for mixing and highlighting.

Since it is a very small painting, the snap is of very poor quality ...that too after struggling to capture it for almost an hour..I am liking this painting a lot, as it has my favourite stuff, is bright and lends an air of painting to my living room!!

Water Colour Practice- Vase

Hosting my first painting for the year 2010. Bin trying to imbibe the nuances of water colours...It seems to be a tough call for me..however, did this small postcard painting inspired from a vase which stands in a corner of my house.Coulndt really do that good a job as I put more flowers than necessary, which tipped the balance of the painting. Still am happy that it went better than my older water colours.

Water Melon- Oil on Canvas Board

An apple a day- Oil on Canvas Board