Amarillo

Oil on ceramic with palette knives. Landed with these roses as there were no orchids with any of the neighbourhood florists. I had picked up a few ceramic plates on a stopover during an office trip last week and here goes the first one. Meanwhile my old florist is back and the tables have turned and how!! He not only greets me but wants to see which of his flowrs I have painted . He also suggests what flowers to paint in the season and lets me buy for a lower cost. Phew!
Here is the painting and the model vying for competition!

Todi- 14 "x 16 "

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Todi. Oil on Canvas with palette knives. 

Two months of handling skin had taken me to shapes,contours, blues and browns. I was finally ready for the soft tendrils and bold colours of my favourite, which is flowers and here it is! Todi is named after Raag Todi and is a product of three hours of a precious Sunday. My florist has meanwhile changed and the new one who I bought these lilies from could not fathom why I matched colours with such importance. I shot him a look thinking he would soon come round and be a part of my story!

Reds, greens, blues...am back!

Bespoke - Oil on Canvas

A sketch of myself in my new hairstyle which is fast wearing out. We all fear change but at the same time it excites us. I had quite an interesting time . Many people loved this hairstyle . Some didn't. Some behaved like I committed a crime by daring to have a temporary change. Some failed to recognise me. As for me, I enjoyed the sleek look that it brought. Little did I care about what the world thought!

I am hovering between my floral colours and skin hues. Hanging in confusion. I seem to love skin for the time. I seem to crave for contours and expressions . Shadows and light. Well, I let things take their course . You will know soon when I upload the next one.

Meanwhile I bumped into my florist the other day, who now seems to wait for me to come to his shop, as opposed to few months back when he would scoff at me ! He is almost offended at me for not having come to buy flowers and show him which of his florals I painted!

So much for change!!

Floraspora

After two months of handling browns and blues of skin, I thought I should get back to my signature- florals.It wasn't easy! Am yet to get the furious colours but at least I started with something!

Hopefully I shall have something better and bolder tomorrow!

Skin

Two months of fabulous sketching and painting at the prestigious Art Society of India was a great treat for me! It was a time of sweltering heat in Mumbai. Once you reach the premises , the timings were adhered to very professionally. The models were great and professional and knew exactly how to pose! 

One of my most memorable experiences while painting happened during the last session of the life drawing class. I had taken my oils and knives to paint . I usually use kerosene to wipe my knives and clean off the paint. The kerosene happened to be in an old bottle which was once a mineral water bottle. As I arrived at the session huffing and puffing due to the heat and was readying my stuff, I thought of drinking some water to dry my parched throat. So on one hand was my kerosene bottle and paints and nearby was the water bottle. I did the inevitable! Poured kerosene into my mouth thinking it was water!! I spat it out immediately but the whole group was in a state of flutter including the model! I had just started dabs of paint on the canvas but abandoned everything and went about fixing the problem. Thankfully I hadn't drunk a drop and so alive to write this post. Anyway I lost about an hour and then came up with this artwork in the next pose! It was an eventful painting day and a lesson learnt!!

Amethyst

A beautiful purple is what I wanted to see on a fresh white plate.
The journey with plates has been quite frustrating. I am not happy with what is available in the market and I haven't been able to explore what else lies out there. A plate is too tiny a surface to unleash angst or paint with fury. It requires severity. It requires tight strokes. It requires perfection. Canvas...here I come!

Alexandrite

My image consultant had given me a plan which I am hurriedly falling back upon. Orchids are my latest challenge!