Sketches that kept me going!

For a month now I was on the move continuously, crisscrossing India from Delhi to Coimbatore, Coimbatore to Chennai, Chennai to Hyderabad, Tirupati, Pune etc and I couldn't find that tranquil space for myself to put brush to paper. I had of course managed to put the pencil and the sketchbook to good use that helped me keep in touch with art all the while. Here are some serious ones and some playful ones, some might accidentally resemble some celebrity but I was just having fun. Thanks for viewing.

 Have a nice day!

River Dee and church, Llangollen

This is the view of the village Llangollen and its Church from the river Dee, (Wales, UK) one afternoon of this summer. A majestic view from the rocks inside the river. Here is my photo

and the painting done on Arches 640gms Not paper. Thanks for viewing, comments welcome! 

Lower Slaughter, Cotswold

We visited this beautiful Cotswold village, Lower Slaughter in September this year on our way from Burton on Water. It was a sleepy afternoon with clouds hanging over. A typical cotsworld village scene, I was attracted by the overpowering trees and their reflections in the waterway.  Focussed on the trees and the reflections I overlooked the clouds to make a simple sky. I think that helped to direct the attention to these two elements. Arches 300 gms rough surface took some punishment while I floated wahes over washes all over not excluding the sky, which saw 3 glazes of different colours.

Thanks for viewing! Comments welcome!

Woodbridge:Suffolk Coast

The Tide Mill at Woodbridge (Suffolk) is one of the most painted spots in the UK. The fishing boats against the shimmering tides always attract painters especially the maritime painters. This scene is just across the Tide Mill (I am planning to paint the Tide Mill separately soon) it was probably the last sunny day of this summer, we sat outside the Waterfront Cafe enjoying the hot sun and  a hot meal looking at this scene before us, which got imprinted in my imagination.

This is my painting of the scene, a rather simple interpretation with some wet in wet washes (timing was important though), but enjoyed doing this.

Hope you like this one. Comments welcome! Thanks for viewing.

Not far from the madding crowd

This is a quiet area very close to the very busy London West End, lower Regent Street! Picadilly is just a few yards and the shopping district of Oxford Street is not far away. This end of Regent street is of course  full of tourists at any time, the Crimean War memorial with Florence Nightingale statue making it an important landmark in London.  You certainly miss the huss and buz of the city despite being in the centre of it which attracted my in the first place to do some sketching. The busy cranes in the background are reminders of the state of Central London these days where a lot of construction activity takes place. I reduced the number of figures to four though there were more when I was sketching but compensated with some birds to add to the quiet atmosphere I was trying to portray. Lot of architectural complexities daunted me but tried to simplify them as much as possible. London always is an inspirtional city, even the quietest corner of it! Thanks for viewing. Comments welcome!

Father of the nation!

These sketches of Gandhiji were done on October 2, birthday of the father of the nation.The simplicity of the mahatma is his greatest quality and how he was able to inspire a whole nation behind him both the educated and the rural masses is in no small measure due to this quality. I thought a nice way to pay tribute to the great man that Gandhi is to capture his simplicity in these sketches! Thanks for viewing!

British Waterways

Addition of a new colour 'Lemon yellow' to my palatte has done wonders to my greens which are now brighter and more vibrant, very suitable for depicting summer foliage. It can be seen in my 'twin' paintings here where two thirds of the composition are foliage!

I came across these two identical scenes in our recent visits to Wales and Watford(just outside London). The first one is Llangollen canal (North Wales) on which boats take people onto the famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. We were taken to this lovely scene by our friends Latha and Sanjeev when we visited them in Chester in August.

Llangollen Canal in Wales

In my painting, I let the sky in a lot more than in the photo.

 The second one is the waterway at the Cassiopark near Watford where we spent a relaxed evening with our lovely hosts Kelvin (Sky News) and Sarah last month. The sprawling park was just a stone's throw from Kelvin's house. Both of the amazing canal scenes shrouded in foliage inspired me to experiment with my greens and I was thrilled to see the range of shades of green I could come out with the use of the new colour Lemon Yellow!

Grand Union Canal in Cassiopark near Watford

My painting closely adheres to the photo mostly!



Some photos of our visits are here to recall the mood and atmosphere of these two beautiful scenes! Thanks for viewing!

With Latha and Sanjeev at Llangellan Canal

Another view of the Llangellan Canal

With the family of Kelvin in Cassiobury Park

Boats in Grand Union canal in Cassiobury Park

Have a nice day!







Good (bye) times!

                        In a way 'our revels are now ended'! At least in London. Time to say bye to all dear ones. And I am now packing my paints and brushes, not before my last foray into portraits, my newest passion !

                        This one I presented to our dear friends Dr John and Wendy Marr, a very adorable couple with whom we spent a day in their  lovely idyllic home outside London.

Dr John and Wendy Marr happy with my little portrait of them

Both are ardent indophiles, Dr Marr received the prestigious 'Padma Shree' award last year! Their varied interests outside their academics include botany, flora and fauna, model trains and aeroplanes, music, photography - just to name a few! We spent a very educative afternoon in their garden learning about various plants from all corners of the world, ably maintained by the very green hands of Wendy! My heart almost stopped when suddenly Dr John climbed a rickety ladder to pluck juicy fig fruits for us!

Afternoon tea in the garden

Burmese Pagoda which came to London in 1917 for an Imperial Exhibition!(Very interesting story how it found its way here!)

Tasmanian Fern

Leaves of a Japanese tree mostly found in Buddhist monastries with herbal uses

We were both amazed to know about their adventurous journey  from London to India in 1969, in their newly bought Austin Minor (the backdoor of which is still preserved) very nicely captured in a poster of photographs from that visit! With razor sharp memory Dr Marr can recall myriad anecdotes with accurate names and places! A veritable treasure-house of knowledge we were lucky to partake of! Even after their retirement, they keep a very busy schedule teaching at the SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. When I presented my portrait with my apologies for being a learner of portrait painting, he said, ' Murugesan, would not the world be a dull place if there is nothing new to learn or do everyday?'- which  in a nutshell is the message of the man and also is the secret behind his and Wendy's youthful energy! Truly cherishable moments!

Aberdeen Street Scene

 

This is a quieter corner of otherwise bustling high street of  Aberdeen city in Scotland(Castle street). Henry's Bar & Cafe leads you into the painting aided by the lined pathway - a common design device! A portion of the Castle is visible at the end of the street where the eyes stop! The figures in the foreground were added 2 days after I thought I finished the painting. Ofter I leave a painting for a few days and sometimes come up with some missing piece (not very obvious at the time of painting) which completes the puzzle! Thanks for viewing! Have a nice day! Comments welcome!

Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland

Situated in the Scottish Highlands, Eilean Donan castle with the mountains in the background offers a magnificent view to the viewers from wherever you look, even from far afar! The sky here is the major source of the mood and atmosphere! I tried it wet in wet and the thrill almost killed!   Only three colours used which gives harmony and unity to this piece which has lots of hard and soft edges. Thanks for looking, have a nice day!Comments welcome!

Cromarty Firth

This is another spot we stopped on our way to Cromarty village. Giant oil rigs were trying to spoil the scenic quality of the coast landscape but I narrowed on to this view with the telephone poles helping the perspective.

I followed the composition of the photo faithfully in the painting. I was amazed at how if you like a subject you never stop till it is done, that is not my usual style/speed! 

Thanks for viewing, have a nice day! Comments welcome!

Chanonry Point, the dolphin view point in Scotland

Chanonry Point is reputed to be one of the best spots in  Scotland  to view Bottlenose dolphin but we were unlucky with our timing when we reached there last week! It is difficult to synchronize with the tide when you are on a coach tour! We sat there for god knows how long without blinking an eyelid but no mammal in sight! But the scene sunk in me so deeply that this was the first thing that jumped out of me to paint after we returned.   At least the Scottish clouds were merciful to withhold what looked like an outburst anytime, making us just count the blessings! Please visit the collection of photos of our Scotland visit where you can find the reference photo for this painting, here is the link:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/murugesan18/Scotland2010#


Thanks for looking, comments welcome, have a nice day!