Lubeck, Northern Germany

This is again a serene scene from the quaint city of Lubeck, an hour's drive away from Hamburg, Germany. It was on the canvas for quite a while, but got finished today before I pack off to Delhi for three months. Hope to keep the brushes wet but you can never tell with Delhi. Happy viewing!

An earlier version is here:

 

Have a nice day!

Portrait of an Artist - by another (budding) Artist (5years old!)

Portrait of an Artist - by another (budding) Artist (5years old!)

The last weekend I had the honour of having my portrait made by another young and budding artist in London! My grand nephew Pranav, 5 years old, for whose forthcoming birth day I presented a portrait of him(see an earlier blog post here). He was so thrilled and his immediate reaction was to pick a pencil and paper and to make a caricature portrait of me in 10 minutes! This was the highlight of our weekend London visit to attend our grand niece Priyanka's birthday! She also got my portrait of her as her present!

 Portrait of me done by Pranav!

Pranav's portrait done by me!

It looks like a mutual admiration club! Pranav has amazing talents in drawing, painting and caricature! Lots of potential for a future artist! Thanks for viewing!

Vidya Balan - once again!

Continuing on the figurative paintings, which gives me a welcome break from the landscapes, I tried once again with the Indian actor Vidya Balan, (we were watching one of her movies recently which got her the best actress award).  It is so strange that you plan on so many things and suddenly you end up doing the totally unexpected! You never know your own mind! Here it is:

Used as reference her photo published in  FHM magazine as I did for my previous painting of her a while ago. Used Jerwitz acquarelle paper 425gms (manufactured in Hamburg!) an excellent support for portraits. Lifting is wonderful with this paper, but not good for masking fluid which damages the paper while removing.

Thanks for viewing and happy weekend!

Jallikattu- traditional sport of Tamilnadu

Jallikattu- an ancient sport still prevalent in Tamilnadu villages, takes place around the harvest festival of Pongal in January each year. It is about taming a sort of wild bull (grown specially for the Jallikattu) which is let loose for the bold and powerful youth of the village to bring it under control. This painting depicts such an action packed scene, I tried to bring out the energy and the speed of the participants and the animal. It was quite a challenge for me but the dynamism of the composition hooked me to attempt it! I had sprayed paint to imitate the movement and the dust around.

Jallikattu- taming of the bull!

I used handmade Indian paper (Khadi) which is very versatile and I am loving it! Thanks for viewing, comments welcome!

Portraits : My new passion!

Sometime ago I was drawn into the whirlpool of portrait when my year old grandniece proved to be irresistible subject! Since then I attempted a few, mastered none, failed a lot but last week I found myself still at it! Again it was my grandniece, now going to be two in June. And what can be better present than another portrait of her on her second birthday! Yes, I am going to London carrying this portrait and to see her reaction! I am very excited! I can't be partial so I have made a portrait of my grandnephew also whose birthday is also round the corner (August)! I have used the  photos I took when they visited us in December and I am hoping she will remember us when we see her again after 5 months!

Priyanka

 

 

 

Pranav

Thanks for viewing! Have a nice day! Comments and criticisms welcome!

Lubeck in a winter morning

I tried to create an atmosphere of a greyish foggy day which is the general weather in Lubeck winter. On my two visits the chilly and gloomy weather underscored the mood of the city which is an hour's drive from Hamburg. I used a lot of bluish grey and left everything understated to accentuate the mood. Done on a half sheet of Arches 300lb Rough paper.

Made a lot of sketches of the boats and the buildings and also did a colour study before starting the final painting. Lot of trouble but I am happy with the result! Happy viewing!

Cap van San Diego, Hamburg

I took a picture of this vessel sometime in Dec/Jan, as soon as we reached Hamburg but never got down to paint it, till I was invited for a painters' session by fellow painter Beth when I visited Ithaca(NY) this month.

We were at Chris Zinder's place, going through her fabulous works (http://www.artspartner.org/artists/view/zinder-chris.html) before we sat down to do some painting. (It was very cold outside so we were forced to paint indoors only). For want of any ideas I started to do this painting. Here are some pictures of the day:

 Beth and Chris

Chris and me!

I could do only the sky and the water and finished it later at my son's place. The finished painting is here:

 After returning to Hamburg I did the same painting on a bigger paper, which is here:

I should thank Beth and Chris for the wonderful hospitality and looking forward to do more painting sessions in future. 

The place is Hamburg's St Pauli ferry landing area and the name of the ship is: Cap van San Diego. Enjoy the paintings, thanks for looking!

Poor man's MF Hussain

I heard that MF Hussain is going to paint actor Vidya Balan in nude. It is unknown if Vidya Balan is going to pose for this painting, but I had a go myself with a picture of her, just for the fun of it.

Happy Easter holidays! Thanks for viewing.

Springtime II

I had mixed lots of colours on my palette for the previous painting, juicy yellow and red, which are used in the follow up painting, Springtime II(don't like wasting paints). Just a design variation of the same theme, windmill and the tulip fields.

Enjoy the colours! Thanks for looking! Have a great weekend!

Springtime

It is holi festival in India, festival of colours welcoming the onset of spring! There was lots of sunshine in Hamburg too, today and all went to inspire me to put lots of colours on paper, presto, here comes a painting celebrating colours! (We had  spend more than 3 years in Holland and the memories of the windmills and the tulip fields are always  with me!)

Happy Holi! Thanks for looking!

St Pauli Quays, Hamburg

St Pauli quays serviced international navigators for centuries in Hamburg even though they service only passenger ferries touring Hamburg city these days. My second painting in Hamburg is inspired by this historic site. Done on a half sheet Bockingboard paper, you may find lots of loose energy in this painting.

Thanks for viewing, comments welcome!

Shaniwarwada, Pune

 Shaniwarwada was the stately mansion originally built as the residence of the Peshwas. Completed in 1732, it is a major tourist attraction in the old part of the city of Pune, Maharashtra in India. I visited this place in November last year and took this photo.

My painting measures 37x28cm on Arches 140 lb Cold Pressed paper. The foliage was the toughest part and I wanted to do it loosely. The afternoon shadows cast a spell when we were there spending a leisurely two hours in this historic place. Thanks for looking, comments welcome!

Break ke Baad!

Hi, happy new year greetings to all! It was a longer than usual break for me! Even after setting up the painting stuff in a new place(we are now in Hamburg, Germany), I was suffering from jitters I always get after a period of no painting! Million butterflies in the stomach! Since I have to start somewhere, I looked at a historic building not far from our place, Torhaus (Tor House) originally built in 1757 now housing a museum totally immersed in snow. A snow painting is the right place to start as snow is the easiest thing to paint, in fact you don't have to paint it at all! This painting in a way got me into the groove! No better way of breaking ice, than painting snow! Happy looking! Thanks!

Snow in Hamburg

I shall photo these trees in summer, hopefully in a different hairstyle!