Richeson75 - Online Exhibit

Recently, I had blogged that one of my apple paintings was accepted into the Richeson 75 still life and floral exhibition. The exhibition is now available online.

My painting Apples and Glass seen here was juried in. However, I did not send the original across as it was turning out to be too expensive and not quite feasible. Check out the various entries, a lot of which are out of the world :)

After my quarterly review of this years goals, I had planned to do it every quarter. And yes, another quarter has just gone by in a blink! I currently have a lot of unfinished stuff going on, that I wish to complete them before the mid year review. I will be posting the mid year review this weekend, on the 5th July. I hope things will be in a state of logical conclusion so that a review makes more sense.

Different Strokes - Row, row, row your boat

My entry for the ongoing challenge at the Different strokes blog. The image is full of greys, shot on an overcast day. I just felt like adding a little more color to it, and that's what I have done. Just made the waters and the ripples a tad more pronounced than in the reference. Had a tough time painting the ripples! It's been a while since I painted water and was feeling quite rusty!

Row row row your boat
Acrylics on Canvas, 18 * 24 cms
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

All the entries together can be seen here. Your feedback is welcome.

Getting back to some more apples

I hope my readers will remember the apples and glass series of paintings that I had done couple of months ago. Well I had some more references of the same, and started them. So here is the ninth painting in the same series.

Apples and Glass #9
Acrylics on Canvas, 8 * 8 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

I am grown so much in love with painting apples, that I like to think it is the best thing to do when in an extreme phase of self doubt :) It clears all doubts about myself and keeps me going. I did not take any progress shots this time so all I have is the completed image. There are more to come.

Twin Pinks

Twin Pinks
Acrylics on Canvas, 4 * 6 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

I was involved in a lot of ATC exchanges over the last two years, which took up a big chunk of my time. Though I had a great time with most of them, there were a couple of exchanges which I did not enjoy as much. The subjects were stuff that I wasn't very interested in painting. Also, in all my earlier exchanges, I got to know the artists only during the project, after interacting on the discussion thread of the project. However, this time it is a group of artists whom I largely admire in the Acrylics forum. They are experts at making the medium do whatever they want it to, in achieving stunning results with the medium. The chosen subject is also something I want to seriously work at. I don't really like my trees and this was a good chance to correct that. Above everything, this was a great opportunity to own original art from an inspiring set of artists.:) I have got some great pieces, some more are in the mail and I cannot wait!

The Road less traveled

The original image for this painting is a reference from Sxc.hu, and it is a fall image. A lovely mix of reds and browns and is a gorgeous reference in itself. I just wanted to try changing the colors and doing this as a flowering forest. I think it turned out okay.

The road less traveled
Acrylics on Canvas, 4 * 6 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

I started with another slightly bigger painting of this scene with the original colors as well. I am half way through with it and will post it later. It was a reference that's been lying around with me for couple of years and I am glad I finally got to do it twice over.:)

Flowering Trees - a postcard exchange

I am addicted to Art exchanges, you know that already don't you? I have mentioned that a million times here and elsewhere. I just love the excitement of receiving such varied Art from all over the world. And it also helps me work better as exchanges generally work within a deadline and I get more stuff done.

For several months now, we have been having virtual classes in WetCanvas covering a wide range of subjects. Few months ago, we had a terrific class on painting trees, by Elizabeth. As a spin off from the awesome class, some of us got together to go a postcard exchange of Flowering trees. So here goes, my attempt at recreating Spring :)

Pink Shadows
Acrylics on Canvas, 4 * 6 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Instead of posting them together, I will be making separate posts because it is easier for me that way to keep a count of all paintings done this year. We are working towards 100 this year, just in case you forgot :)

Different Strokes - Summer Vegetables

Just managed to sneak in my entry on time for the ongoing challenge at DSFDF. I have been very busy over the last couple of weeks and had no time to get to this one. But I so wanted to do this challenge, and I am glad that I could get it in just in time.

Summer Vegetables
Acrylics on Canvas, 18 * 24 cms
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Your comments are welcome. All the entries can be seen together here.

Different Strokes - Pennsylvania Poppies

This is my entry for the ongoing challenge at Karin's blog. It was a fun challenge, to invent color for a black and white image. I have always wanted to paint colored fields, and thought this was a good chance to do so. I attempted to do bring in some poppy fields in the foreground, and I am not entirely happy with how it turned out. This painting actually looks very sketchy, and I might try to do it again for a better result. I liked the image and had fun and would love to give it another shot.

Pennsylvania Poppies
Acrylics on paper, 5 * 8 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

A big thanks to Karin for a wonderfully unique challenge. She continues to inspire artists and helps them stretch themselves. Have a look at all the paintings here. There are a lot of interesting interpretations.