30 Things about me #12

Pink Umbrellas
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
Click to bid

30 Things about me - #12 - I love rain

Rain is beautiful, more so when you grow up in a place where it rains not more than a month in a year. It was so rare that we treasured it dearly. I am not the kind that curls up with a book and coffee/tea when it rains. I rather love watching the rain. Watching it fall, every droplet hit the earth and then bounce back. Few sights are as lovely. In Germany though, it rains a LOT that it drives me nuts many a time. And it gets cold here when it rains and that makes me very uncomfortable. So what I have in this country is a love-hate relationship with rain. 

SOLD - 30 Things about me #11

As the world goes by
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
SOLD

30 Things about me #11 - I love painting people without faces

Most of my figurative art does not focus on the faces of the subjects. A lot of them are infact cropped without the faces seen. A couple of reasons for this. One is that I want my subjects to be relatable to everyone and not having a face helps that. Anyone looking at the painting could see a bit of themselves in it. The more important reason is that I am pathetic with doing faces and have a long way to go.:) Most of the time I do not want to overdo a face and end up spoiling a decent painting. So there!

The image in the DPW link is more accurate than the one here. It seems very saturated here. The background is not so green in real. I wonder what it is with blogger! 

30 Things about me #10

From my window
Oil on board, 5 by 7 inches
Click to bid

30 things about me #10 - I have a day job that has nothing to do with art.

I have a full time job that I love. Well most of the time atleast :P What exactly I do is beyond the scope of this blog, write to me if you'd like to know more. I have for long toyed with the idea of quitting my job and plunging into art full time and all that jazz. However, I have reached a stage now where I am at peace with having two careers and I think it will continue to remain so for a while. I have come to appreciate the flexibility it offers even though I have way less time to actually create. 

So there, you now know why I lag behind in these 30in30 challenges. I do as much as my work allows me to. The painting featured here is the early morning view from my window at work. 

SOLD - 30 Things about me - #9

Onions
Oil on Board, 6 by 6 inches
SOLD

30 Things about me - #9 - I am a vegetarian

I have always been a vegetarian, grew up in a vegetarian household. I can just live on salads and the likes. But more than all that, I wanted to paint these onions today :P 

I usually set up my still lifes under bright light, either under direct sunlight or with a strong source of light. I was playing around with this set up with a similar light source but somehow did not like it. When I turned off the light it looked much better. It was a good exercise and one that I should do more. 

30 Things about me - #8

Muse
Oil on Board, 6 by 6 inches
Click to bid

30 things about me #8 - The single biggest regret of my life...

...is that I cannot play an instrument. Make that even worse, I have no knowledge of any music whatsoever. I did not pursue it even though I attended some classes as a child. Yes yes, I do know that I can still go learn something. I am definitely planning on that once I get some breathing time. My life currently is too full and I have no meaningful time that I can devote towards this. It is on my bucket list though.:) 

This painting has been done using the Zorn palette of cadmium red light, yellow ochre, ivory black and titanium white. It is based on a reference image from Morguefile.

SOLD - 30 Things about me - Day 7



Lemons again!
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
SOLD

30 things about me #7 - I love all things citrus 

I love all things citrussy. My room freshener, car freshener, hand wash, soap and everything else is in a citrus flavour, and mostly lemons. It makes my shopping way easy, I head straight to the aisle with citrus flavoured things and pick up a few. No pick and choose. I love the feeling of instant freshness that it imparts. While cooking too, I squeeze in some lemon juice into a lot of dishes to add a little zing. I guzzle lemon and orange juices too and I don't think I am ever getting tired of it.

The colours in the image are not accurate as I have taken the picture under artificial light. Since I am away the whole day, I will not be able to post a daylit image today. Will get that done over the weekend. Can't believe we are about 25% done already, yay! :)

30 Paintings in 30 Days - #6

Making heads turn
Oil on board, 18 by 24 cm (approx. 7 by 9.5 inches)

Click to bid

30 Things about me - #6 - I love painting with the palette knife
Palette knife painting is something I discovered by accident a few years ago. I used to slap paint randomly and really liked the effect. But until last year, I did not pursue it properly. I tried the knife on just about every subject I could find and when they weren't really suited for some, I found myself frustrated. It was then that I decided that I would paint with the knife only when I feel it would work with the image, and not for everything under the sun.

Now I use the knife mainly for doing bird portraits and I find the effects fantastic. The knife gives a texture to the birds that suits the subject so well. There are very many roosters coming this year too.:) I try to mix up paintings with the knife and brushes, so that I don't lose touch with either. Check out a couple of detailed shots below.

Bee Eater - Detail 1

Bee Eater - Detail 2

30 Paintings in 30 Days - #5

Cotton Candy
Oil on Canvas, 5 by 7 inches
Click to bid

30 Things about me - #5 - 6 years on and I still don't look forward to winter in Germany

We have been living in this country for 6 years now and I still hate the winter. I hate the cold and I enjoy snow only from the window. When I first saw snow I was fascinated too, but got enough of it in a couple of hours. The thought of piling on layers and layers on clothing before stepping out tires me out. The upside of this is, while people complain about feeling gloomy and in no mood to do anything, I churn out a lot of art in winter. I lock myself up in the studio and work :) This painting is from one of those rare occurrences when I ventured out to click pictures of fresh snow. 

30 Things about me - Day 4

Rolling on
Oil on Board, 6 by 6 inches
Click to bid

30 Things about me - #4 - I (try to) grow my own vegetables

Gardening is something I discovered a couple of years ago and is something that I enjoy doing. I find it immensely gratifying to turn your homegrown vegetables into delicacies. It also turned out to be a great activity to involve my kid in. It has not always been a success, however. All we have is a small balcony garden and we tried growing pumpkins there, which turned out to be a disaster. And I still have zero success in growing my favourite herb coriander. We keep trying nevertheless.

While the 30 in 30 days challenge is on a theme and all that, I also try to paint subjects that I normally don't. That's how I decided on these tomatoes today, and pose a huge challenge they did! 

SOLD - 30 Things about me - Day 3

The Splash
Oil on Board, 18 by 24 cms (9.5 by 7 inches)
SOLD

30 Things about me #3 - The waves inspire me and calm my soul

I have a very special relationship with the waves. Not surprising considering I grew up in a coastal city with a beach to die for. I love getting into the water and stand there letting the waves caress my feet. I can also actually sit aside and just keep looking at them for hours together. I find the waves a metaphor for so many things in life. They give me strength, hope and provide endless inspiration while having a calming influence like no other.

I have wanted to make a series of paintings around the theme of waves since a long time and I am glad that I could get to it now. This is painted with the palette knife in an attempt to loosen up and keep things bordering abstract.  Yesterday's painting got tighter than I wanted it to, so today I just stopped at a point and decided not to mess anymore. 

30 in 30 challenge Day 2 - 30 things about me

Cuppy!
Oil on Board, 6 by 6 inches
Click to bid

30 Things about me #2 - I collect coffee mugs in pairs.

There is something about coffee mugs that I find them irresistible. I like buying them, always as a pair. I have never painted a coffee mug, this is my first ever painting of mugs. However, I buy them every now and then from flea markets and shops alike. The little one on top is an espresso cup and don't drink espresso ever. Just like having a big assortment of mugs around so that I can choose one depending on my mood.:) So if you are ever thinking of getting me a gift, you can't go wrong with a set of coffee mugs. :)

Credit for the title goes to my daughter. She walked into my room this morning, saw my setup and said that it was too cuppy but she liked it nevertheless. I thought that'd make a cool title :)

Please excuse the horrible quality of the image, it has been a very very grey day here today and I promise a better lit picture tomorrow. I have always admired Carol Marine and a lot of others who paint stacked cups. When I decided to try one today, I found myself struggling with the proportions and had to redo my drawing a couple of times. Though I have always admired paintings of stacked cups, I have all the more renewed respect for the artists today! 

30 in 30 challenge Day 1 - 30 Things about me

A New Dawn
Oil on Canvas, 18 by 24 cms (9.5 by 7 inches)
Click to bid

30 Things about me - #1 - I am a morning person

I am extremely productive in the mornings and always prefer to get up early as opposed to staying up late to get things done. I love the peace and quiet in the morning, especially when the rest of my family is asleep. That's when I paint most often and love the productive start to my day. I treasure the peace of my mornings along with my steaming hot cup of coffee :) 

Let me wish you all a very happy new year. May 2015 bring in a lot of peace, good health and happiness to you and your family. 2014 was a great year for me personally on most fronts. I hope it all continues and gets better this year. And what better way to ring in the new year, than the 30 in 30 challenge. Last January, I was very very rusty and used up the challenge to get back to my easel after a long break. I could barely manage a dozen paintings, but they did me a world of good. I could experiment a great deal and it set the tone for the rest of my year. I can't wait to see what this year's challenge brings in. Good luck to all other artists who are taking part too.:)

As I was thinking about themes for my 30 paintings, I was really inspired by what Leslie did recently. "30 things about me" I thought was a great idea for the readers to get to know the artist better. It also gives me something to write about, as against just posting a picture. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.